Purple Belt

 Matthew worked very hard to master his seisan kata (a series of moves) and he passed his test to earn his purple belt!  Yay, Matthew!

(We don't have a video this time because he did the test during a regular class rather than the formal belt test session -- which would have been when Mike was out of town.  Mike tried to film but the other sensei (teacher) kept inadvertently getting right in the way!  You'll just have to trust us that it looked very impressive.)

Activities Galore

 After a break over the summer, Matthew is back in karate and working hard to learn his next kata (a choreographed series of moves).  He also has his violin for fourth-grade orchestra, although he hasn't had any lessons yet.  (He sounds suprisingly good for someone who has just picked it up, though!)

James did a couple of ninja competitions at the end of the summer. In both of them, he had a good run but had one obstacle that gave him trouble.  For the Hybrid Open (just a fun competition at our local gym), that meant he came in fourth instead of third (the last person to go beat his score).  And for the National Ninja League Qualifier at the Warrior Factory in Rochester, he got hung up on one of the obstacles, which ended up taking up too much time, and he ran out of time before finishing the course. (He came in eighth, and the first four or five qualified for the championships.)  They were both tough courses, but there are also a lot of good competitors in this age group!

Summer's End

 The boys had a lot of fun hanging out with their friends the week before school started -- there was no gymnastics that week and they only did a couple afternoons of camp, so they had a lot of free time. The "sprinkler under the trampoline" game was especially popular, and James wanted to make a recreation of the "soup" (mud, water, leaves, etc.) that he and Matthew made back in North Carolina.

But what a difference a few days makes -- the pictures on the bottom of sprinkler fun were from Wednesday, and today we're all in long sleeves!

First of Fourth

 First day of fourth grade!  (Which was actually last Tuesday...)  The boys seem to be enjoying it so far! 

They actually have three teachers this year -- they rotate between math, ELA, and social studies/science to help get them a little ready for changing classes in middle school next year. 

Family Picture

 We got some family pictures before leaving Eden!

Driver Mike

 Mike got to be behind the wheel of a racecar for a change!  He went to the Rusty Wallace Driving Experience -- we got it on a Groupon a couple of years ago, and the timing finally worked out.  He did a couple of laps with a pro, and then had the car on his own.  He said it was a blast, but that he wishes he could do it again to go faster!  (The sun was in his eyes on part of the track, so he was being cautious with his speed.)