Great Wolf Lodge Family Vacation 2019

Family Vacation has begun. The kids spent time doing Magi Quest upon arrival. We just had an early dinner. Doing some shopping for snacks, breakfast, and lunch while at GWL in a little while. T is doing some training with his team tonight since we are in the area. They get to play more of the Quest tonight😁 when we get back. Oh happy days. 

Bowling Yesterday

Went bowling with the family and used one of our blast certificates that we won last year but haven’t had time to use. We still have yet another certificate to use at a later time...LOL!  We had fun though. 

T and Grand Master Wu (7/25/2019)

T got to spend some time learning from Grand Master Chi Lin Wu today. She loved his forms. She said his kicks were great. Grand Master Wu has won Gold Medals all over the world for her poomsae including 3 Gold Medals at the World Championships. She is a National Coach for Chinese Taipei and an International Referee. T got to get a picture with her tonight before we headed back home. What a great opportunity to spend time with someone who is great at poomsae and T will be doing his pretest for his poomsae next week. Such a timely session he got to have with her today. 

What I really loved about her is she reminded me so much of Grand Master Cann. It seemed that for a moment we had her back with us in some small way because GMaster Wu and GMaster Cann are so much alike. Their personalities are extremely similar. Trying to communicate with her has been a challenge because she speaks very little English but rest assured that she found ways to communicate that the kids and us adults could understand.  If GMaster Cann were still with us communicating with her would be a non issue because we’d have a translater. It’s good to know, though, that we can move forward in the midst of the loss we’ve had to deal with since February. We feel GMaster Cann’s loss deeply everyday. She had so much wisdom beyond her years. We wish we could have bottled up all she knew so we’d have it to pull from when we need it. Now we are having to pull her wisdom from conversations we had with her. Our memories are our guides now as we face a future very different from what we thought it’d be last year this time. God is good though. He’s knows our beginning from our end and He knew what He was doing by giving us only a short while to know such an awesome woman. I’m glad we got a glimpse today of her in spending time with GMaster Wu.  I love T getting such great opportunities like he had today. 

Carowinds with the Team

T had a blast today. Got ride his first big person roller coaster ride today. He’s so happy to be y’all enough to ride the big rides now. It’s like a right of passage moment for him. He can’t wait for his dad to be able to come and do these rides with him at some point. If his dad would have been here that would’ve made his day perfect. I rode the Fury ride with T and it was awesome!   I did it with a full belly and didn’t barf too...LOL! Here are a few pics. 

Having Fun at TaeKwonDo Class Tonight! (7/22/2019)

T had a good time practicing his Poomsae with Master Amy earlier tonight for his first pre-test coming up on August 2nd. 

Practicing Creative Forms Tonight

T got a chance to practice his creative form for the pre-test on August 2nd tonight at the Dojang where he’ll be performing it. What he does at the end, on actual pre-test day, he’ll do his final flip without touching the floor. Fun times. 

Black Belt Testing Cycle Class Tonight

I got to play with my camera some more tonight and take some pics of T while he was practicing his forms. The class is preparing for their first pre-test on August 2nd. T’s getting more and more sharp as he practices his forms. Almost wish he was able to do AAU Jr Olympics with as sharp as he’s getting but he won’t be able to do that tournament. Next year maybe he can depending on if it will be close by. Anyhow, here are some pics that I was able to get tonight. 

BBW Class 7/17/2019

Swimming with the Family at the Y

We went swimming with the family today at the Y. Only person missing was Tristan. He was at a camp. T and Iris had a blast though. Pool water was a little on the warm side but of course it was like over 90 degrees outside too...LOL!  At least it was wet. 

My Silly Willy of a Boy!

We actually got to be in attendance at church today instead of having to watch livestream. It was so good to be there. The message was incredible. I got a couple of selfies of T being silly....LOL!  I’m also going to share the link to the message for any that may want to watch it but it’s not a message for those who just want their ears tickled. It’s a hard hitting in your face kind of message. 

Figured I’d at least show you one pic where he wasn’t being silly...LOL! 

Here’s the message:

AAU Nationals 2019 Proof Pics

These are the professional shots that were taken at Nationals. 

Tournament in Georgia in August

We found out yesterday from T's coach that there's a tournament in Georgia in August that he wants T to attend.  Now we reset and get in gear for that tournament.  It will give T more ring time and he'll be able to get more experience in the ring to help him get ready for when he moves to Cadets next year.  The cadet division is the 12-14 year old group.  It's broken down into weight classes but he could be fighting kids that are 14 years old next year in his weight class so he needs all the ring time and experience he can get now in getting ready to be in that division next year.  Lots for him to do between now and then.  Busy times but we wouldn't have it any other way.  We are doing our best to support him in his endeavors.  We are always so thankful for family and friends who help with their support as well.  Every little bit helps when you are chasing hard after goals that you are trying to accomplish.  T knows what he wants at such a young age and you can't say that about most kids his age.  I love that about him.  I'm so glad he has goals.  He's such an amazing kid with so much enthusiasm for what he loves to do.  God has blessed this kid with an amazing gift.  We are so proud of all his accomplishments thus far.  He's going to go far in life because he has set such a great foundation now at the young age of 11.  When you actually think about it he's been going hard after his goals since he was 9 years old.  I can't wait to see the man he grows up to be someday.

Got ‘em hung!

We got T’s new pictures up on the wall last night😁. 

Plus we got the extender for T’s medal rack hung. It won’t last through next year though and then we’ll be buying another one...LOL! 

Black Belt World Last Night

Now that T has started a testing cycle at BBW he is attending classes more to get ready for each testing portion. The first pre-test will be on his forms and he will have to do a creative forms. Next month will be self defense and he has to come up with a five knife self defense. The last pre-test will be the sparring/knowledge portion. I can’t remember if he has to fight three or four opponents but suffice it to say he has to fight multiple opponents. Then the final test will happen the last of October with T doing power and speed breaking. Graduation will be happening in December. Lots of classes to attend in the meantime with doing leadership hours. He has almost all of his leadership hours done. He also has an essay to write. Testing should never be easy and it’s not. T loves everything about TaeKwonDo. He’s very thankful for all the Masters and Instructors who have taught him through the years. He’s praying that he passes all his pre-tests and his final test to earn his 3rd Dan black belt. Last night at class his Master put a medicine ball on his back for him to balance while he was doing planks. He welcomed the challenge and did surprisingly well. Here’s a picture. 

2nd Dan Professional Pictures 2019

T picked out these pictures from his photo shoot. 

A Pop of Color

I like the things you can do to pictures these days. Check out this pop of color I did to one of T’s pictures. 

What a Difference a Year Makes!

T’s Form Competition at the 2019 AAU Nationals

Here’s the video of T’s 4 performances at AAU Nationals that won him Bronze. Two he did great and two he lost. One of the losses was to a 3rd Dan doing his forms and that particular form shows very well and the kid did it extremely well. The other that he lost he lost because his power in his forms wasn’t what it should’ve been. His opponent in that round had great power. Learning moment for T with his forms. Overall it was a great first time out doing forms on a National level.