Yellow belt...black tip

I know I had mentioned previously in a post that Bug was taking Tae Kwon Doe.....

well, since then he has FLOURISHED in it. He went from a basic white belt...to a white belt with a black tip...to a white belt with a yellow tip, and then you graduate to a yellow belt. From there you earn a black tip for that one as well, and then a green tip. And so on and so forth...up to Black belt. He went for his black tip on his yellow belt last night. He was very nervous..but did wonderful! :) Brad and I were so proud!~
Tae Kwon Doe has really built up his self esteem, and self confidence~

He is also doing sparring now (which i wasnt too sure how he, or I for that matter, would handle) and is loving it. He is so much more aggressive than I thought he would be, not timid or scared. He had an issue with turning his back at first, but has quickly realized thats the quickest way to go down. I'll have to post some video on here of him sparring...I'll see if I can get it to upload!~ Anyway, I am so thankful for Master Jenkins and the staff there. They are so great with the kids!~ We are seeing the old Bug we knew back in NC!...and that is WONDERFUL~ :) Thank God!

Here he is at his test.


Practicing....with his buddy Nate from his school....


Getting ready to take it..just a lil nervous! :)...


The testers....



Here he is taking part of the test....



Of course he passes...Here is Sam recieving his black tip!~ GO SAM!


SO proud!!~


I sure can't love this boy any more than I already do! :)....

The testers..."graduation" picture... this is just a very small FRACTION of the people in the academy...they test once a month and if you are on the list to test, it means they think you are ready...so you come on the last friday of the month and those on the list try for the next rank! :)

Bug in his Spar gear...

Some cool video of the instructors.... (my favorite! The second dude is the Grand Masters son)

Instructors Sparring... Walter and Bobby... (2 of Sams favorite)

Another instructor showing one of the examples...

I'm sure there will be more videos and pictures in the future as Sam really seems to enjoy doing it. So much so, that when he gets happy about anything...he busts out doing karate moves. As a matter of fact if we are even standing still..he starts doing Ki-Bone 1 ( I know I know...I cant spell korean! lol)...

Anyway...love to all...

GREAT WOLF LODGE!

HOLY MOLY what a FUN place to go!!

Expensive...but fun!!

The kids and even the ADULTS had such a blast!!

This place had EVERYTHING in it. You never had to leave.

Wanna know the COOLEST part?

You wore these plastic bracelets that were your room key, AND MONEY! (it was linked to a credit card when you check in)...so you NEVER have to carry ANYTHING!!!

You could use in in the stores, arcade, restaurants, food..etc....
it was SWEET!!!!!

There was also a game called "MagiQuest" for the kids...you buy a wand...and ALL throughout the lodge are pictures, stuffed animals, and other things that come along if you wave you wand. There is also a "quest involved" if you choose.
The kids LOVED this!!! I mean TOTALLY worth the $$$$$!

Anyway....here are TONS of pictures!!~

Here is the Lodge pulling up! It was HUGE!!!!


This was actually taken as we left~ :)


The living room in our "lodge"..


One of the bedrooms...


Our room #....easy to remember!~ :)



Papa and Bug...so excited!


The lobby....



Just ONE of the pools inside....


ONE of the wave pools...INSIDE...



ONE of the slides....

This was the "tornado"....everyone loved it but me. I think i cried. LOL. seriously. My 3 year old loved it.

Josh trying his hand a wake boarding...


Hehehehe...goons...

Here is the MagiQuest...

You meet the wizard and begin your "missions"

Getting their next missions...after completing 2 of 6.

Look out everyone...

When they finish everything they earn a "certificate"...YOU GO GUYS! (Sam's name was Dragon fighter!~)

Popo and KK :)

They (all the cousins) ended the journey as MASTERS....

we SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO look forward to coming back. Next time WITH BRAD!!! (stupid but thankful work!)

We are already planning it! :)

~~HUGE THANKS POPO AND PAPA FOR EVERYTHING!!! WE CAN"T THANK YOU ENOUGH!!!!~~~~

BLESSED=ME!!!!

A friend of mine (the one Bug has a crush on) came over last night to let the kids play with the newest addition to her family....HANK the TANK.

And Kayla's turn...

Then it was time for bed, and I had to get this on video...it normally lasts about 2 minutes longer with the Sam naming everyone in the world he can think of, and Kayla giggling. Here is the "short" version. Nana and Tony and Katie and Alek weren't mentioned this time (since I cut it short), but are included EVERY night as well.

LOVE to all!