2012 Karate Tournament

Abby had a great Karate Tournament. She won the Kata competition and grappling. She finished second in Kickboxing, and lost in sword fighting to the eventual winner.
Kata


Kickboxing (she almost got a TKO)


Grappling

How 'bout them Gators!

Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches - two views

During our trip to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in DC last month, the girls had the opportunity to hold a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. They had decidedly different opinions of the bug:

Abby:

Evie:

Abby's First Swim Meet

Abby's first swim meet was a success. Her team, the Friendly Frogs beat the Hamilton Lakes Hornets 752.5 to 516.5. It was the first of 5 dual meets scheduled for this summer. Abby won her heat in freestyle (finishing 8th overall) and she finished 10th in backstroke. You can watch the freestyle race below.

Evie provided the entertainment between races:

Abby's Gymnastics - Tumble Bee's Big Show

Abby did great at her end-of-year gymnastics show. I thought she did best on bars because the dismount was perfect, but she did great in her other events too. Unfortunately, Evie was not well-behaved.

Bars:

Balance Beam:

The Trampoline Routine:

The Floor Exercise:

Vault:

Ms. Brittany, the coach!

Abby's 2011 Karate Tournament

After having recently been promoted to orange belt, Abby participated in Mike Carr's 2011 Karate Tournament. The Tournament started with a specular demonstration of one of the instructors chopping two pieces of wood in half that were on fire!

She started a little slow with grappling - Julie says she does better against the boys than against the girls in grappling. As you can see, it was a close match, but she lost:

Next up was sword fighting. She was upset about her loss in grappling and took it out on the other girls. Here is her first round fight:

A victory in round one resulted in a second round fight:

A victory in the second fight resulted in a third:

A victory in her third fight resulted in a trip to the FINALS:

Abby finished in second. As you can see in this photo, the girl who beat Abby was older and bigger:

The tournament concluded with some Randori. Abby lost her first fight but, as you can see, it was close.

All in all, the tournament was a success and we had a great time. As you can see from her giant smile, Abby enjoyed herself. This is what she had to say when she was done:

Abby's First Karate Tournament

Abby won the 4 and 5 year old yellow belt sword fighting. Make sure you see "the final blow" just after th 1:30 mark.




Abby won the 4 and 5 year old yellow belt sparring. Make sure you see "knock-down" just after th :38 second mark.

Skiing at Wintergreen

Evie:





Amy:


Super fast Abby:



Ski Preferences from the sisters: Slow=Pizza and Fast=French Fries:

A Pre-Christmas Snow in Greensboro

Leaf Jump!

Exploring the Cabinets

Perfect Angels

Ellie's Third Birthday Party in Gainesville

Big Canoe with the Catons

Ellie's gives "the sign of the turtle" during her first canoe ride:


Abby's first canoe ride:




Steve and Ellie in the background:

Alexa's Graduation, and our trip to Vegas

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Abby Scores The 1st and 2nd Goals of The Year For The Pink Panthers!

Goal #1:



Goal #2: