Karate Kid

Hey folks! Sorry for the delay on blogging. I hope that everyone over there made it through IKE safely. We are thinking of you!!!

On to our update:

Olivia started Karate last week. It always makes me chuckle when I think of the things that SHE has initiated. When we moved here she said "Mom, I want to take Karate in Okinawa" and I asked her why and her response was "because that's what we do in Japan"... point taken.

I found out about an off base Dojo (place to take Karate) that is run by an American man (Ron) and his Okinawan wife (Akemi). All I had read was that they were terrific with the kids and that the energy was positive. Well, let me tell you.. that could not be anymore true!! We walked up to the building and met Sensei (Ron) and it was one of the first things we have done that I had NO question about. The energy of that first class amazed me. He pulled Olivia in to the class to participate and SHE LOVED IT!! The class goes for an hour. The first 1/2 hour is warm up with all the kids and the second half the class splits and the less experienced stay downstairs with Akemi and practice and the more expereinced go upstairs with Ron. What is the most interesting to me is that it fits Olivia's personality VERY well. She is a perfectionist in so many ways, and martial arts are quite precise, so I think it will work well with her. Ron and Akemi make it fun and SO positive!! It is worth the little trek it takes us to get there twice a week!

Here is our little karate girl in her new gei (I am not sure how to spell that) outside the Dojo

And here is some of the practice with Akemi

What else can I tell you? We have been BUSY. School is in full swing for Olivia. Things have gotten much better for her and she looks forward to it now (thank goodness). Alessandra is busy as a bee too! I took her to the CDC (Child Development Center) on base for a few hours last week and she LOVED it. I wasn't sure how she was going do (she is such a mommy's girl) and she did great. We even got another drop-in spot later in the week and she was excited about it (picture her with her little backpack RUNNING up the steps to the center shouting "play with kids... play with kids"

I can't get these two to stop saying "cheese" - just in case you wanted to see their teeth...

We spent the weekend ready to hunker down due to the big typhoon in our neighborhood. We didn't get hit (aside from a lot of rain), but Taiwan got it pretty bad. One thing that was good about the whole experience was just figuring out what we needed to do to be prepared.

Aside from that we have been having playdates, meeting friends for dinner, playing at home and enjoying the island life. We love and miss you !! Sayonara!