Shootin' Hoops

Tristan had T-ball practice at the youth gym a week or so ago, and he and David stayed and played basketball for a while afterwards.  Since that time, Tristan has been begging to go back and play basketball.  Since it was Memorial Day weekend and David actually had all four days off, we grabbed our mini-basketballs and headed over to shoot some hoops.

Since I'm not much for running these days, they took turns being on each other's teams.

Swoosh!

Maybe we do have a future UK basketball player on our hands!

And he wonders why our children act like monkeys!

Grace's First International Swim Meet

Grace's swim team was invited to the Yongsan International School of Seoul's swim meet on Saturday.  This was her first time swimming against kids from all over the world.  She has been struggling with the desire to keep swimming because her coach has been pushing her to do more at practice, and it hasn't been a whole lot of fun for her lately, but today was the day where she was able to see the fruit of her labor.

This was David's first swim meet, and he was fully inducted to the sport as he volunteered to be a timer.  He said he really had a good time doing that, and enjoyed getting to talk to the kids as they were getting ready for their races. 

The ever patient Tristan 

In the bull pen waiting for her first event.

It was really loud in there! 

25 freestyle - she got 3rd place!

25 backstroke 

She got 2nd place!!

Talking with one of our high school swimmers before her 50 freestyle 

She was in Daddy's lane for this race. 

And this sweet little thing got FIRST PLACE in this event!!!

It was a really good experience for her, and a much needed one in order to motivate her to keep working hard. It also helped her realize that it really is worth her effort in practice, even though it might not seem like much fun while she's doing it.

Way to go Grace!  We are so very proud of you!

Tristan's Field Trip

Tristan found out on Monday that he had a field trip to the elementary school on Friday, and boy was he excited!!  Every day when he woke up he asked if it was his field trip day, until finally I was able to answer "yes"!

The first thing on the agenda is always signing in.

They all put on matching shirts and name tags that had their pictures on them. 

David and I laughed at the statement on the back "If found, please return to the CDC".  I was wondering if we were dealing with property or animals instead of children... 

Off we went! 

It's just a short walk across the street, but they were sure excited! 

The class was divided in half, and then went into two of the Kindergarten classrooms to spend the morning getting aquanted with the routine.

They started off with the story Kindergarten Rocks! 

Then it was time for centers.  First up for Tristan was Reading Center. 

Then pattern blocks. 

Followed by wooden blocks. 

And everybody's favorite - play dough! 

Then he went up to the reading table and learned about words that end in "ip" 

Then it was computer time - Tristan got really upset when David tried to but in on his computer time.  "I know how to do this Daddy!" 

They also went to lunch in the cafeteria.  It was Grace's lunch time too, so he sat with her instead of with his classmates. 

And then came the all important play time!! 

I am so not looking forward to possible injuries from this playground equipment!

All in all, Tristan is incredibly excited and is so ready to start Kindergarten in the fall.

Happy Birthday David!

Though it was a busy day, we paused to take time to celebrate David's 38th birthday.  David's favorite cake is Angel Food Cake, and Grace just so happened to find a recipe in her Paula Deen cookbook that called for it and strawberries (and you know by now how we all feel about the strawberries here!).  So, while Grace was at school, Tristan and I whipped up the cake, and when Grace got home, she got busy making her dessert for her daddy.

She first had to tear it up into bite-size pieces.

Then spread a cream cheese/evaporated milk combo over it.

Then it was time to add some frozen strawberries (I was really thankful we found this recipe so I could use the berries I had frozen!).

She repeated the layers, and we topped it off with a bunch of whipped cream.

It then had to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours while we went to Grace's T-ball game.  We then went out for supper and surprised him when we got home.

The finished product - with 1 candle per decade, and 8 strawberries.

Grace bravely carrying her creation to her daddy.

(Pardon the mess in my living room, I was working on stuff for Grace's class and we had received a couple of packages that day) 

I do believe he was pleasantly surprised.

Happy Birthday, David!  We love you!

(and I promise I'll cook you a nice supper this weekend!)

KoJeon Antiques

Today our photography club went to a really neat "antique" furniture store.  Not all of her items are necessarily antiques, but she had some really nice things in her store.  Not only did we shop, but we took the opportunity to practice our photography skills.  After having my camera for over 2 years, I'm finally learning to take it off of auto mode and get some good pictures!

I really considered getting one of these ship's wheels because it made me think of my dad.  But I had no idea what I'd do with it when I got home, so I passed. 

Terra cotta soldiers - with me and my friend Jen 

I took this one so David might appreciate the luxury he traveled on while on horseback. 

This is one of my favorites.

These are my best friend's 2 youngest kiddos, just going off exploring.

There were many things in this store that I would've loved to come home with, but I'm a little too frugal and a little to practical to pay the price for them.  Not to mention that we're out of room in our current dwelling - but I may be dragging the hubby back once we get our new digs on post!