When I uploaded my photos I noticed a few that I had not commented on, all with Caitlin, and thought for those interested I would give you some updates.
In July Caitlin let me take some photos of her taekwondo grading, a rare moment these days as she has lost her appetite for having photos taken :(. Since these photos she has again graded and is now on red level, 2 stripe, or grade 2. This means she is only 2 levels or grades away from her probationary black belt! We are so proud of her and she is so determined to achieve it (most of the time :) ).
There are a lot of students doing the grading at the same time - it is quite a production but run very efficiently! The trainers are ex-physical education teachers so they have the know-how!
Caitlin's kicks - all sorts of varieties - side kick, front kick, back kick, etc.
Caitlin is performing her practice pattern for the head trainer at the front of the room. She was the only one grading in her division and so had to do it alone, in front of almost 100 students. This is a HUGE deal for our Caitlin. She has come a long way from the girl who started out being very nervous and in tears due to the anxiety of gradings.
She has to perform her self defence moves - a number of different ones, using a black belt student to model on.
Finally, when moving into red belt they must show that they can break a block of wood with a thrust move - elbow thrust, hand thrust or foot thrust. Caitlin chose the hand thrust and was successful! :)
Here she is being presented her next level grading - red belt.
She only looks a little pleased don't you think?
Our daughter has matured so much over the last 12 months, as you can see below.
This was very evident when we took her to her first week long camp without us. For her 11th birthday we chose to give her a week camp at Mill Valley Ranch where she would ride horses, do archery, canoe, fish, and other achievements over the week. It was a little bit before her birthday. She was so excited, she ran to give me a kiss goodbye and then ran off to her wagon where she was to sleep, only to run back for another kiss, and run off again in search of some new friends. :)
Here she is. I must admit though that we took this photo at the end of camp rather than the start, since we forgot. This would explain why she looks so worn and dirty.
It seemed cute that she was sleeping in the circle of wagons, but when I went inside I thought perhaps not! The wagon was breazier than a tent and happened to leak on her bed during the week when they experienced some really wet weather. But she survived.
The camp had a lot of old charm, reminding me of sovereign hill in our own town, Ballarat. Couldn't resist some piccies!
Caitlin's cousin, Danae (left) came on camp too! She seems to have quickly made friends :).
Danae tried to help me get a photo of Caitlin and her together at start of camp but Caitlin (yellow jumper) just wasn't going to cooperate no matter what. This wasn't the only photo of the back of Caitlin that we took before we gave up!
Caitlin made a few friends on camp!
Well, that's about it on child #2, the adorable daughter, an individual with some attitude! But she adds a lot of flavor into the family. One day I will have to blog about my son.
See ya for now.
Bonniexxx
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