Orange belts!!!!!

Here they are.... my three orange belts. I am so proud of them all. We took the month of July off this summer during camps and vacation time. It was a nice break, but the boys were so sad to not be ready to test in August. Sensei Michelle spent a couple weeks of class with them and she declared John Henry almost ready to test, but sadly, she thought Paul and Sam were just not ready. I knew the day was probably coming, but it surprised me. Still, she is the sensei and I trust her judgement.

A date was tossed around for mid-September for testing and then Sensei Michelle went on a vacation and Sensei Allison took over our noon-time classes. She seemed to think the younger boys would be ready, but they needed to really tighten up and be more serious about their lessons. Again, whatever they think is fine with me.

Sensei Michelle came back from vacation and the boys went to class on a Monday. She told me prior to the lesson that she'd scheduled Wednesday for JH to test for his orange belt. I left and tried to figure out how to lessen the blow for the little boys when they realized they would be left behind.

SURPRISE... when I came back to pick them up, Sensei Michelle met me with a happy,"They are ALL ready to test!!!" Hooray!

They tested and passed!

First Cub Scout Campout with new pack

Paul and Sam are members of a new cub scout pack. We are really enjoying it's small size and excellent supervision of kids. This weekend, we went on a campout to Mt. Cheaha, the highest point in Alabama. We hiked to Pulpit Rock, about a mile hike. Lizzy was a trooper as usual and the boys loved it. Mama was only a little freaked out by the height and the sheer dropoff at the top and... well you get the picture.

Here is Sam with his buddy, Ben. They were lamenting the loss of their favorite sticks to the Stick Police.

This is the Observation Tower on top of the mountain. It was a really cool view and the kids loved it.

We enjoyed our campout SO much. The boys earned two beltloops, made some new friends, participated in skits round the campfire, slept in a tent in their own sleeping bags, and ate with their new camp ware! It was a fabulous weekend for them. Lizzy also enjoyed sleeping in her new sleeping bag and playing with the kids. She collapsed prior to the campfire, but she still had a great time.