Nationals 2nd Round...

This weeks is nationals round 2! We headed to Ft. Lauderdale yesterday to start another busy week. The flight was fast and a first for Mia. She slept the entire time!!! She also got to swim and surf in the ocean for the first time. Can you see by the look on her face that she loved it??? We'll be spending this week with our karate family yet again making memories and winning medals. Alexander gets to sit this one out. But, it's still a great experience for him. And, he loves his friends so that's always a bonus!

Kitchen window viewing...

Backyard karate and a grill...every man's dream!

Bumbo baby!

Rainy day fort

Pure cuteness!

Alexander LOVES his little sister and she absolutely thinks he's so cool! Can you see the smile on her face just looking at him? I took another shot of her watching Mickey. Honestly she put her arms like that on her own. Hysterical!

Hope she's comfortable...hard to tell!

A week of Nationals in pictures...

Despite my love of taking pictures I didn't get as many as usual! I didn't get any of the kids in the pool, dinners together (except one), and the multiple times we sat in the hotel lobby hanging out as one big karate family. But, the pics I did take tell a story of all of us, especially our kids, enjoying time together playing and having fun. Staying at the same hotel makes a huge difference during these events because the kids really bond and get to strengthen their friendships. It's always fun for them to go room to room gathering up swimming partners or just enjoying a little freedom from mom and dad for a few minutes. The hotel's free drinks and snacks don't hurt the parents either...haha! Mia really got to enjoy being with all the parents that truly adore her and love spending time...even the dads claimed their time with the little Princess! I can honestly say that when Nationals are over we're already planning for next year. We all greatly enjoy this time and get so much out of the bonding that occurs. It's not a vacation and it's really not even relaxing to be perfectly honest but it's beyond fun and so great to be with our friends and their kids. So here's to Nationals and all the many fun years to come! Go Shodan!