Curiosity and the Cat

You know what they say about curiosity and cats... well, here is Kaspurr after a particularly funny case of curiosity.  I was in the kitchen and I kept hearing this thumping against the floor and couldn't figure out what it was, until I saw this:

The poor thing stuck his head in the window of Maddox's Build-a-Bear box and couldn't get it back out!

Oh, how entertaining cats can be!
Michele

Taekwondo Tournament

We attended our first Taekwondo tournament to watch Morgan compete.  It was quite a spectacle with all of the people and all of those black belts!  Morgan competed with the 12-15 year old color belts, of which there were only 3 others.  He was a higher rank than the other 3 (Morgan is blue), but you never know who is going to attend the tournament.

Here are some shots of him in action... this first one is while he was performing his form for the judges. He wanted me to get a picture of him in one of his kicks - I'd say I did a pretty good job, even though I was far up in the stands!  You can see Michael standing on the left side of the photo by the judges - he was taking video with his phone.

This next one is of him sparring with an opponent.  Again, I captured him mid-kick!

And here he is getting scored.  The judges hold up their fingers to indicate their score.  If they hold up 7 fingers, the score is 9.7.  Morgan got a 9.7, 9.7, and a 9.8.  Michael is leaning forward to see the scores.

And finally, here are the fruits of his labor... two first place medals!  One for forms and one for sparring.

 Fun times!

Maddox's Valentine Robot

For Valentine's Day, the kids were asked to create a box in which to collect Valentines from their classmates.  They wanted them to be creative - not just a shoebox with candy hearts like when I was a kid!  This is what Maddox and I came up with:

It was a hit - although it couldn't compete with the dancing flamingo box that another little girl brought. :)

Michele

Beautiful Ski Day

We have Maddox in a ski school at Breckenridge this season and it is going very well.  While he was in class today, the rest of us enjoyed a simply glorious day on the mountain!

Go Karts - Again!

We had such a wonderful time the last time we rode these Go Karts, and since the weather has been so nice, we just had to do it again!  This time, however, I brought my camera in the Kart with me... which explains why some of these photos may be a bit blurry... hard to take pictures when you're racing around a Go Kart track!

Once again, Maddox paid VERY close attention to the instructions.  He loves these Go Karts, but he definitely has a healthy respect for their power.

Here I am following him - it's just the cutest thing to watch!

I managed to snag a couple shots of the big boys, but they had to slow down quite a bit for me.  That's Mason in the 24 car and Morgan is behind him.  Michael went by too fast for me to get a picture of him.

All done, and Maddox gives his race a big thumbs up!

My race car drivers!

...and I had Mason take this one just to prove that I can hang with the big boys.  (and take pictures while doing it!  ;)

Fun times!

Okpik

Okpik is one of many "High Adventure" Scouting activities.  This one involves winter camping in a quinzee fashioned out of snow.  Think igloo, and you have a good idea of what their shelter is like.  I stayed at home with Maddox, but Michael went with one other dad and took a total of 9 Scouts with them.  This wasn't their first time in a quinzee, so they knew what they were getting themselves into.  Although the weather was gorgeous, it did drop below zero and they all earned their Polar Bear patch.  Just remember, however, that regardless of the temperature outside, inside the quinzees (if they are built properly), it is always 32 degrees.

They had to hike out to where they were to build their quinzees.  One guy pulled a sled while the other one pushed with the ski poles.

As a matter of organization, they hung all of their food packs on pegs on this pole.  They were numbered so they knew which one was theirs.

This is Mason with his good friend, Matthew, working on their quinzee.

Morgan and his "roommate" have a pretty good mound going.  To build a quinzee, you pile up a tall mound of snow and once it's taller than you are, you let it sit for several hours so the snow can settle.

After it sits for a while, you start hallowing out the inside, stopping when you start to see the sunlight through the snow.  This is what it looks like inside once the quinzee is built.  The beds are built up above the door to keep out the drafts.

Here is Michael's "roommate," Sean.  He's a seasoned quinzee-builder as well.

Winter camping is always an experience... especially here in Colorado!

...that's why I usually stay at home.  ;)
Michele

A Visit From EJ!

We were blessed to have my oldest nephew, EJ, come stay with us for a few days in early January!  We took him to ice skate on the lake - one of our favorite winter activities. They still had ice sculptures left over from their New Year's celebration.