The last post was all about Kayla. This time it is Ashley’s turn! The day of homecoming, Ashley had an adventure with her dad. They went over to Old School Forest Preserve and did the fitness trail, which means she got to climb stuff and do exercises. They had a good time!
Last Sunday, Ashley participated in her first karate tournament. This was quite an event, held at Harper College down in Palatine area. The gym was sectioned off into 10 small arenas and a check-in area. She was competing with others her age, regardless of belt color. She chose to compete in 2 areas: kata and kihon. Kata are the sequences of karate moves that simulate fighting a group of opponents. It’s like learning a dance, with sequences of steps, kicks, punches, and blocks. She gets judged on the accuracy and speed of all of her movements, along with her form. She likes doing katas, and she has learned several beyond her current belt level. Sadly, her stances are not low enough to the ground yet, and so she did not place in that competition. She did get a great chance to see others do the katas, see what a 1st place kata looked like, and get some advice that will be helpful for her next belt test in November. Kihon is the collection of basic movements used in kata. She was judged again on form, speed, and accuracy for whatever combination of blocks or punches the judges asked for. She placed third in this event and earned a medal! The kids would go against each other 2 at a time. 3 judges would then lift flags for vote for who did best. Winners got back in line, other kid sat down. When it was done, the last two kids were 1st and 2nd place. The rest of the sitters got back in line and repeated the process to get 3rd and 4th. Once she finished, we stayed and watched some higher belt events. The sparring (kumite) events were EXACTLY like Karate Kid, without the soundtrack. =) We even had an overly intense coach, aggressive teen boys fouling each other, and a few face checks to make sure there were no bloody noses. It was interesting and fun for her to go outside her comfort zone.
As if the week were not already busy, she also had her first band & choir concert of the year on Wednesday. She was playing the flute in her first concert and singing with the choir. I have videos!
Ashley got to introduce the 6th grade band. When she was done, the lady next to me on the bleachers remarked to her family – “That girl looks like she’s 14!”.
The band had 3 numbers, but I only got 2. I was set to film the 3rd, but someone coming into the bleachers knocked my camera around and we were worried about battery life for the choir part. Here are the other two numbers. Ashley is facing away, about 2-3 kids in from the edge of her row (look to the right of the director).
Onto the choir section! They had 4 numbers in all. Ashley is right above the piano player’s head. She got a haircut recently, so she wore her hair down.
This last number featured a few soloists at the beginning. I have my personal favorite among the soloists, who of course far outshines all others. Maybe you can guess which one? =)
Weeks around here have been pretty crazy! Between school, work, karate, doctor appointments, concerts, working at church, volunteering at Save A Pet, we have been running around a lot. Thankfully, Kevin has been here because this has taken all 4 of us working together to make it all happen.
Starting this week, Kevin will be traveling a whole bunch. He goes to New Jersey this week (but just can’t coordinate schedules to see Aunt Letty, boo!) Wed – Fri, then to Seattle next week Wed – Fri, then he has a downtown event Tues-Wed of the week after that, and then he leaves on Monday 11/9 for a week in Las Vegas (for work, but he gets to tack a couple of days on to visit his best friend PJ). I will get to be single parent again for those days! It gives you new respect for the true single parents out there.
