Author: amyewhitelivecom

So Proud of Our 2nd Degree Yellow Belt

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This week Quinn tested for his 2nd Degree Yellow Belt.  One of the main elements of the testing is to learn the \”forms\”.  To get from white to yellow belt, you have to learn a 6-step form.  To get from yellow to 2nd degree yellow, you have to learn an 18-step form.    It\’s really difficult to learn the right-left, kick-punch, turn, etc, etc.  And Quinn had a really tough time with it and one point he thought maybe he should quit.
But he didn\’t.  He persevered.  And look what he did.

2nd Degree Yellow Belt Forms from amy white on Vimeo.

He also broke this board in one hit!!  I thought I was getting a video of it, but I only got this one shot.

He earned this 2nd Degree Yellow Belt and we are beyond proud of him for working so hard and not giving up.

And his instructors are amazing.  When Quinn was having a hard time learning his forms, Master Solstig took him in to his office and gave him a long pep talk about how it\’s OK to try and make mistakes.  But he has to try.  Master Solstig is such a positive influence. 

And Master Ocampo worked really hard with Quinn to help him learn his forms.  Both of these guys are super nice and full of positive messages, but also super bad asses on the Taekwondo floor.

Happy Nerdy Birthday Don!

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We have a friend who works at NASA\’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena and we were talking to her about getting us tickets to the always sold out annual open house.  She told us we could go to the JPL website and sign up for a tour.   
I looked at the tour dates available and one was September 12.  Done!  Don\’s company encourages them to take a personal day on their birthday so we pulled Quinn out of school and drove to Pasadena.
We were surprised that there was quite a large group for our tour, maybe 70 people, and they broke us into 2 groups. 

Quinn was so excited for his day at JPL!  And his teacher fully supported this education hookie day.

A replica of the Mars Curiosity Rover that was built at JPL.

Love this sign that is on the wall.

This might have been my favorite part of the tour.  Mission Control.  If you saw the landing of the Mars Curiosity then this would look familiar.

One happy dude!

Don and I also had a night out for his birthday at one of our favorite restaurants.  Beautiful golden mountains in the background.

And Quinn picked out a couple of special gifts for Don.  A Slytherin tshirt (from Harry Potter) and some Space Pants (from Saturday Night Live).   Don thought they were pretty great.  Happy Birthday Don!!!

9-11

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On Sunday we went down to Malibu for a little fresh sea air and to take in a couple of 9/11 events.
We started at Malibu Seafood.  Good food and a view!

Quinn thought it would be hilarious to take a picture of this art work and then add the words.  So here you go!

We picked Malibu Seafood because there was a large group of motorcycles riding from the navy base in Oxnard down to Pepperdine and they would ride right by us.

A couple of unimpressive photos from the ride.  There was quite a large group of bikers but they were very spread out.

Each year Pepperdine University creates a tribute of flags on their front lawn.  Each flag represents a life lost on 9/11.    It\’s quite a remarkable sight.