Red Belt

Luke has been practicing Karate Tech since we arrived here in Germany and he absolutely loves it.  Every time you master something (knife defense, kata, cane defense, etc.) you receive a black stripe on your belt.  These stripes keep up with your progress.  As a blue belt Luke must earn 8 black stripes to receive his red belt.  To earn these stripes he must be able to perform the following:

Forms:  Kata1-5  (Each belt has a Kata that must be memorized)
Self Defense:  75 or more moves
Knife Defense:  25 or more moves
Pistol Defense
Escrima Form/Defense
Jagger Defense
Cane Defense

This is a LOT for a little 6 year old to remember.  When he earned his blue belt, for instance, he needed to know 50 or more moves of self defense.  So, they do add on which makes it easier to just add to what you already know.  Along the way when earning belts he's needed to know how to do front snap kicks, round house kids and spinning back kicks.  Each belt gets harder and the Kata's have more moves and get more and more complicated.  On top of that trying to remember each of them proves to be difficult and requires a lot of concentration.  It's taken Luke since February/March to earn this belt.  He's worked so hard not only in class but also at home on his own.  Tucker has started back in Karate so Luke gets extra practice working with and teaching Tuck.  

Luke's instructors offer seminars every month or couple of months.  You can earn 3 stripes at a seminar.  In the classroom Luke has green belts up to black belts in his class. The classes only last one hour and need to cater to all kids in the class, so they need to touch specific aspects of each belt.  There is very little work done on each particular belt because there is such a large range of belts in class.  The seminars are awesome because they take about 50 kids and have an instructor per belt color.  The kids are divided up according to belt color and get 3 hours of work just on what they need to know to reach their next belt.  It's a pretty intense couple of hours, but Luke loves going to seminars and getting the extra work.

 Here Luke is earning a stripe.

For some reason this picture was placed here in the order.  It should have been last.  Luke only needed a couple of stripes to earn his red belt, so after receiving them we was able to belt test.  He passed his test and Professor Jorge presented Luke with his certificate and belt.  On a side note...last weekend was the world championships in England.  Luke did qualify to go but we chose to sit this year out.  Professor Jorge and his son Master J both attended, along with a few of Luke's older classmates.  Professor Jorge won the gold medal in sparring making him the world champion.  He also received the silver medal in forms getting beat out by an Irish man.  Professor J received the bronze medal in Sparring.  They are both outstanding instructors. 

 Luke working with Master J on cane defense.

 Luke working on stick defense.

Luke performing more defense moves.  Me and Tucker spent most of the afternoon in the room through the door sitting at a table.  We ate lunch and I kept Tucker entertained while Micah watched Luke practice his skills. 

Amsterdam

       Traveling around Europe has been so much fun and the travel train continues!  This time we headed to Amsterdam.  We had been talking to friends about flea markets that were within driving distance and the largest in the Netherlands is in Cuijk (pronounced cook).  We decided to drive up for the day.  We did a little more research and realized that it was just another 2 hours to go on up to Amsterdam and we decided to make a weekend out of it.  The only bad thing about weekend trips is that you have to cram in everything you want to do in 2 days and still drive there and back.  We spend little time relaxing and more time trying to do everything we want to do while not doing some things that look fun because you are on a time restraint.  I really would have liked to visit a shoe or cheese factory and maybe have seen the country side, but we just didn't have enough time.

Around Europe Amsterdam is known as little Venice.  I LOVE Venice, so of course I would love Amsterdam too! 

Since moving to Europe we have become pro's at using public transportation.

I think these shoes might fit Uncle Kenton.  :)  

One of the souvenirs I wanted was a pair of wooden shoes.  I had no idea there would be so many to choose from!  I ended up getting the pair I'm holding.  I probably should have gotten them in my actual shoe size.  It didn't seem like a big deal at the time since I won't actually be wearing them.  It was so hard to choose.

While waiting to eat outside of Hard Rock Cafe, the boys watched an intense game of chess.  Luke really wanted to play.  He's so funny.

We've been collecting t-shirts from all of the Hard Rock's we visit, the idea is to make a quilt out of all of the them and name it "Rockin' Around the World."  

 Tuck just loves getting his pic taken. 

The day before we left Micah decided Luke needed a hair cut.  I about had a heart attack when Luke walked out of the bathroom with a shaved head!

Because Venice is surrounded by waterways there are boats everywhere offering tours.  On our second day in Amsterdam we took this cruise line on a tour of Amsterdam.  It was lovely.

A little architecture.  Driving isn't big in Amsterdam.  Public transportation is the route we took although most people bike.  Amsterdam isn't a large place so biking seems the perfect idea.  If I remember correctly there are around 4,000 bikers every day in Amsterdam.  Another fact, if my memory is correct, is the average age of people living in Amsterdam is between 18-35.  

We stayed at a Best Western and it was fantastic!  We have stayed in some pretty bad hotels while traveling and this was by far my favorite so far.  The beds were so comfy.

Of course on day two it rained the whole day.  We ended up purchasing two additional umbrellas.  

We stayed about 10 minutes from the city center, so we took the public transport both mornings and hailed cabs home each day.

 My sweet boys.

 Micah hardly ever gets souvenirs, but this sweatshirt looked a lot like the Heineken emblem.

 We were surprised to see another Madame Tussaud's.  We didn't go inside.  :( 

 Our first umbrella purchase had a tulip handle.

Crazy huge shoes in Holland!  The souvenir shops were tricky with kids.  We steered clear of the Red Light District and thought we were pretty safe.  EVERY souvenir shop, which was about 10, we went into had a section of not so kid friendly novelties.  Each shop had a section that was straight pornography!  I couldn't believe it.  This stuff is eye level for kids to see!  It was tricky maneuvering the kids away from it.  The best was when the kids would say, "hey can I have a sucker?"  They would hold it up to us and there would be a pot leaf on it.  It's hard to explain to your kids why they can't have a sucker.  We also learned the difference between coffee shops and cafe's.  Cafe's sell coffee and other drinks, coffee shops sell weed.  Huh.

The main attraction Micah wanted to visit was Heineken.  I have to admit it was pretty awesome.  Here Micah is stirring mash.

It was really hand on and educational.  The kids took turn grinding something.  I can't remember.

 Tuck was a little small, but he did give it a try.

Micah helping the boys.

You received 2 drinks to try throughout the tour.  Personally I don't care for beer... at all.  But I did learn that when drinking beer it's better to take big drinks.  When you take small drinks you get a lot of foam and it has a sour taste.  So, I tried a larger drink.  I still don't like beer.  :)

Micah drank his and mine.  He also got a free drink for answering a question right during the tour.  He was very proud of himself.

This was really cute.  You could get your picture taken and because there was a green screen you could choose your background and purchase your picture.  We decided to just have someone take a picture with out camera.  

Since this was our anniversary trip we purchased a Heineken glass and bottle of beer that had our names and anniversary date on them. 

One of these buildings was the original Dutch East India Trading Company building.  I thought that was pretty cool.  While on our tour we also saw a tour boat that was named The Black Pearl. 

 View from our tour boat.

Right next to the tower, on the left side, is the Anne Frank House.  We waited in line for an hour in the rain to tour it.  The Anne Frank House was the main thing I wanted to visit.  

 The center of the city.

Shopping area.

Micah and I on our tour.

The Black Forrest

The weekend after school ended Micah decided it was time to purchase a cuckoo clock.  We made the 3 hour drive to Triberg in the Black Forrest, and it was incredible.  The first stop we made was to purchase our clock.  We had the hardest time deciding!  There were so many to choose from, old school or new school, one day, 8 day or battery.  The list goes on.  Ultimately we couldn't decide so we bought 3.  I know it seems excessive, but they are all amazing.  They wouldn't allow you to take pics inside the stores, and once we purchased them they were boxed up and again we didn't get a picture.  We don't plan on opening them until we get back to the states to keep them safe.  I picked out a 2012 limited edition Oktoberfest clock.  Micah picked out one he liked with a slanted roof, both are 8 day clocks.  Our 3rd is a smaller one day clock, it's one of the original styles.

This building is outside of the store that we purchased 2 of our 3 clocks from.  If you look at the bottom left part of the picture you'll see a green stand with red on it.  When you put money in it this clock works!  The people are moving around and at the top people walk around also.  You can see Luke and Tuck sitting at the bottom of the clock.

 After we finished shopping we ate lunch, had ice cream and took a 45 minute hike to see the waterfall.  The largest in Germany.  Many people have made the trip to the waterfall, past kings and princes as well as American writers and musicians.

 Here we go!

 There were lots of places to stop and admire the waterfall along the way.

Every place we stopped the view got more and more beautiful.

Micah and I stopped here to rest, the kids had no problem running the whole way to the top.

 Another stop.

 Self portrait.

Family portrait.

 I don't know if we're headed up or down.

View down the waterfall.

All of us again.

Triberg is one of the most beautiful places we've been to since we got here.  It really was breathtaking.

 A view on our way down.

 The boys thought this was so cool.

Luke wearing "Ty" on his head.

On the long journey home Tuck passed out.  All that running to the top of the mountain wore him out.