More Karate

The boys are still really enjoying their time at karate.  

Tour through Whole Foods

A few weeks ago we were able to go on a tour of the new Whole Foods in Folsom.  This is such a cool store, although a bit pricey for our weekly shopping.  

 We started our tour seeing the bakery where they bring in goods from local sources.   Also the coffee and juice bar, where you can have all kinds of things made including fresh pressed nut milks.  

Here our guide let us all try their fruit snacks, supposedly better than that Betty Crocker variety, but still with a good amount of sugar.  They were yummy!

 Then it was over to talk a bit out their body care items, then to produce.  

Such a bright and beautiful sight, they try their best to stock from local farms.

Over to the meat counter where the butcher showed off some of the sea food.  

He's also an Alaskan fisherman and works as a butcher in the off season, so cool. 

 They have a large section of bulk items. 

 Including the grind your own nut butters.  She let us try the one with chocolate chips; with apples to dip, it was quite the snack.  We were also able to see their different oils and vinegars they have in bulk, including a peach vinegar that was divine to smell.

 The deli was next on our tour, where they have over 200 kinds of cheese.  

Wow.

 A favorite for the kids was the trail mix bar, including mini peanut butter cups. 

 At the end of the tour the kids received some stickers and a sucker. 

This tour was not as "behind the scenes" as the Raley's and Safeway tours we've been on, but it's such a cool store anyway.   We would highly recommend it!

Karate

For Christmas, the boys received a month of Karate and yesterday was their first class.  We went in on Monday to sign them up and pick up their uniforms, then came back and watched a bit of another class.  I think this calmed the nerves a bit as we're pretty sure Cody thought he was going to have to fight someone in class.  (We watch a bit of MMA, maybe too much!)

Before their class time one of the instructors took them back for an introduction so they could get the lay of the land.  They did really well in class and the instructors all thought they were great.
Waiting for their class to start.

 Their instructor coming down to great each of his students

 Punch, notice the air under Tyler's feet.

 Cody was doing well turning into his punches

 A few push-ups, he's getting better at being more in a plank and not a tent...

 The class split for different levels and such, the boys were pulled aside to learn a few things one on one.

 Next they grouped back up to practice kicks and punches

 At the end of class, Cody and Tyler had done well through their first class and earned their white belts.

Basketball

Cody's final basketball game of the season was this past weekend.  He loved playing again this year and as much as I didn't love the coaching, we will most likely play again next season.  He did improve throughout the season, as in soccer, defense is his strong point.  

Here he is with his rock star team, they only lost 1 game!

 His medal and certificate for the season

 

Next to the final score of the game.  

Australia Project

For our homeschooling group we presented a culture project, each family picked a country.  Our choice was Australia as we could have some help from Uncle Eli if needed.  

The boys did a good job going through a great book we found at the library to find some points to talk about.  Then found pictures, a flag and a country map to color for our display.  We used Cricut to cut out some people and dress them up like an Aussie in the outback and and Aboriginal tribesman.
Some goodies to try...

 The boys did well with the presentation.

 Here's our project display...

Star ECO Station

Last week we had a field trip to Star ECO Station in Roseville.  It is a very fun place to learn a bit about the environment and see different  types of birds and reptiles.  They are also a rescue for animals that people have surrendered that are exotic or illegal.  Our guides were very knowledgeable on all the animals that live there and showed us around. 

We started our tour in the front room getting to see and touch a few of the animals that live there. 

 Next we moved back to the first room where the reptiles live.

They had two big pythons, this one hadn't eaten yet and was very active.

 

 Then we went to the first of bird rooms, the "quieter" of the two.

 A lot of these birds would talk as well as move around to different commands.

 The second room was full of bigger, louder birds. 

Beautiful Macaws

 Next was the small aquarium room.

 A stuffed puffer fish they had to show.

 We ended back in front room and watched as they fed some of the box turtles worms.  

The boys really liked this part.

They do a lot of special events throughout the year, I would encourage everyone to check it out!