Swimming Cancelled

Not enough kids enrolled in the 2nd round of level four swimming classes this week, so it's been cancelled. The manager of the pool suggested we get maddy into private lessons, which will only cost us an extra $40 on top of the current enrollment fee we paid for the public lessons. After talking it over with the swim coach, he thinks it will only take a few more lessons before Maddy really knows how to swim free-style properly. He learns the swimming stroke techniques very well, and now it's just a matter of coordinating that with his breathing.

He's come a long way since we started and hopefully, if he's up to it, he might want to swim competitively. We will have to wait and see what his cardiologist says first before we enter him in any competitive races.

Private lessons start tommorrow and ends next Tuesday. He'll know how to swim properly by the end of it :)

Basketball Class

I forgot to charge the camera and missed out on taking more videos and pictures of Maddy learning the basics of basketball.

There were suppose to be 13 kids but only 5 turned up. Not surprising, considering the muck up they had last weekend. Everyone was told different times and venues and two of us weren't told about anything lol. Oh well, at least we made it to this one on time and at the right place lol.

The age group ranges from 6-10, with Maddy and Ben (smallest one) being the youngest of the group. They practiced different passing and dribbling skills and also shooting skills as well. Because they only had 5 players, there were no scrimmages, but they did play a few shooting games. Overall he had fun and didn't want it to end.

Bumped up to level 4

After 10 minutes in the pool during his first day of swimming lessons, Maddy was told by his instructor to move on over to the next class, Level 4. He actually completed Level 3 last summer but because he had not been in the pool since then, we thought it would be best for him to repeat the level again. Boy were we wrong !!! He was way ahead of the others in that class and I was impressed that he remembered most, if not all , of what he learnt last year.

His new instructor worked them hard and had them swim lengths of the pool with only a few breaks in between. When she approached me afterwards, she told me that Maddy has a good butterfly kick and is looking forward to working with him in this class :)

Update on Maddy

Sorry, been busy with other things and haven't had time to post any blogs on here lol.

Since the last post, Maddy has had a fun spring season playing soccer, and at the teams prize giving function, he received a trophy and the ROOKIE AWARD certificate for "seamlessly joining the team this season and becoming one of the Gold Guys!! his sportsmanship and effort are a great addition to our team." He's looking forward to playing again in the Fall.



We attended the Viva Vienna Memorial Day Festival last month and had a blast. There were lots of rides for Maddy to go on, stalls to play games and win prizes, as well as lots of american treats to eat and some light entertainment. Pictures and video to come soon.


I went along to Maddy's end of the year class party on Wednesday and boy did I have a lot of laughs. Because of the rain it was held indoors but the kids still had fun. There were games to play, karaoke, dancing and video time. Maddy especially enjoyed the dancing and will put together a video of all his whacky moves - too funny!


Maddy and I were invited to lunch with our neighbors to Old Country Buffet on Thursday to celebrate one of their daughters graduation from 6th grade. She'll be starting 7th grade at another middle school in our area. The other neighbor and her family are also leaving to go back home to Korea. These are the ladies I meet at the bus stop everyday.

For the Summer, we have enrolled Maddy in Swimming lessons at Providence Rec Centre (two weeks starting next Monday), Basketball camp (one day a week for 10 weeks at PineSpring Elementary School) and Tae Kwon Do (1/2 day for a week) at Mt Kim.

Today was suppose to be the first day of basketball camp BUT when we arrived, only one other family was there and the school was closed. I didn't know what happened and when I called to find out, the office was closed for the weekend. I was not a happy chappy and nor was Maddy. He was very dissapointed.

Anyway, if the weather holds up tommorow, we'll be off to the park for a bike ride and playtime.

That's all folks ... for now :)

In El Salvador

I arrived in El Salvador yesterday via Miami. I haven't had a chance to take a look around yet but at first glance San Salvador (the capital) seems to a nice place. I wish I could speak Spanish though! I'll be here for 2 weeks then it's off to Nicaragua for another 2 weeks then back home to DC on the 7th of July. Missing my family already!!!

A Poem for Mum, by Madison

Her hands are like rough scales on a alligator.

Her hair is like a snake slithering on the ground.

Her face is like a marshmallow floating like a leaf.

Her voice is like robins, chirping in the summer.

Her smile is like licorish bending really softly.

Brothers in Arms

Maddy got a haircut like Micah's to show solidarity with his li'l cuzzie in Australia.

Maddy wants Micah to know that this style looks GOOD! Makes you look older :)

Maddy's first soccer game

Maddy has his first soccer game today. It was a gloriously sunny day, just perfect for being outdoors. Maddy scored a goal but I didn't get it on tape since he was on the far field at the time but I witnessed it! We had a celebratory ice cream on the way home.

Soccer Practice

Maddy was all geared up with his new soccer boots, socks, shin and ankle guards, ready for his first practice last Wednesday. There were only six boys that turned up as the rest were away on Spring Break. Considering this was his first time he's ever played, he did OK. He did manage to score a goal but I did not have the camera rolling at the time, as I was too excited, jumping up and down and cheering for him.

Training Wheels No More (Pt. 2)