Today is heavenly.

Not only is it Friday, it is also one of those rare Summer-Spring days. Sunshine, blue skies, high temps all in the beginning of April. Just a taste of summer a little early. All around the neighborhood you hear the hum of lawnmowers, smell the tang of a smoking BBQ and see balls bouncing above the fence line. By Sunday the rains will be back but that won’t matter because right now, I’m thinking strawberry lemonade and ice cream cones. Yum.

Leina had her first Karate class today. She was so amazingly adorable in her little outfit that I was laughing so hard, I started crying. Watching her learn her kicks and punches was a sight I will never forget. The kind instructor even lent me her camera and I got to snap a few shots. Hopefully she will forward them to me and I can post them here.

Leina’s responses were hilarious. When the teacher was trying to teach her how to block, she asked Leina, “what would you do if I tried to pinch your nose?” Leina’s response, “I would run away!” When the teacher reached for her nose and told her to “block” her hand, Leina immediately reached up….. and covered her nose with both hands. The teacher cracked up and had to show her how to push her hand away. Every time she yelled “block”, Leina just covered her nose and laughed. I hope I got a picture of that.

Next, they played Push and Pull. The idea was to teach Leina how to jump up quickly and get back into fighting stance after a fall. The teacher would (gently) pull or push her over and then encourage her to jump back up. Leina let herself get pulled over a few times and then announced she was “done” with that game. She wanted to do the balancing and the kicking and wasn’t so excited about falling. That’s my girl! Kevin gets to take her tomorrow for her group class and I might have to warn him about the dangerously high cute level she emits. This is the best $40 I’ve ever spent!