Sunday, August 26, 2012

Saturday, August 25, 2012

I went with our Cub Scout Pack on the Hawaii Heritage Trail hike. It winds 6.5 miles around Hilo where hikers collect information at various sites of historical importance. Boys who fill out a questionnaire earn a patch. Five Cubs made the trek today. The photo with their Webelos leader was taken on a foot bridge in Wailoa Park (near the King Kamehameha statue, if you know where that is).

And this is after cooling off at Coconut Island. Yep. Cub Scouts is all about fun.

Robert is laying tile at our house. We have a fairly open floor plan so there are large rooms without a lot of walls. We decided to lay the tile diagonally so the length wasn't accentuated. I think it's tricky, but Robert is doing a great job. He is such a renaissance man! Here are two important things I've learned about tiling: 1) abandon all tendencies toward perfectionism, and 2) start with a flat floor!

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Saturday, August 18, 2012

I ran my first 5K today. Well, ran and walked. It was a perfect day in Volcano, HI. I finished with a smile and I made sure I ran the last 3/4 mile so I could show off for Robert when I crossed the finish line. I came in behind a woman with a double stroller so maybe I wasn't all that impressive.
The race benefited the Volcano Art Center. I snapped a photo as I passed. The other photo is after I passed a turn around point. I was pleased to see that there were people still behind me. Look at the time on the finish clock below. I was going to tell my running family and friends that was a 10K time! It's only slightly faster than my walking pace.
The real story of the day was Solomon. He agreed to do the race with me but insisted we walk, not run, because he had basketball practice this afternoon and didn't want to tire himself out. We knew his cousin Jacob would be running the 5K. Jacob's high school cross country team all ran. Solomon talked to Jacob and some other friends while we were waiting to start. One friend told him that he'd won $50 for placing first in his age division in a 5K. That's all Solomon needed to hear. He was in the 9-13 age bracket. He's about two weeks away from turning 14. He's fit and he knew he could be competitive. He was. He placed 5th in his age division and was the 49th runner to finish overall. GREAT job! He's at basketball practice now so we'll see how dead tired he is when he gets home.

My sister, Amy, gave me some inspiration. Amy does marathons so anything she says about running must be gospel. She mentioned that she and her son had recently done a 5K and that her son "hates to run." BLING! The light bulb came on over my head. I can make Abraham run -- he hates it, too! And here's a perfect opportunity for the mom to make the child do something he hates that is really good for him (like brushing teeth, and taking piano lessons, and eating sweet potatoes, and using correct grammar). The Hilo Bay 5K is next month and we just might have the whole family there!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Sunday, August 12, 2012

The weather today was rainy, then sunny, then sunny some more, then rainy, then overcast, then sunny, now rainy. I was contemplating living in a rainforest. We get over 100 inches of rainfall per year. Average temperature is in the 70s and average humidity is higher than that. Rainforests cover 6% of the Earth's surface but produce 40% of our oxygen. More than half of all plant and animal species live in rainforests. Unfortunately, most of them are bugs.
Things I hate about the rainforest: mildew and cockroaches. Things I love about the rainforest: fresh fruit year round, rainbows, rain drumming (pounding) on our metal roof, waterfalls, geckos, and the smell of puakenikeni. Oh, the rain stopped. Here comes the sunshine.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Sunday, August 5, 2012

We finished painting the interior. We've got some bold colors in our pallet. The boys' bedrooms are blue. I was afraid it would look like a swimming pool but I really like it!
 There are a couple of red walls in the kitchen that are going to look great with our counter tops. You can see our gold bedroom in the back. That's right -- red, yellow, and blue.
 First day back to school. Already. Abraham is in 5th grade. Solomon declined the invitation for a back-to-school photo. Abraham didn't know declining was an option and I plan to keep it that way.
I just had my birthday and here's what 48 looks like. My poor, crazy hair! I briefly considered growing it out. The good thing about long hair is you can always put it in a pony tail. The bad thing about long hair is you always do put it in a pony tail. I'm really not a pony tail person.
I thought I'd have it a lot more "together" by the time I reached this age. Turns out I feel pretty much the same as I did at 28. And this might be an indication of a mid-life crisis, but I decided to run a 5K in two weeks. See rain forest runs. I've NEVER had a desire to run before and I don't even want to train, but this seemed like a good idea. Maybe I'll come out of it with a funny story to tell. I hope the t-shirts are nice.