We're in the Paper!

We made it into the local paper this week. Here's the picture from the Great Aloha Run. Ashley's counselor at school cut it out, enlarged it and then laminated it for her. She thought that was pretty cool. This was right after we had finished and were taking a much needed rest.

AAAHHH Relaxation

So, after the morning spent in the mud, grime, sand and water, we showered and headed to Bellows Beach for a night in a cabin on the beach. Of course the winds were gusting to 35 mph and the water was chilly, but what beautiful scenery. We crashed early, I think we were all asleep by 8:30 pm and up at 6 am to watch the sunrise over the ocean. We could have fished from the back porch, that's how close the ocean was.

All of the activities we do actually make us miss Jason even more. We want so much to share every moment with him. I don't think we can take the boring life though- it's just not an option. Too much to see and do, we will just have to do it all again when we have him back at home. By the way- we are counting down to R&R- only 6 weeks to go!!!

Swamp Romp 2009

We entered into the nastiest race of our lives last Saturday- the Swamp Romp. It's a muddy 5.5 mile course set up by the Marinesthat changes every year to keep the challenge high. Up at 4:30 am, geared in all the attire to keep us from chaffing and dirt clods out of our clothes, ready for the mud! On the drive over Ashley said," Why do you keep signing us up for this stuff?" She's not a morning person, in case you didn't know. We had teamed up with my friend Debbie and her two boys. The race had two qualifications to finish- keep your shoes on and finish together as a team.

We started off just fine, running through little muddy puddles. The kids were pretty much sprinting and splashing- a dream come true for all kids- to finally play in gooey mud! Let me tell you, one of the first things we did was get stuck in a mud pit and literally had to be pulled out by Marines monitoring the obstacle. Everyone coming through was stuck- they put the thickest, hardest mud to get out of at the beginning to see who will make it through. In the second mud/clay lake Hunter lost the entire sole of his shoe. It was either quit or run on a taped shoe for the remainder 4 miles. Hunter chose the tape. On a side note, electrical tape, which looks much cooler than duct tape since it's black, has NO holding power once it is wet. Unfortunately for most of the race that was all we had. So, Hunter continued to run with a boot on one foot and a ballet slipper on the other....with a trail of unraveling tape following him all the way.

We ran on roads, trails, gravel, through swamp and mud. There were also obstacles that had to be crawled through, under, over and jumped- which was pretty funny to see since all our clothes weighed an extra 10 lbs from the mud and water and were trying to fall off. We would have to hike up our pants, hold on, get a running start, and jump over. We even had a frog join us for the race through one of the swamps- couldn't resist adding his photo!

When we thought the end was near (no posted markers), we came around the corner and saw the mile of beach that we had to run on! Through the sand, a swim past a buoy, back on the sand and through more obstacles. We were dog tired. This is when we were able to get the Marines at a station to duct tape Hunter's shoe. His toes were sticking out the front and his heel in the back. I really felt bad for him, but the little dude wouldn't give up.

We only had about a mile left, so we dug deep, cheered on our team and made it through to the finish line- arm in arm. I am so proud of the team. Two almost-40 moms and 4 kids- there weren't many other teams like ours. We passed teams near the finish line who hadn't stuck together and were giving eachother a hard time that they were being passed by a bunch of kids and moms. Most of the teams were made up of military men.

We pondered when we got home what it would have been like to run with Jason on our team. He was our inspiration (knowing he's been doing this kind of stuff for the last 18 years for work) and we are looking forward to having him on Team Tuten next year! I'm sure our time will be much faster. I have included a few pictures and if I get more will post those later.

Can you say FUN!!

Today we took the FRG families on a hike to the Makapu'u lighthouse. We do one hike a month and this month's was a winner! Ashley didn't get her homework finished, so she wasn't able to come with us, sadly. We headed over this afternoon- about a 45 min drive to the opposite side of the island. This is a well known place to view whales and it didn't disappoint. We saw so many whales we stopped counting. By the time we were leaving Hunter said "alright Mom, enough with the whales"- have we been living here too long??

After taking the 1.25 mile hike up the side of the mountain we took some fun pictures and checked out all the lookout spots. Just amazing views. The two smaller islands off the coast are called Turtle island and Rabbit island. Huge and cool. We then hiked another 175 ft straight up to the old WWII bunkers for an even more amazing view. We could see Maui, Lanaii and Molokaii in the distance because the day was so clear.

On the way back down Hunter asked if he could run down the hill. He asks every time we go on a hike and I always say no because of safety reasons. Today it was on a paved road. I didn't really like the idea, but knew the question would persist if I said no. My last words to Hunter were "if you fall, just lay there and bleed; I'll be down in a minute". Of course not 30 seconds later Hunter is laying in the trail. I thought at first he was playing a prank, being the comedian he is, but this wasn't the case. He had busted hard- scraped arm, knee- YUCK! All the people walking down with us were at first laughing, then Hunter had a little swarm of girls around him, checking to make sure he was alright. He was a tough guy- one of the kids even asked if he ever cried. He made me take a picture of his wound for all to see.

We can't wait to take the whole family!

Action Packed Saturday

Today was a BLAST! It was a gorgeous Hawaii day and we took full advantage of it. This morning started out with the final ride of our catamaran trips with the FRG families. I wasn't going to go after the wild ride from last weekend, but the day seemed just perfect and we had a guest who had spent the night and thought it would be a nice treat. This was the best day on the ocean we've had. We saw 4 whales that were pretty close. They breached and spouted and it was amazing being in the water with them. We were able to stop the boat for a few minutes and check out a favorite snorkeling spot called Turtle Canyon. There were several green sea turtles and a school of black trigger fish hanging out by the boat. The sailing was perfect; we were cruising along and weren't getting soaked, the sun was shining and the views were outstanding.

After the cruise, we headed up into the mountains for some hiking. We went to the Pali Lookout and hiked the Old Pali trail and on into the Manawiliwili. It started out super windy, which was so cool for the kids and then took us along the side of the Ko'olau mountains. We were in a beautiful rainforest and it was awesome to take in the ocean views from within the mountain trail. We will definitely be heading back to this trail. I love the picture of Hunter and Nick. They look like they're hanging out on the side of a giant mountain, but they weren't up very high. We're not into mountain climbing just yet, I'm sure that will be coming later.

Another beautiful day that reminds me of the awesomeness of God and how blessed we are to experience paradise daily.

Our first BIG race

On Monday the kids and I ran in the Great Aloha Run. It's an 8.15 mile course and we did it with about 20,000 of our not-so-closest-friends! We were up at 3:45 to get to the Aloha stadium and catch a shuttle to the starting line. The streets were shut down for the runners and I couldn't believe how many people were out at 5 am on a holiday. The race is a non-profit fundraiser for local charities and a great cause to support. Jason and other soldiers ran 6 miles last week to support the cause also. This was quite the experience for us.

It was very crowded and we dodged and weaved through the walkers and tried to stay together. I wore the brightest shirt I own just in case we were separated. We caught up to several friends and chatted while we ran. Ashley, of course being the all-knowing 14-year-old that she is, decided to disregard my advice to train with us, hydrate the day before, stretch, wear comfortable clothing and set a good starting pace. Needless to say, by mile 3 1/2 she was miserable. I'm sure many around us were laughing at the conversation, or whining, that was taking place for the remainder of the race. She finished strong and after telling me this was the "worst day of my life" repeatedly, we are planning to run again next year- she liked the free stuff at the end, which included donuts, water, banana, and a t-shirt. hmmmm.......what kind of motivation am I enticing her with???

Hunter was quite the little competitor. He and I have been training twice a week for this event and he was ready! He did great except for the part where he had to stop and pee in the bushes (while 20,000 people ran by and traffic passed on the other side of the highway). He was at emergency overload; I guess some things never change. He kept a good pace and actually sprinted in the last 1/2 mile with a friend from swimming. We had to walk for about 1/2 mile so Ashley could take a breather. It pretty much killed him to have people passing us as we became the walkers. Where did that competitive spirit come from, I wonder?? I'll have to ask the Monopoly King when I talk to him.

I was glad we did it together and we did have fun. We could barely walk down the stairs or get into the Jeep on Tuesday, but it's all good. I'm thankful for strong and healthy bodies. We ended up finishing with a total time of 1 hr 30 min. I know we were running faster than that because our breaks and short walk slowed us down. Go TEAM Tuten! Next year we will run with Jason.

If you would like to see all of our pictures go to marathonfoto.com, choose the Great Aloha Run 2009, tuten, our race bib numbers were 14133, 14132, 14131.

Hunter

Wild Valentine's Day

We have been so busy trying to keep everything running smoothly. We were able to have a little fun this weekend though. On Saturday I had organized two sailing trips for my FRG ladies. Of course this trip was much different than the last. The winds were gusting to 35 mph, which made our boat go much faster. The seas were a little rough, so we were getting pretty wet from that and then of course there was the typical 5 minute down pour that we get here in Hawaii. Some people were feeling sea sick, we were all wet and cold; but after all the bad stuff, we had a very enjoyable time. The most beautiful rainbow came out over Honolulu and reminded me that through the storms in life, we have to look for the rainbows that follow. I really needed that this week. When I got home there was a dozen red roses waiting for me from a very sweet guy in Iraq. I would have preferred a hand delivery by my wonderful husband, but for now I will just appreciate his thoughtfulness.