Here is a photo of the 6 Babes in Boots – after the 28 Feb Swamp Romp on the Marine Corps Base. After 5 miles of mud, the beer tasted really great! Now we want to do it next year, but we think it could be more difficult. We want more obstacles! Like a rope swing over a huge mud puddle! As it was, we had to climb over a few small walls, crawl through a tunnel across the sand (which was quite pleasant compared to all the other swamps we ran through!)… We got back together two weeks later for an awesome dinner at Casablanca, a Moroccan restaurant here in Kailua. Here we are…this was last night.

A friend of ours, Vicky, joined us for the fun. Unfortunately, Sue wasn’t able to make it but we had such a great time we’re hoping to make this a regular outing.

We took a hike through Koko Crater Botanical Garden yesterday as well. It was neat to see Sam pick out all the cacti after reading his favorite book – Cactus Hotel – sent to us by CC and FarFar. It’s the biggest book on the planet (about 2′ x 2′!) and very well written. It’s a model science book for youngsters. I can really appreciate the hard work that went into refining this work and making it such a standout because I struggled with revision after revision of a collaborative effort on a book for preschoolers about the heart and the importance of healthy lifestyle habits. It is being illustrated now and will be published hopefully later this year.

Today we checked out a new trail in the Honolulu mauka trail system – Ualakaa/Moleka trails. It’s a 2.2 mile loop with little elevation gain. It was pretty muddy, but that was the highlight for Sam 🙂 Daddy took a few giant slips, to our great delight. There were lots of banyan trees, and a bamboo forest. Tonight we went to hear authentic Hawaiian music played by the legends in a casual setting…I’m still trying to convince myself that I can share where we go for this very special treat because I don’t want it to be overrun. If you’re interested, drop me a line 🙂

So, two hikes, a girls’ night out, and music…and Dave got some leisure reading and a nap in! Wow. Definitely a banner weekend. Oh – and the SUN came out here for the first time in days! It’s been weeks of rain with a few smatterings of sun. We are thankful for the many blessings of living here and experiencing all the cultural and natural wonders of the island. And this weekend I especially appreciate the blessing of wonderful friends. Thanks, ladies for a great night and for your friendship. You each inspire me!