Tonight I was reflecting on the great health care we’ve had through the military over the past couple weeks. Sammy has had two ear infection bouts that were pretty painful – affecting both inner and outer ear on both sides. He handled it all very well and enjoyed getting lots of yummy pink syrups (antibiotics and Tylenol). He slept through most nights (surprisingly), even with a pretty good fever during the second round of earaches. Needless to say, I was a tiny bit concerned about the recurrence given that he has none of the usual risk factors for ear infection, certainly not recurrent within a week.

here’s sammy making me some “coffee” this morning while we were on base. a quick trip to the beach is always a good idea 🙂

tonight i learned why it’s important not to run at the marsh with a headlamp on at night…see video below of toad eating bugs swarming to light to understand fully what i experienced…sammy thought all the spitting sounds were funny 🙂

We had some nice family time this weekend. On Saturday we went to base after dinner for a walk – treats in hand for dessert 🙂 We walked down to a little bridge over a stream feeding the fish ponds. The stream flows pretty fast, so I thought it would be fun to try playing “Pooh Sticks” – seeing which stick crosses under quickest (one of Pooh’s games). Sam and I had been looking forward to bringing Daddy to this particular bridge to play Pooh sticks, so it was neat to sit on the bridge, watch the fish (and sticks) cross under, and munch on our cookies. We even had a celebrity guest visit us! The huge puffer fish we found while running on this trail came by! I think he swims upstream along the edge looking for food, then he seems to float out into the middle where the current is fast and floats backward back down the stream to start his “route” all over again. Dave finally got to see this huge fish and knows that I’m not crazy. We actually saw several different puffers while we walked along the trail.

Then the adventures continued…Sam and I saw a huge toad lumber in front of us while we were looking at a large bulldozer on base. The toad spooked me because it lumbered like a rat, it didn’t hop. Sam was like “I want mommy to come!” meaning to come away from the toad. I tried to tell him it was fine, just funny. He was not convinced. Then yesterday I was transplanting some ferns and was clearing away some mulch. With my last stroke of the garden tool, the ground shook like a bowl of Jello, then lurched! YOW! You should have seen ME hop away! Dave likes to exaggerate my “toad dance” a bit, saying I was even shaking out my hair (huh?!) and prancing and dancing all around shrieking, and pointing dumbly at the ground. Then I brought Dave over to see and he still could NOT see it even with me pointing 24″ away. I think he was trying to get me to touch it or something. Those toads are really camouflaged! And they’re huge. I couldn’t believe he was hiding an inch under the ground, almost like he was hibernating. If you don’t believe me, and how fascinating they are, check out these links 🙂

inside a cane toad’s head – pretty funny computer graphics

this documentary can be rented on netflix! (I already moved it up to #1 in our queue!)

Sammy and I go on “dates” on Wednesday evenings when Dave is in class. Usually we take his mountain bike over to the beach park and go for a ride, then stop at Kalapawai for a dessert treat. Last time we had NutterButters. This time when we walked in he went straight for them – he never eats candy nor picks it off a shelf at the market, and has not been exposed to the wrappers, so I was a bit surprised he recognized them! He must really file away the good stuff in a special place in his brain with instant retrieval access – the sweets go in there! But I suggested we try Reeses PB cups. He has had those in Coldstone treats so his eyes totally lit up when he saw them! The picture above is biking back to the truck from Kalapawai. I brought my sleek, stylish, chic headlamp with me so we could use it. I put it on then he wanted it on. It has a red light setting for night vision…. think Alias (a TV series we enjoyed) and all the mischief one can get into with a sleek night-vision headlamp… So here he is with his headlamp on – you can see the outline of the cheeks!

Sammy’s friends Frank and Dominic (who we know from our North Shore turtle guarding duty) came to Kailua today to play in the tide pools with Sam. We had such a blast! The tide was way high, so it was fun for even older boys. Dominic caught some big waves while looking for fish and Frank helped Sam “surf” on his boogie board. Actually, it took four of us to stabilize the board and Sam so he could pretend to surf since the waves were pretty good even in the shallow tide pools. Sam got the little bend in his knees right, arms to the sides, and really enjoyed the rollicking waves. He also seems to enjoy the wipeouts, which is fortunate! They played pirates and dug up some sunken treasure (a big rock) then took it back to sea. While the boys played, Nancy and I enjoyed chatting without having to also ward off marauding tourists 🙂 Nancy is a lot of fun and very down to earth. Her husband Vince reminds me of our east coast friends – he talks fast and has a great sense of humor. Afterwards we all came back to our house (Nancy has a super-cool truck with a built-in child seat so Sam could hang with big boys!) for smoothies and some music. Frank played the guitar for us and Dominic played fierce pirate. Enjoy the photos, and thanks again for a fun time boys! They start school tomorrow…

Pictures from July are now posted in the album. We had a great month with Dad and Marilou’s visit kicking it off on July 4th. Sammy is now riding his mountain bike up and down hills (learning to brake and turn at the same time is proving to be a challenge!) and Dave continues his coursework on Wednesday evenings. There are a lot of pictures this month – I hope you have a few minutes to unwind and connect with us. As always – we love hearing from you, so please drop us a line and let us know what made you smile or laugh 🙂 Aloha nui – Alli, Dave and Sam

 

A new sunscreen was just approved for use – it provides what is called “physical” (vs chemical) protection from damaging ultraviolet rays. It has very broad-spectrum coverage from UVA-UVW and the product does not denature into damaging free radicals once exposed to the sun.  However, it must be applied with a very special technique. Sam recently completed his training and is demonstrating the technique here. The product is called “sandblock” and can be found in most coastal areas. The technicians who apply it are more difficult to find. Sam would be happy to take care of you, though!

The pictures above were taken at the annual honu (turtle) guardian gathering at Laniakea beach. My friend Dana joined us for the outing. We enjoyed catching up with other guardians and especially seeing many turtles up close. Two were up on the beach – one on the sand and another came up on the limu (seaweed) shelf. This turtle enjoyed a nice salad bar for dinner. Sam loved swimming and hauling up on the sand like a turtle. While he was swimming, a very large turtle (probably at least 200lb) swam within inches of us. He came up for air and spit out some water from his nostrils. It was really beautiful – but somewhat surreal that this is almost commonplace here. When Sam grows up I hope he remembers how magical these moments are. Sammy started out his morning swimming in our pool, paddling underwater and holding his breath just like the turtles. He is learning to swim by watching them. It’s really unbelievable the life he has here.

Dave and I had a good laugh reading this article in a MCBH monthly activities guide. It just struck me as funny looking at the MCX Deli menu options. (See middle right of page.)
Mon – Chili with beans.

Tues – Chili without beans.

Wed – Chili with beans.

Thurs – Chili without beans.

Fri – Chili with beans.

Sat – Chili without beans.

Sun – Chili with beans.

I wonder if someone out there actually made a mental note to be sure to hit the deli on Tues to catch the beans? Dave was saying it with a funny southern accent. I guess you had to be there, but we were giggling 🙂

Sammy had his first hair cut at a real salon today. Until now I’ve been doing it in his kiddie pool – chasing him around as he swims. (I got a trim as well – it’d been 6 months since mom helped me chop off 12 inches in our backyard to send to Locks of Love.) The stylist, Laura, was very sweet and Sam enjoyed himself. He sat very still and watched carefully, making some funny faces along the way 🙂 At the bottom right is our friend Sheena who came along to help watch Sam while I got my hair cut (THANK YOU SHEENA!). We rewarded the little guy for his great behavior with a trip to the “big big playground” on base. Tonight I took him mountain biking at the beach park while Dave was at his class. We had a great time. He is doing really well learning to pedal, even standing up on his pedals at times when we’re “off-road.” Tomorrow we head up to the North Shore – hopefully we’ll see some turtles haul up onto the beach.

We had a nice walk on the Friendship Garden trail in Kaneohe.  The view from the top was pretty cool.

Here we are with our medal. Thanks for requesting a picture of us modeling it, Becca 🙂 Sammy brought “BIG RED CAR” (of course!) to the race, so he wanted BRC in the picture as well.

Sammy and I finished 2nd in a race on Sunday! I was so shocked to find the results on Monday morning. We’d left soon after finishing so we could meet up with the family for breakfast. I never expected to place against people not pushing a stroller. We ran really well and Sam enjoyed the race. Lots of people asked for Cheerios along the way, or to hitch a ride 🙂 (In case you’re wondering, 8K is 4.971 miles.) Dave and Dad came along as race crew and official photographers. Our medal is being mailed to us 🙂

A note on racing with a stroller…

This was my first medal win since Sam was born – I haven’t run any races without him, and very few races in the country have stroller categories so my time is compared to other entrants in my age group. Despite this, we have placed in the top 10% fairly consistently, and it looks like the first race with a stroller category will take off in a few months. When I mentioned the need for a stroller group last year to Raul Boca (he runs BOCA triathlon training and organizes many of the island races), he immediately agreed to add a stroller category to their November 10K in Kailua. He is also interested in collaborating on my strollers-only run idea this winter. Nice guy! Go BOCA!

Stroller entrants can definitely be accommodated in races, and I take precautions to ensure Sam’s safety and that of the other runners. My competitiveness has evolved over the past two years. When I first started, I was just happy to finish! Now I realize that I’m competitive even with a stroller, so I plan a bit more to ensure I have a good race, too. A few tips:

• Run with a small set of speakers and play music. People will hear you coming and it’s not nearly as obnoxious as saying “on your RIGHT!!!” Plus, many people thanked me for playing music – they enjoyed sticking with us to hear the music.
• Bring Cheerios for the last lap, and use your on-board water vs stopping at the water stations (people will trip over you as they break stride to get water).
• Run hard up the hills, then walk a few paces to catch your breath, and then speed down the hill to make up time.
• Be very nice to people you pass – it is a huge morale downer to have a stroller runner pass you, especially on a hill. I always say something nice like “I wouldn’t know how to run without him” or “I’d fall over without the stroller holding me up!” or “nice pace” etc. If it’s a course you run frequently, you might hazard a guess at the splits in case the runner wants to know.
• Size up the finish area early on so you know what to expect – how well-marked the chute is, how much room you have to maneuver while they remove your race number and log your time, etc. You don’t want to get in the way of other runners trying to sprint through the line. Race organizers should also do a better job of clearing the finish area. The race I just completed had the finish line after a blind turn, and right at a parking lot entrance. Not a good place. People were also walking back upstream on the course so I had to be fairly aggressive and loud as I came around the turn to be sure they’d clear off the course as we sprinted through. I don’t enjoy having to do that. Nobody should be on course at the finish. Racers are bonking and definitely not interested in breaking stride to avoid a collision.

I am still laughing about this one! Yesterday morning when I went in to get him, he said sheepishly, while still lounging in bed – “I have something in my diaper for you.” So I said “oh?” Sam replied with a big grin “A Yinkin Yog!” (Lincoln Log) Can you even believe it?

Today we paid respects to the USS Arizona in the morning and then enjoyed aloha Friday at the tide pools with pizza and mai tais. I couldn’t go in the water due to a procedure on my leg (two days before a race – nice). I’m pointing to the fun I’m missing in the picture above 🙂 I tried standing like a stilt on one leg, but my balance wasn’t too good. Is it possible to experience a systemic reaction to a local anesthetic? I think it went to my brain. I mentioned this to Dad on the drive home – you can imagine his eyes going wide and the ensuing questions 🙂 ha ha! Since I’m not supposed to shower until tomorrow (stitches), Dave just offered to power up the air compressor to spray the sand off me. [Dana – don’t even laugh! I know you’re plotting and scheming how you can get stitches so you can be a shower-skipper, too! When I pushed for a 48-hr reprieve, the doctor just shook her head and laughed. :)]