A Day in the Life of...

Run, run, as fast as you can...you can definitely catch me...

...because I'm slower than last year.

November 1, 2008: Koloa Sugar Mill Race. Karen: 10 miler. Brady: 5K. Zachary: pre-6am wake-up.

I seriously went out planning to win this thing. Last year, I was able to take it for the girls (as you note from the picture above, this is not terribly impressive considering the numbers running...), and I fully intended to race for it again. There was a lady from San Diego that I ran with (read: labored to keep up with) for six miles, before I finally had to let her go. I ran my heart out, but only finished at a 1:15, or 7:30s. Boo. Lesson learned: you can't train at 8 min miles and run 7 min miles. The real kicker? The lady who beat me ran a slower time than my time last year. Boo.

Brady ran the 5K. He enjoyed it, but was hoping for something in the 18s. He ran a 20:15, which is two minutes off his best time. However, his best time happened to come after months of training for a half marathon with me years ago, and currently his workout regimen consists of two runs and basketball once a week. He's happy with the way things are, and I'm happy he's running with me every Monday night! Zac loves the jogger, too.

We ate breakfast, chased Zachary around (who chased this water container around), and had fun talking to people while we waited for awards.

Good things come to those who wait! We may not be terribly thrilled about our mug and metal, but we were ecstatic to win a free night at the Hilton! Not many people stayed after the awards for the door prizes, so the man went around and started handing them out. Brady yelled, "Over here...FOR THE BABY!" and suddenly we found ourselves with a difficult decision: $10 Kauai Athletic Pass, or a free night at the Hilton.

Afterwards, we did some cow-tipping.

"It should be a dress, or nothing..."

Happy Halloween! Dressing up is not our forte, but it was required for Will and Karen's party last weekend. They had their house decked out, and it was a fun night comparing get-ups, eating yummy fix-ins, and playing games. We really enjoyed their main party game--put the name of several people everyone should know, and basically do charades. Good times.

Will and Karen stole the show with their Ken and Barbie attire. Too bad most of these shots are not full-body! The two best parts of this outfit: Ken's hair and Barbie's clunker boots.

Here's her boots, and our miserable attempt at "Sweet Home Alabama":


Dave and Julie from the 50s:

Rusty and Mandy's Kenmore machines:
Mike and Holly as Burger King and Dairy Queen:

Dawn and Jeff as Cleopatra and Pharoah:

Nic and Heidi as the couple from "Juno":
The most original...Dale and Geneiveve as Exterminator and Pest:

Wendy and John as a Queen and Napolean Dynamite (love those boots):

...and if you didn't figure out we were Captain Jack and Elizabeth, it could be due to the fact that we look nothing like them in real life, eh? Will and Karen bailed us out by lending us former costumes, and we reused them at our ward halloween party Friday night. Karen actually made the parrot to go with the themed Pirate-outfits.

Zachary loved tromping around in his outfit, and later without his outfit and (heaven forbid) stripped down to his onesie. I have a zero-tolerance policy about the onesie-only look, but rules are made to be broken???


Hope you enjoyed Halloween. Bring on the holidays!!!

Orcas Like Brennecke's, too

Apparently we live in Sea World. This morning, we received phone call after phone call that there was an orca at our favorite boogie boarding beach--Brennecke's. (Seriously, if you don't know the name of that beach by now, you do not read our blog.) The beach is a couple of miles from Brady's office, and he left for work. Five seconds later, I decided to book it down there to catch a glimpse of the beached killer whale.

The anticipation was killing me. I was sure she would make it back into the ocean before I made it down there, until Brady called to let me know she had been there since 11pm the night before. I stopped speeding, illegally parked, and saw marine wildlife up close and in person.


This orca is between 15-20 feet long, and 3,000-5,000 lbs. (I'm going to start estimating my height at 3.5 and 9 feet and my weight between 80 and 250 pounds after this range the marine biologists gave us.)
We were no further than 10 feet away taking these pictures. I wish I remembered our other camera so we could get video. She was making noises like a whiny Zachary.
There were many reasons indicating that she was ill:

• She was very underweight. The largest measured female orca weighed in at 17,000 lbs.
• She came up to the beach and stayed there. Orcas come up to beaches to feed on other marine life commonly, and easily get back into the ocean. If you notice in the picture below, her underbelly is very scratched up from slamming up against rocks before finally hitting our favorite sand.
• She was alone. Orcas travel in pods--like a school of fish. This ocra had no others with her, indicating she had said her goodbyes.All the beaches around the area were closed. There were 8-9 tiger sharks swarming the area, hoping she'd make her way back out to sea. Tiger sharks are not the gentle, harmless reef sharks I posted about a few months ago. They are the sharks that attack surfers.
  Proof that we did not just get the images off of Google. Zac could not care less about the killer whale. He wanted to play in the sand.

Orca sightings in Hawaii are exceptional--meaning very rare. They prefer cooler (i.e. polar) regions of the world. Most recently was several years ago, when two orca came up to Lawai, where one came to beach and later die. It was exciting to be a witness of this event!

The marine biologists and other specialists cleared the area. They decided she would be euthanized and autopsied at another location to determine the cause of her illness. To save her would likely endanger the other marine life with her illness. We stayed long enough to watch a memorial sevice that included conch shells and lais gently tossed on her body. It was quite a reverent feeling.

Laying Low and Standing Tall

Not a lot happened this weekend. Friday night at Brennecke's featured some good waves, and then the grill at Keoki's entertained us with their live music. (Incidentally, the only way I take Hawaiian music is live and with food in front of me.) Brady worked all day Saturday, and it was a chilly day, so we played tennis last night while Zac chased a ball all over the court.

The most exciting development of the week is Zachary's sudden ability to stand. The time he'll stand completely depends on the audience. Once he gets his proper recognition--claps and choruses of "yay"--he squats right down and crawls away. He'll do this about 20 times a day.
In fact, during Sacrament Meeting today, he stood up on the bench, let go of his hands, and squeeled so the entire congregation would acknowledge him.

Way to go, little man. I predict two weeks for his first steps.

It gets cold in Kauai, too

From the Kauai Guidebook:

"When it does rain during the day, it is usually quite short-lived, often lasting a matter of minutes... If you're inland, you will often be able to hear the rain approaching. When you hear the sound of a rushing river but there isn't one around, take cover until it passes."

In our case: 16 min, with no options for cover. Every cup holder in the stroller was overflowing with water.

Poor little man has never shivered so much.
A warm bath brightened him right up.
I believe this might be pay-back from my mocking comment to Utah's snow last post.

...and then we...

Yep, this is one of those posts with no apparent theme, but more the rambling "this is what we are up to" tone.
This week, Zachary and I decided that we need to get as good as K2 so we don't lose face in the Edwards family. We believe it will only take about 15 years of daily practice.Friday night, we headed off to Shipwreck's beach for a bonfire. (Seven Days, Seven Nights, but we will never jump off this cliff unless we are also being chased off by gunmen.) We did some boogie boarding for the first time at this location.

We decided the only difference between staying out at a bonfire until late into the night and camping is that you don't actually sleep under the stars. You avoid all the preparation, packing, and permits, you smell like campfire for a few days, eat s'mores, sing campfire songs, and yet still get a good night's sleep in your own bed after a hot shower.

Saturday, we went to watch the BYU game at Shaun's place. It was a hectic day. Although I am now relaxed enough with my Saturdays to watch a football game, I am definitely not ready to give up a beach/hike/play day. We rushed to go surfing (see that, Travis???) that afternoon. No pictures of the surfing. At this beach, you really have to watch the other person for a while--from the parking lot--to get good pictures surfing, and that wrecks the fun of playing with Zac on the beach.

By the way, props to Brady. Rather than making me get up early on a Saturday morning, or leaving me to do all the household chores, he got up early, took Zachary on a run with him, and cleaned the house with me--all before he had to leave to chaperone a youth activity at 8am!

Brady buried Zachary in the sand. He thought it was hilarious, and was still able to manage the "face-plant-then-LICK" method of eating his sand for the afternoon.
He realizes that his feet came uncovered...or someone's feet came uncovered...
...REACH!

We hope you folks in Utah are enjoying the snow.