Busy Weekend

This was one of the most fun weekends I have had in quite a while, which is saying alot since I usually have pretty fun weekends. I took a day off Friday to spend with my sister and to start celebrating Chris's Birthday. We went to the north shore and spent some time hiking at the Audubon park at Wiamea Bay. We took the easy paved path to the falls and spent some time enjoying the view. On the way back we decided to try a little more difficult hike on the way back which was a single track that went up and down some steep hills with a few loose rocks to make it interesting. I stayed back to help Chris navagate a tricky section when we heard Gina, Heather and Courtney Scream. Apparently a wild bore ran out in front of them. Needless to say, we headed back to the paved path. We headed over to the ocean for a swim. Unfortunately we forgot our snorkeling gear but I was able to work on my swimming using the book Full Immersion Swimming. I think i need to work on it in the pool as I swallowed a bunch of salt water.

After Swimming we went Cholo's Mexican Restaurant in Halewa for some great Mexican Food. We have been wanting to go there for several months and were not disappointed.

Chris's Birthday was Saturday. We went to Waikiki to the outdoor Mass at the Hale Koa. It is a beautiful Mass but a bit hard to concentrate with the great views and the people walking by.

Afterwards we went to our favorite Italian place Auntie Pastas for another great meal.


Sunday I got up early and headed to the Race. It was a perfect race. Check out Dev's Blog for a complete run down and great pictures: http://devsfitnessjourney.blogspot.com/

I rushed to my graduation at the O Club. It was a nice ceremony that Ben, Chris, the girls Gina and My boss Linda and her Husband attended. It was great having a cheering section as I walked across the stage.

Afterwards, I was treated to a nice surprise thanks to Mom and Dad with some help from the rest of the family, including Ben.

One Year Later

Yesterday marked the 1 year anniversary of my brothers death. It is hard to believe it has been a year since the army staff car arrived at my parents farm to deliver the news that Josh was killed in Afghanistan. We all miss him so much.

Heather's Home and Courney is in High School

Monday afternoon Heather flew in from Illinois for her summer break. This year she is just staying with us until the 2nd week of July so she can try to get a job for the school year. I am trying to convince her to race in the Hickam Crit but she doesn't seem to think it would be much fun. Hopefully I can get her to do a couple of weekday HACC rides. She enjoys riding but my bike doesn't fit her the best and she is not used to road gearing and shifting.

Courtney's 8th grade promotion party was Tuesday. I can't believe she is going to be in High School. It seams like yesterday when she was 11 months old and we were PCSing from Offutt to California.

Friday night, Ben and Casey came over for supper. We got out the poker chips and played some high stakes poker. I was making Margarita's until I ran out of tequila and had to make them with rum and whiskey. They didn't taste the best but they had a bit of a punch.

Taken a Break from the Bike

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Today is my 23rd anniversary. Two of the last 3 anniversaries have been over shadowed by PCS moves so we decided to do something special and stay at the Hale Koa in Waikiki Saturday night. I was still planning on riding Saturday morning but when I woke up after 6 am I figured I would just get some more sleep as both of the rides had already started. We checked in around 3 pm before going to Mass at the Fort DeRusey Chapel. We were a little disappointed in our room as it was one of the children rooms with a pretty uncomfortable full size bed and thin walls. But still it was nice to be down in Wiakiki so we couldn't complain too much. After mass we headed to our favorite Italian place on the Island: Anti Pasta's. Getting there before 6 was great as we got right in. I had the chicken cachatorie and Chris had the Egg Plant Parmesan. After dinner we walked along the beach and the stores. There was a Pan Pacific Islander Festival going on with a great band. We set and listened until they completed their set. We walked back to the hotel doing some window shoping along the way. When we finally got back to the room we were bushed but the people in the next room were talking so loud that we had a heck of a time sleeping. This morning we had breakfast then headed out to the beach. It was a great day for sitting on the beach. I tired to swim but my shoulder still is bothering me. We had to check out at noon so we headed back to the base. We stopped at McCully bicycle store just to check it out since I didn't have much time the last time I was there. They have pretty decent prices but I couldn't find anything that I couldn't live with out. After we got home and had some lunch, we decided to take a drive to the Windward side and do some hiking. Chris wanted to see if she could make it all the way to the Light house which se did sucessfully. We could tell the exercise was really helping her get in shape as last time she had a hard time getting half way up.