Last Race of the Season...And a Knit.

The last open water race in our area was called Slam the Dam and was held in Lake Mead Nevada. I used to go to Lake Mead with my best friend when I was a kid and I love it there. You will find no hotter place on earth but you can always escape into the water :). The lake is lovely and the conditions were so perfect (in my opinion) on race day.

Steve had been deathly ill and we weren't planning on doing the race until the day before when we got all sad about missing it. There's such a great vibe at races; wonderful, positive people and good fun. Plus, you get a fun t-shirt and for swim races, a new swim cap ;). See, fun.

So at the last minute we decided to go. Steve was just going to swim it alone because we ended up taking the kids and we couldn't just leave them alone on the shore ;). My angel of a cousin offered, out of the blue heavens, to babysit the kids so we could both swim. This put me in a ditherspaz because I had gotten out of the "swimming-kind-of-a-long-distance" mind set and needed to get back into it VERY quickly. Like overnight.

Anyway, the morning came and we dropped the babies off at Chris and Jess's house and drove over to the lake (about 5 minutes away from them, lucky buggers). The air temperature was divine, about 80 at the start, and the water temperature was about 79!!!! You have no idea how amazing that felt to me after my Deer Creek fandango! I turned to Steve about halfway through and yelled, "this is so great!!!" However, for that distance, it's probably better for it to be a bit colder. Your body just feels better after.

Steve had a really hard time because he had massive chest congestion and if you've ever tried relieving yourself of chest congestion while treading water, it's nearly impossible. We spent a good amount of time treading water until he could hack up his innards and now Lake Mead is about a foot deeper thanks to his phlegm. You're welcome for the visual. I sort of made Steve finish the race as he thought it might not be a good idea to swim with the way he was feeling (do I get wife of the year for that or do I get turned in to the police?). I know he was really happy he finished. Our time was terrible. Steve asked me, when the results were posted, how I felt that we were the second and third to last to finish. I told him that was about normal for me! Slow and steady, baby!

After the race. We are covered in dirt. The lake is really low (thank you California) so we had to wade through a ridiculous amount of mud at the start and finish. Yuck. Once out a few hundred yards, the lake was crazy clear.

After the race we went back to Chris and Jess's and spent the morning and early afternoon with them. Our kids got along with theirs like peas and carrots. So cute! We got pizza and went to a park and just let them run wild. At this park there are frequently mountain goats and we were super excited about that. They're adorbs, as you can see. There are signs warning people not to approach them. Really? How dumb would you have to be to approach a wild animal with massive horns? You honestly deserve a bump to the rump ;).

Adorable little mountain goats.

Later that day we went to see Hoover Dam (which holds Lake Mead together, thus Slam the Dam). That is an architectural masterpiece. So amazing. They recently completed a bridge across it and I have to tell you, job well done! It's so beautiful. It was opening like 3 days after we left so we didn't get to drive on it but seeing it was pretty dang cool. Our kids can't wait to go back.

The new bridge over the dam.

So, a knit. I still knit. I've lost my mojo a bit and I've started at least 15 million projects and have completed none. Shameful, I know. This one I had to complete because it was needed to adorn a baby's head. A really cute baby. Steve's brother Matt and his wife Hilary just had their first doodle bug, Madelyn. She's adorbs. I can't post a picture of her because I wanted to post this today and haven't got her parents permission (and I never post pictures of kids without parents permission). But here's the hat. Just the basic cotton baby hat from LMKG. They take about 20 seconds to complete and are soft and fabulous. We didn't know if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl (her parents are weird like that ;), so I knit it in a gender neutral color and waited to embellish it until I knew. Girl=button. Done.

Cotton Baby Hat for Madelyn. Cute, huh?

So there you have it. A slow swim race and a 20 second hat. Fun, right?

Peace out,

Heidi

Hawaii

I was born in Hawaii. We used to visit quite frequently when I was youn

ger. I am absolutely smitten by Hawaii and, until this recent trip, Steve and I hadn't been for 6.5 years! What?!

Steve surprised me with this trip for our 10 year anni. How cute is that? Very cute is the answer you're looking for. We took the kids (much to the dismay of most of our friends) and they had an absolute blast. So did we.

Will and Lizzy did amazingly well on the flight. It's long and hideously boring but they were super troopers (yeah, that's an ABBA reference). The only problem was keeping everyone awake once we got there. The time difference is a KILLER with kids. And me.

This trip was a bit different from our "usual" trips to Hawaii. We did a

LOT more relaxing and beach going. The kids loved the beach more than anything and they loved driving around the island just looking at the scenery (who wouldn't?).

Our first morning there was Labor Day and the day of the Waikiki Rough Water Swim. This is one of the most popular open water swims in the country with over 1,000 participants. I had planned to participate but was advised not to because I'm not yet used to sea swimming and, apparently, it has gotten extremely rough in years past. We decided to just observe. It starts at a section of the beach that is generally uncrowded so we basically had the

beach to ourselves (with the exception of the thousand or so swimmers off to the side ;). The kids thought they were in heaven. It was a great start to the day. We stayed for a few hours, went home and showered and got on with things.

We had absolutely no plan for this trip. We took each day as it came and it worked out perfectly. We decided one day to call one of my friends, and met up for s

hopping and dinner (at the most amazing Japanese BBQ restaurant). If we wanted to hit the beach, off we went. If we wanted a cultural experience for the kids, that's what we did. It was marvy.

I was afraid since there were no rides involved, the kids would think Hawaii was boring. Wrong. They honestly loved almost everything we did. Nearly every morning we'd pop over to Leonard's bakery to feast on malasadas which are these amazing portug

ese sweet doughnuts. You cannot die without having tasted one. Also, no day was complete without shave ice. We tried 4 different places and found our faves. Ice Garden and Waiola. Seriously, TO. DIE. FOR. Lilikoi with azuki beans, ice cream and mochi balls... mmmmm. The kids keep asking for it. So sad.

We decided to take them to the Polynesian Cultural Center one day and you'd have thought they'd died and gone to heaven. The PCC is this fabulous place that's owned and run by BYU Hawaii. The people that work there are mostly students and are from the

islands represented at the center which are Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Tahiti, and Marquesas. They give the kids "passports" that they can get stamped as they visit each country. All the countries have little (and I might add, very entertaining) productions which tell you about their islands. Most of them have some hands on craft or food tasting or dancing... so fun! I'm telling you, it may seem twee but if you're ever there, don't miss the PCC. Especially with kids. You'll love it.

One of the highlights of every trip to Hawaii is going to church. It's like no other place on earth. You'll never feel so welcomed and loved as you do there. I was a little kid when we moved to Utah but I'm always completely gobsmacked at how many people remember me. My dad was the bishop of our ward before we moved and there can't be a single person who was in their ward, young or old, who has forgotten them. People will come up to me and say, "you look so familiar..." . When I tell them who my parents are, the recognition registers and they regale me with stories of my parents and of myself when I was little. So cute. I absolut

ely adore the people there. Not just at church, all the people.

Will and Lizzy have asked me no less than 50 times when we can go back and if we can move there soon. Obviously we're going to have to visit Hawaii more often. This 6.5 year fandango will not do.

Since the trip was vair vair long and I failed to write everything down, I shall now regale you with a slightly out of order photo log of the trip. Here goes...

Our first day at the beach. How cute are those kids, I ask you.

Some of the crowd getting ready for the Rough Water Swim. Notice the idiots in wet suits? The water was 79 degrees and the air temp 85. Get. A. Grip.

Japanese BBQ with Kahala and Kira (Will's part time girlfriend).

Matsumoto. So delicious but not the "best" shave ice, as it happens.

Steve and the kids at Shark's Cove. They would ride on his back and stick their little goggled heads in to look at the fish.

Um, pardon me but how cute is this?

Our doodles with a sea turtle. Highlight of their day.

Happy family on top of the Pali.

Getting blown away.

Will and Lizzy with a Samoan Chief at the PCC.

Will and Lizzy with a cute Samoan lady who helped them make toys out of grass. Immensely clever.

Us with some Fijians. You would not have believed the size of the man on the left. He was very nearly a giant.

Steve jumping off the rock at Waimea. I never have and I never will.

Will, Kira and Lizzy at Ko Olina. Amazing, calm, man made beach.

Lizzy made some adorable little friends at Ko Olina.

Kahala and I collapsing the ridiculous floaties the kids were playing on. They took FOR. E. VER.

The babies at the swap meet. It's always at least 180 degrees there but I love it and can't miss it!

Some love on the boat out to the USS Arizona Memorial. The kids actually loved that too.

Oil seeping up from the Arizona. Still. It's oddly beautiful and haunting.

And finally, my little doodle pointing to Hawaii. He really got on board with Pearl Harbor. The fact that it all happened right there was pretty fascinating to him.

So, I'd have to say it was an amazing trip. Loved nearly every minute of it. There were a few breakdowns but that's to be expected when traveling with bambini, right?

Peace out,

Hedi