Girl is on fire

There are far too many months where I'm aghast at how few 'outdoor' activities I've planned for the family. This wouldn't be nearly as a big deal, if say, we lived in wintry Idaho...but we live in year round tropical weather and utter beauty. So unfortunately for me, this just becomes embarrassing.

Were it up to me, we'd spend most weekends in a tightly closed up, sterile, very air-conditioned hotel room overlooking the gorgeous, clear blue sea. However, we would not actually enter the clear blue sea...because of duh, the sand. Well- sand, sharks, sea urchins and jellyfish. (What a fun gal I am, indeed.)

But seriously, the truth is, once we're actually engaged in the activity, I usually feel pretty good, and end up having such a great time that I immediately plan a few more. This certainly appears to the case this month, as we've had some decent momentum, even after returning from Japan:

• My friend Vicky and I went on a run our friend Ragni told us about along the shore, and despite both of us having lived here most of our lives...we were stunned at how beautiful the run was!
• Ragni and I our boys to swim/play at Anaeho'omalu Bay, while we ran the Lavaman race course (a beast along the shore through thick sand and loose rocks) and lunched at Lava Lava Beach Club after. She's doing the race in a few days
• Rich and I went to Rainbow Park in Waimea with my brother and SIL, and then went to check out Mud Lane...it was gorgeous, that now I'm planning a fun run there with friends soon!
• Ry, Rich and I went to see Beauty & the Beast one night, but one member of the party...and I won't mention names, went home before the show started, because she wanted to watch some shows on the DVR and eat popcorn instead. And the theater doesn't sell popcorn. So whose fault is that, really?
• Yesterday we hiked down to Kealakekua Bay (it's been a few years), and were rewarded with the usual vibrant, fully-stocked aquarium like scenery. But this time, we also got to see spinner dolphins up close, as they kept swimming among the people!
• Today I went on a much needed, slow and easy, scenic 10-miler (my first double digit run in over a month) with Ragni. Unfortunately, around mile 7.5 of our epic run past turtles, hungry mosquito fish nibbling on our toes, fishponds and seawalls...I went splat. Flat like a pancake on the pahoehoe rocks/dirty (thank God it wasn't on the sharp jagged lava, or it would have been dramatically worse). This was my second big fall in two years, and I'm now partly terrified of running on uneven paths. My poor knees are a bit scratched up/swollen, but I think I also somehow got whiplash. My neck has been really sore, and I may have sprained a pinky. I have a solid half dozen minor cuts/bruises, and dug out a few pieces of gravel embedded in my left palm while I was in Target after the run (after noticing them in their very good lighting). Thankfully, I don't have any serious injuries, I don't have any upcoming races and I was with a friend, so all's well that ends well.

A few pics of the memories (because I am Japanese, and because I have an iPhone...so our lives are very well documented):

The run along the sea with V...look at the horizon. It's like, so obvious the Earth is like, flat and stuff.

Beauty & the Ryan

The hike down to Kealakekua Bay, about 2 miles, and a drop of 1500 ft or so.

Okay, this one needs an explanation. Ry had a friend over, so I made them a Japanese-inspired teishoku/bento using a few things we picked up in Japan. Goma/sakura, ume and furikake musubi, with tofu, mikan, ringo and Shiroi Koibito!

Mud Lane

Today's scenic run until the big splat

After I took a 'bath' in a public restroom sink. Clean, but a bit bloody.

These mosquito fish were a quarter of the size, and ten times more skittish than the doctor fish that nibbled on us in Manila, but for the price and convenience, I'll gladly take these!

Such a busy February would normally mean you're unlikely to see me leave the house until June, but we have a fun March coming up- will have family from CO and the circus in town soon, I start my new job, there will be a few Girls Day festivities, a 4-mile race for myself and my nephew (his first, but part of the final test to earn his black belt), the Mud Lane fun run with friends, a stay at a resort with the extended family, Spring break (!!!), my baby daddy/bae/boo/old man turns a year older and I want to celebrate, a friend is racing Lavaman and last but not least, karate spring training down in scenic Waipio Valley! Geesh, I had no idea it was that much until I just typed it out. :-0 

I'm a bit intimidated now...I feel like I need to cancel half of it so I don't stress myself out and require so many sleep aids. I'll do my best to buck up and get it done, but for sure, I will do my best not to leave the house in the month of April. Rich can slide my meals under my bedroom door. It'll remind me of my prison days.