Lalumanu 10K

Suzie and I had been training for a 10K charity race for the past 2 ½ weeks. Unfortunately 2 days before the race Suzie got sick and decided she’d better not run it since she was leaving the following Monday for American and didn’t want to be sick for the trip. Andy decided that he’d run it with me, even though he hadn’t trained.
So we left at about 5:30 that morning with Tyler and the Seller’s jogging stroller in the car to be at the other side of the island by 6:30 since the race started at 7:00. We miss calculated how much time it would actually take to get there and ended up being 15 minutes late. (Tyler also randomly threw up on the way there so we had to stop in the middle of some village, get him out strip him down and clean him up- he ended up being fine after that). So we pulled up to the start line, hurried and got out the stroller and started the race 15 minutes behind everyone else. The race was a half marathon, 10K, and a 3K. It was an out and back race so we got to pass everyone coming back on our way out. It was definitely not the same crowd that turns out for the Freedom Run in Provo every Fourth of July. I’ve never seen so many people run barefoot or in flip flops. My favorite was one man who ran the 10K in church shoes, dress socks, a lava lava and a t-shirt. He was probably in his 50s and ran and walked the whole way. He finished after Andy and I and jumped up and down pumping his fists as he galloped across the finish in his lava lava. I loved it.
Andy and I stood out a lot in our microfiber shirts, our Mizuno running shoes and our baby jogger. Tyler was a great sport during the run and kept dropping cheerios for the wild dogs. We had one dog follow us for about 3 miles. It was a beautiful course though, all along the beach road. I still don’t know what our time was and I don’t really care. This picture of us crossing the finish line ended up making it into the Sunday paper here in Samoa with an article about the race.

Savaii

Its been awhile and I need to catch up on my blog entries. Here's a short synopsis of our August trip to Savaii. The other larger island that makes up Western Samoa. Its about 20 years behind this island. But its beautiful and untouched. We had to take an hour and half ferry ride to get over there which was way over crowded and not very safe for toddlers. Andy was a good sport to hold Tyler most of the way over. But once we were there we had a blast!

We swam with turtles

We swam in waterfalls

And we visited some beautiful beaches.

Interesting fact; Savaii is the farthest western land mass before the International Dateline. There are some places on Savaii where on a clear day you can see to the Tongan islands which are across the International Dateline and technically in the next day. So some say - you can see into the future. We sat next to a man on the ferry on our way over who was from a village on Savaii. When we asked him where his village was he said “I live where the sun sets.” I’m not sure he even understood how poetic that statement was because when I started to tell him how true it was with the proximity of the International Dateline, he didn’t seem to follow me. I thought of that statement a lot though as I sat on the beach later that evening and watched a near perfect sunset. There I was where East meets West and Today meets Tomorrow and where the sun would set for the last time that day. I thought: this will make a great blog entry.

Kalala

This is a picture Andy took of Tyler and Kalala on Monday. I am so grateful for Kalala. I've talked about her in quite a few of my emails, but for those of you who don't get those - Kalala is our helper. She watches Tyler four days a week for about 2-3 hours and cleans my house and does my laundry. She is every mothers dream. She has made life so easy for me here in Samoa. And the best part of all is that Tyler loves her and she's so good with him. It makes me feel so good when I'm working upstairs and I hear Kalala reading books to Tyler or singing songs with him. As soon as she arrives Tyler tells her "down, down" and points to the floor near his toy bin so she'll get down on the floor and play with him. She's always telling him "Good boy, good boy." and giggles when he'll repeat a Samoan word she says. I just feel so lucky to have her during our time in Samoa.

Beach Boys

Saturday we all decided we needed a day at the beach. Although the weather looked variable in Siusega we decided to venture over to the other side of the island. It was beautiful there. We went to a beach Andy had been to on our Anniversary trip a few weeks back. It was perfect for the little boys. We were they only ones there and the water was only ankle high on the boys for yards and yards. They just walked around in the water and splashed and had a great time. I think Tyler is progressively getting over some of his beach phobias and dumped sand all over himself and walked by himself in the water. Nathan found a few coconuts and husked them to make some toys for the boys in the water. Later, Andy and Nathan played batchie (sp?) ball with them.

Chief Squish Pic

This was the "Chief Squish" picture I really wanted to post with my blog awhile back. It was on Nathan's camera and I only just found it. This is what I mentally think of - Tyler on his Samoan throne (his high chair, by the pool).

Tee Time

I've decided to take up golf. We have a beautiful PGA style course within walking distance of our house and it only costs $3 to rent a driver and get a large bucket of balls, and 9 holes is $4 a person. I haven't actually tried any golfing on the green yet. I've still been practicing a few times a week at the driving range. Suzie's a good teacher though and she helps me get in lots of practice. The boys sit in their strollers and watch us. This is one of those things I'm sure I'll miss after leaving here. Where else can you get a view like that for such a great price, within a short walk from your house?

Morning Exercise

Suzie and I decided to start an exercise plan this week after a motivating talk at church on Sunday. We've been walking in the mornings around the sports complex and will hopefully be able to run once I get my jog stroller here. One day we did a little kickboxing with Denise Austin too, just to get some variety in.
This is a picture of Tyler with my running shoes on after our morning walk. After this picture I decided to do some crunches (it had been awhile). As I laid on the floor to do my exercises, Tyler decided to sit next to me and tried to do his version of crunches too. He sits up and brings his face to his knees at the same rhythm that I do my crunches. Never can start too early.