Big Sur

It's been awhile since I updated---the last few weeks have been exceptionally busy with the move to Stockton (which I will detail in a later post). But we did get to take a fun weekend away (last weekend!) to Highway 1 and Big Sur before all the busyness—and I want to report on that first.

When we were moving to CA with the RV, we figured that one of the perks would be getting to utilize the RV on weekend overnights to see all the cool sites in Northern CA. Little did we realize how busy Joe would be with training---that Saturdays would all be booked with workouts and clinics. So last week was a rest week, which meant Saturday was off, and we decided to take advantage of it and spend a few nights on the coast. Even though the prediction was for a storm with heavy rain and big winds!

We hadn't towed the RV since we landed here in October---but it was like riding a bike. Buckle it down, hitch it up, get lots of veggie oil to burn. We took off after practice on Friday...and drove a few hours to a Wal-mart parking lot just north of Monterey. It felt strange to be living in the RV in a different location. When we traveled cross-country, it was all new and unfamiliar. Now that we've been living in it for 4+ months, it felt weird to wake up and walk out the front door to see a busy street and stores. Cool, but strange. It really is like taking your house with you wherever you go. We didn't have to pack!

Saturday morning we got going early---the forecast was calling for lots of rain, and we wanted to see some of Highway 1 without too much storminess. We connected to Highway 1 just south of Monterey.

Wow. We had no idea.

We did know that Highway 1 was going to beautiful....that it was scenic...that campgrounds filled up months in advance in the summer. Yada yada yada. But we were not prepared for how truly awe-inspiring it was. It was better than the famed “road to Hana” in Hawaii. Vista after vista after vista...and all this in the gray, almost-rainy weather....still brought us to our knees. Huge, pounding waves...rocks just dotting the shoreline and out into the water....green, unspoiled hills framing it all.

We drove (and stopped many times) for about 30 miles to a campground in Big Sur....Joe had to concentrate so hard to pull the RV, it was a relief to get rid of it so we could continue our exploring! The campground was in the Redwoods...and it was a challenge to navigate the RV to the site, to say the least. We took a bit of bark from a Redwood home with us on our back left bumper. Opps. Totally my fault: I was trying to take a photo of the precarious position of the RV, and failed to alert Joe to the impending bump.

By the time the RV was all settled in and set up, the rain had started. We drove south for awhile longer, stopped at some more beautiful vistas (and one utopian spot where a 40-foot waterfall literally lands on a sandy beach near where the waves crash ashore), visited a cool art gallery for awhile, and finally decided to brave a secluded beach in the cold rain. It was secluded, especially in that weather, and it was beautiful...but it was cold, wet, and windy, and we didn't last long.

The coolest thing is that the next day (Sunday) we returned to the same secluded beach...and caught the last hour or so before sunset....and saw the place in a whole new light and circumstance (see above photo). The waves had battered it for over a day... it was amazing to see the power of the ocean unleashed on a spot.

On Saturday, after hot showers, making fish tacos, and a chilled evening at the campground, we decided that Monterey Bay Aquarium was in order for a rainy Sunday. Rowan is crazy about aquariums, and since it was her birthday last week....we knew this would be a special end to her celebration week. Monterey Bay has one of the best aquariums in the world....and it didn't disappoint. The weather even cleared up while we were there, and we made it back to the aforementioned beach for sunset and some great photo opportunities.

One unexpected benefit of seeing the coast around the time of the storm was the sheer power and size of the waves that were produced. We had never seen waves so huge....we would just pull the truck over and watch....awestruck. I'm sure we will be back to see this coast in it's blue, sunny glory....but there was something moody, special, and mystical about seeing the gray mistiness reveal the water's size and strength.

We were energized. Which as it turned out, we needed for the coming week!

To see (way too many) photos of the weekend, click here.

Michigan Visit

Since we didn't get to go home to Michigan for Christmas, we decided to go for a visit in February instead. Joe stayed back in CA to train and finish getting things set up at the new training facility (he had a busy week while we were gone--he's very tired and not getting enough rest!) Rowan and I got to be in Michigan for a very relaxing 10 days. It was a winter wonderland while we were home--so much beautiful snow on the ground! The last few days it got really cold--down to the low single digits...and that made it feel especially good to return to a sunny 60 degrees in California!

Joe's dad continues to recover from his kidney transplant in early January. He seems to be doing great--they are still trying to work out some of his medications, so sometimes those can make him feel pretty sick. But the kidney is functioning and he's remained healthy. We spent a few nights with the Cebulskis, had an early birthday party for Rowan at their house, and Rowan even got to spend the night there alone while I went away with some girlfriends. Even though we hadn't seen them in 4 months, Rowan quickly warmed up to her Nana and Papa and felt more than comfortable in their home. Rowan loves to bake with her Nana, so they made Valentine's cookies and cupcakes for her party.

We also had dinner with Stephanie, the woman who donated her kidney, and her family. They have two boys, almost 2 and 4, so Rowan got to play and play with Benjamin and Matthew. It was special to meet Stephanie and her family--we have heard so much about them, it felt like I already knew them!

Rowan's birthday isn't until Feb. 21, but we had an early party in MI. A few weeks before, I asked Rowan what she wanted on her birthday cake...and she didn't hesitate to say "a rattlesnake!" I figured that would be a challenging theme to work with, so I asked for another idea and she settled on dolphins. So we had dolphin cupcakes, dolphin balloons, played pin the tail on the dolphin, and played that fishing game from elementary school carnivals. The kids who attended belong to my best girlfriends...so it was a party for them, and us!

We spent the rest of the time at my parent's house, plus a night at my brother's house to play with cousins and go to the Y. Rowan's cousin, Seth, has a birthday in February, too...so we had a joint family celebration for them. My sister Jenny drove up from Peoria to see us and wish the kids a happy birthday. Some highlights of being with my parents: Friday night Mr. Burger, watching Lost, reading lots of books, "grandpa, will you play with me?", Seth's truck party, swimming at the YMCA, shopping at Younkers 75% off sale, lots of long conversations, staying up late with my sister, and lots of breaks from Rowan-care! I got to spend a few evenings with friends (and one overnight at a friend's house in Grand Haven--that was heavenly!)

Joe keeps saying he has a lot to blog on---from oil collection to the new training situation. I'll stay on him to get new info up soon!

To see more pictures of our time in Michigan (mostly birthday party pictures!) click here.

Brief Update

Rowan and I were in snowy Michigan for the last week or so...I will get some photos and an update posted soon....but I just wanted to post a link to this article that appeared in the Stockton newspaper. It's about the athletes training at the Port of Stockton. It was a good thing to have happened--a few days after the story appeared, the Opinion section of the paper gave the Port a "thumbs up" for their involvement...and the Port Director is enthused because apparently they have never received a "thumbs up" in the paper before.

Click here to see the story in the local newspaper, The Record.

More soon.

Olympic Team Selection

Lots of people have been asking about the process of making an Olympic Team. I listed a short version in the "frequently asked questions" in the sidebar. But really, it is fairly simple.

First, Joe has to get a qualifying score in order to compete at the Olympic Trials. He can get this score in any sanctioned track meet between now and then. He has to score the "A" standard, which is 7850, to automatically qualify, and 7650 for the "B" standard, which should also be sufficient (they take a certain # of athletes in each event...so if only 10 have made the "A" standard, they take the next best scores down to the "B" to fill the field).

Joe will do a decathlon (he's trying to decide which one) in March, and then maybe April, to get this qualifier. Then he trains for the Trials--which are on June 29-30 in Eugene, OR. At the Trials, there will be around 18 other decathletes who have met the "A" or "B" standard, and they compete for those 2 days in a normal decathlon...and the top three finishers go to the Olympics.

The Olympics in Beijing are in August. They begin on August 8, but the decathlon isn't until Aug.21 and 22.

So that's the process.

Moving to Stockton

It was a long, hard weekend for most of the athletes here--but they got the job done! This photo was taken late Friday night, after a muddy, wet, cold day of moving lots of heavy equipment. With pole vault pits, weight lifting equipment, a high jump pit, and thousands and thousands of pounds of runways and turf....this was not an easy move. Good thing they are all in such great shape!

The Port of Stockton is an amazing location--40,000 square feet of warehouse space with high ceilings. We are very blessed to have it. The place is looking amazing (we'll get photos soon). All day Saturday, the athletes set up, unrolled mats, moved equipment, and tried to make the best use of all that space. There is still a lot to do--they have to build a long-jump pit, cut boxes for the pole vault pits, and build lots of other stuff to make it all work. But they all trained there today, and after practice Joe got a net hung so they can throw discus inside tomorrow. This is also a big blessing to not have missed any days of practice (last week was a rest week, so everyone had Fri and Sat off---although they all worked so hard, it wasn't much of a rest week!)

We have to work out some details before we move over to Stockton. Right now it's an hour's drive to get to the Port from our RV park, so that won't be doable with only one vehicle for very long. Since we don't have a free place to park our RV in Stockton, one possibility is that we will move into a house with a group of athletes. It would be less expensive for us than paying for an RV park. So we'll keep you updated.

We've been burning a bit more veggie oil than usual with all the driving back and forth to Stockton....but thank goodness it's free! I've been pumping oil into the truck from the stored oil that Joe has collected--but I had never gone hunting for it by myself (it's a little tricky with Rowan). I ventured out by myself (with Rowan...and a DVD for her to watch!) in Stockton this weekend and again today for oil--and scored some very nice oil at a Mexican restaurant today. It's a thrill to first find good oil, then get permission to take it. It's very empowering!

I also got to spend an evening with my good friend Edye in Sacramento last week. She and her husband, Rick, welcomed a beautiful baby girl named Ellyn this fall...and I got to take some pictures. If you want to see more, I posted a sampling at Flickr here. I haven't had the chance to take many photos like this since we moved...so it was fun for me.

I'm sure Joe will post more later about the Stockton facility and what's up with his training. Thanks for checking in with us.

Vids

Some vids from various workouts.

Shot


Discus


Block Start


Hurdles


Cleans. Here I am missing 310lbs. I had gotten 295lbs the set before, but this one got the best of me. Only one on video.

Training Update

Well, it's Joe here again. Lots to update on, so this entry could end up being a long one.

Since returning from Hawaii, my training has continued to be excellent. Many of the aches, and chronic issues that I had been dealing with healed while on the island. Sunshine is so important to my body's chemistry. It's like a drug. I am eager for the return of warmer weather here in Cali for that very reason. My training was top notch despite being away from Coach Pfaff. In some ways it was good to internalize some of the things I had learned from him, as there was no one looking over my shoulder. All in all, Maui was one of the best decisions that Laura and I have made since the all important decision to move to Cali. Tickets were $290, accommodations were shoestring, if not gifted to us by a friend, and we ate smart. So for a surprisingly small amount of money we were able to accelerate my winter training in preparation for the spring season.

Coach Pfaff had a contact in Maui that was an old friend and colleague. His name is Scott Sanchez and I was able to train at his facility and discuss training with him on a regular basis. Scott works mostly with downhill skiers, and windsurfers. He is a quiet man that is slow to warm up. Over time, we really connected and he shared much with me about what he has learned over the years working with many world champions in sport. Scott is a very knowledgeable and talented guy, and after working out one day I asked him what it was that he was best at. “Making people great!” was his response. The next day, I pushed him on this and he finally explained it this way. In downhill skiing, if you took the top 10 skiers and gave them unlimited runs on the mountain for a day, they would each eventually run about the same fast time. But in competition, when everything is on the line, there are only a few that are capable of pulling that same performance. Why? Distractions. They are great at eliminating the distractions, right? Nope. They use them. Scott claims that it is impossible to remove them. They are facts, and are part of the landscape. The key is to know how to recognize and identify them, gather them up, and channel them into a proper outlet or cue. I could go on, but you get the point. Scott has really started me on a path toward mental control and strength. Probably more important than physical strength at times.

Speaking of the physical. Dan is getting me flat out striped ape strong right now. This guy's understanding of how body chemistry works is amazing. He also understands that many people choose to use drugs, but feels that they are taking a cheap and uneducated route to excellence. Yes, steroids are powerful and scary in their ability to take people to the next level. But there is a price to pay in damage to body and soul. Dan has always believed that with a proper understanding of the human physiology, we can come close to the same effect, but without the baggage of guilt and fear that accompany illegal substances. There would be no way for me to explain how Dan accomplishes this at this point as it is way over my head. The best I can do is to say that he knows what each particular type of workout does to the body's chemistry (atp production, lactate, calcium ion depletion, testosterone levels, cortisol, etc.) and then knows how to order the workouts to maximize performance and recovery of those systems. The bottom line, cleans and bench are over 300lbs, and squat is over 600lbs. These are not my max, but rather workout weights. At 6' 4” and 200lbs these are huge wattage numbers. The crazy part is that it is only January, and these numbers will go up quite a bit as we taper toward competition season. Now let me say that these figures mean nothing if I can't channel the force properly into a shot put or high jump. But I am with a coach who is daily helping me to be able to do that too. Exciting.

Coach Dan Pfaff

Things have been a bit stressful around TigerBar sports for the past month. The man who began the non-profit and spearheaded the training facility has come upon hard times. His fortune was made in real estate and as you know, California has been hit hard. Despite doing everything he possible could to fund our program, he will no longer be able to do so. It kills him to not see his vision completed. But he needs to put his family first at this point and get back on his feet. We are forever grateful for Tony and can honor this indebtedness by making Olympic teams. There are a potential 15-18 athletes from this training group who could find themselves on the 2008 team. That is staggering, but illustrates why the energy is so good day in and day out while we train together.

The burden falls to the athletes to come up with the money to pay Coach Pfaff and maintain operating expenses. A similar non-profit track organization out of Livermore, CA has stepped up to aid us in this journey. Tri-Valley Vault Club has been working with highschool athletes for the past 7 years. They are in the process of incorporating us and changing the name of the non-profit to Tri-Valley Athletics (or something similar). The scope and purpose of the organization will change and evolve to meet the needs of Olympic hopefuls in the Nor Cal area.

On Friday we will be moving the entire training facility from Isleton, CA to Stockton, CA. The Port of Stockton has offered us one of their warehouses to use as a training facility. We have an incredible amount of work to do to accomplish this transition, and much of the load will fall on my and Tye Harvey's shoulders. I am leery of the toll it could dish out, but grateful and aware of how fortunate we are to have an option for location at all. I'll get some pics together once we get the new facility together. In the meantime, there are some more photos of general training (and a few of Rowan) at flickr if you click here.

Take care,

Joe

Port of Stockton

After Holiday Happenings

I've taken a bit of grief from faithful blog-readers about that lack of posts in the last few weeks. It's nice to know people are reading! And sorry for the delay.

The biggest thing in our life the last few weeks is that Joe's dad got a new kidney! The transplant was on Jan. 4...and everything went great. He's home, recovering, and supposedly looking 15 years younger! You can check out details about their journey (and the amazing story of the woman, Stephanie, who gave him her kidney) at www.caringbridge.org/visit/cebulski
Just make sure to go back and read some of the previous journal entries. We are so thankful for a smooth surgery...and the promise of improved quality of life!

Other than that, we survived a big storm that rolled through here a few weekends ago. We are living in the "Delta" region--and there are a ton of levees all around us, holding back water in the rivers. The area is supposedly "at-risk" for a Katrina-esque type flood if the levees aren't improved. So of course, lots of attention is paid to storms. We had huge winds, lots of rain, but no flooding. We did, however, manage to flood the inside of our RV on our own. Our electricity was out for a few days....and the water is pumped electrically at the RV park, so we had no water either. At some point during this time, Rowan must have tried to brush her teeth (and turned the faucet to the "on" position)--and also decided to put the plug in her drain. We were at some friends' house for dinner when the electricity came back on...and the water, gushing into Rowan's plugged sink. We got a call from the managers at the RV park that they had heard water running OUT OF our RV. Yikes! We had a tense drive home...expecting to find the whole RV under 6 inches of water. LUCKILY, the water stayed in Rowan's bathroom and didn't do any damage.

Oh, the picture up above. That's from Christmas morning....much to Joe's dismay, Rowan asked for a princess dress for Christmas. Which her Nana (Joe's mom) was glad to provide...along with earrings, necklace, princess shoes. Rowan has worn this get-up every day since. This shot was the first time she checked herself out in the mirror--it cracks me up. I promise that I have not encouraged the whole pink, frilly, glittery, princess thing (to be fair, I haven't overly discouraged it, either)....it amazes me how little girls will just pick this up!

Joe continues to train amazingly hard. It is hard to describe how much fun it is to watch him get to train so long and full-heartedly. I am really proud of him for working through the pain--for showing up every day even when he is sore and tired....for getting out of bed on Saturday mornings to run challenging sprint workouts. His body is changing...he's always been pretty ripped, but it's at a whole new level. And more importantly than the changing body is the changing technique and understanding of events. Joe is daily impressed with and thankful for Dan's insight, teaching, cues, and commitment to seeing Joe improve. Being in California is undoubtedly the right place for us this year....and Dan is a huge part of that.

Rowan and I continue to bomb around town looking for things to do. We've been going to story-time at the library every week, got hooked in with a play group on Thursday mornings, play hard at the building with the athletes several times a week, play with Zailey at the RV park, do laundry with the regulars on Monday at the laundromat (Rowan is a big help with the quarters and the detergent), and just get to spend loads of time together. She is funny, smart, quick, and doesn't miss a thing. Lately she's been saying "I have a great idea!" when she really wants to do something (as in, "I have a great idea! Let's have hot chocolate! That's my great idea!") This morning she told me I was "diriculous" instead of ridiculous and lots of things have been happening "accidentally." Plus she's sleeping better, and has rediscovered her love for baths.

She is delightful, truly, but I have a growing need for time away from her, too. Because she doesn't nap, I am literally with Rowan 13-14 hours a day without a break. Lots of this time is a treasure and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but I think I underestimated how much I appreciated working a few mornings a week in Jonesboro. I've been looking into pre-schools in the area, but everything has a waiting list...or is mind-numbingly expensive, even just for 2 mornings a week. There are a few co-ops that are more reasonable, I'm just waiting for a space to open up. I suspect Rowan could use a bit of a break from me sometimes, too!

I posted a few random pictures to a set at Flickr. Click here to see them.

Stephanie's Visit

Last week we had the pleasure of a visit from Joe's one and only sibling, Stephanie. She flew in from Boston (she's on a break from Harvard Law) and arrived just a few hours before we flew in from Hawaii. So she picked us up at the airport and took us back to the RV. We spent the day on Friday recovering from travel, cleaning, going to the building, doing some grocery shopping, making tacos. Then we got an invitation that we just couldn't turn down: Dr. Prabhjit Purewall (the man who took us all on a wine tasting tour in October) had extra room at a condo at a ski resort (Kirkwood) up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. They had just received 4 feet of snow, and he opened his doors to any of us who wanted to come. It was just a 2 hour drive, so we decided to head up there for a night. On Thursday morning we said good-bye to the crystal clear Maui ocean. On Saturday, we dug out hats and mittens to frolic in deep snow. Strange life. Rowan was very excited to play in the snow--she made snow angels, a snowman, threw snowballs. It was a beautiful setting and it felt appropriate to be around snow during Christmastime. This was our first Christmas not being in Michigan, so at least it felt a little familiar to have winter weather! We had a great time with Stephanie--Rowan quickly warmed up and remembered her special Aunt. It's fun to hear about all that Stephanie is doing and learning at Harvard--we're so proud of her for making a huge life change (after graduating from Wheaton, she worked for 9 years with the Cheneys in DC) by moving to Boston, getting involved, and following a dream! Since we are away from home this holiday, it was especially meaningful for us to have Stephanie visit. Joe's mom and dad sent a big box of cookies, nuts, candies, gifts, and other special Cebulski Christmas traditions. Before Stephanie left, we got to enjoy some of these treats together, open a few gifts, and get ready for Christmas together.

To see a few more photos of our time together in the mountains, click here.

Maui: Days 13-14

Our last days in Maui continued to be sunny and relaxing. We spent a few more days at the beach and pool, plus got to take in a whale watching trip. Right off of Maui is one of the best places in the world to see humpback whales--they travel down from Alaska during December to mate and have their babies. We got to see several whales---many tales and backs coming out of the water, but no complete jumps out of the water (ironically enough, I saw a complete breach from the beach the next day!) We have never seen a humpback in real life, so it was an exciting trip. Until Rowan got sick. The trip was only 2 hours, but about an hour into it Rowan started getting sea-sick. It was no fun until we finally docked, and she announced "I got tired of all that whale-watching." She later explained to Bubba that when the "boat went up and down on the big waves, it made my tummy hurt." Joe did get one fabulous photo of the island from the boat (above). I love how the clouds gather just around the peaks.

Rowan continued to show her confidence in the water. Bubba joined us at the beach near our hotel on the last day and she tried to impress him with her body-surfing and tumbling around in the waves. Bubba is a true "water-man" who grew up in Maui doing all the water sports (surfing, paddling, cliff diving, cave swimming, deep sea fishing, kayaking, etc etc)--it's fun to watch him in the water. When the big storm came through Maui 2 weeks ago, and most people were running for higher ground, Bubba was surfing the 20 foot waves.

Joe and I went to a one-hour presentation on owning a time-share and got a $100 gift certificate in return--so we took Bubba out for a nice dinner on our last night. It was really fun to hang out with Bubba, eat good food (with an ocean view!), and have really great conversation on our last night in Hawaii.

Our trip to Maui was more than we expected--Joe got in some great training, and lots of food for thought from Scott (maybe I can nag him into posting more about that later!) We got to spend some very special time together as a family, and returned to California feeling relaxed, blessed, rested, and oh yeah...just a little bit tan.

Thursday morning we headed for the airport--had an easy 5 hour flight back to Oakland (Rowan was super on the flight)--and Joe's sister, Stephanie (who lives in Boston), picked us up in Oakland. She got to spend a few days with us (I'll blog about that soon) and left this morning (Christmas Eve).

There are a few more photos of our last days in Maui posted here.

Maui: Days 10-12

We were given an amazing gift for our stay in Maui. A good friend and long-time supporter of Joe, Scott Hutton, offered us a week's stay at Marriot's Ocean Club right on the beach at Ka'anapali--the prime resort area on Maui. What a treat! A nice room, comfy bed, view of the ocean, and a dizzying array of pools, palm trees, waterfalls, kid's play areas, and great people watching. They also have grill areas where we've been able to cook most of our food (with a nice ocean view) and take a swing in a beach-side hammock afterwards. Heavenly!

Not surprisingly, we spent all day Saturday lounging around the hotel. Swam at the pools (they have a great pirate ship area for kids with a water slide, water features, shallow water), played on the beach, grilled. Sunday we decided to drive the ocean-side road on the west side of Maui. Last week we did the road to Hana, which is the well-known, often busy, insanely curvy road to the easternmost part of Maui. The road we took on Sunday is much less renowned---but we felt hugely underrated. I think I even liked it more than the Hana road.. it was not busy at all, easier to access, not as curvy, and shorter. There were a few one or two mile sections that were only one-lane...but we didn't find them too harrowing.

We stopped at a forest that just couldn't be captured in photos--not even a panoramic. We tried, but it just didn't do it justice. There were more greens than you thought possible, with these huge sweeping tree limbs. It felt like a movie set. Then we hiked down to a somewhat popular (there were about 8 others there on a Sunday afternoon, so not bad) site called the Nakalele Blowhole. Lots of west Maui has lava that meets the coast (reminded us of the Big Island), and in this area there is a hole in the lava that the ocean pushes through to make an impressive spout of water shoot into the sky. It was a fairly windy day, so the blowhole was exciting to watch. Joe went to investigate it closely, and I PROMISE that the photos make it look more dangerous than it actually was. Not only was the blowhole impressive, but the landscape carved into the lava was surreal--almost felt like being on another planet.

After the blowhole we stopped at these tide pools called the Olivine pools. This area is also surrounded by lava rocks along a rough sea. There are a series of tide pools carved out where the water is generally calm, warm, and clear. It feels scary because huge waves are crashing all around, but the lava forms a protective barrier around the pools, making them usually safe to play in. We had lunch here, then played around until Rowan slipped on the rocks and couldn't recover. She promptly fell asleep when we got back to the car, so she must have been tired, too. She has been such a good traveler, and has really rolled with all the change in routine. The other day, she said she missed her "stuck house"....which meant our house in Jonesboro. Interesting way to describe a house...but compared to our RV, the old house was definitely "stuck."

Monday was a long training day for Joe--Rowan and I hung out at the hotel, played in the pool and ocean, took a rest time. Not much else to report about Monday.

To see a few more photos, click here. A word about the panoramic shots: Joe has been taking most of these, and they actually consist of anywhere from 3-6 individual shots, stitched together on photoshop. There are so many scenes here that are just too sweeping for one 4x6 frame--so the panoramic thing has come in handy. Doing it this way allows for a lot more detail, too.

Maui: Days 7-9

Wednesday was a training day for Joe, so Rowan and I headed to the beach while he worked out. Joe had a good, long day of training (I included some photos on Flickr that he took of Bubba and Daniel pole vaulting--Joe has gotten really good at sports photography, now if he could only take pictures of himself! I always seem to be chasing after a 2 year old when there are opportunities for me to take pictures of him!) Rowan and I had a relaxing, long day at the beach. Rowan had a breakthrough in the ocean---she suddenly overcame her fear and was fully committed to body surfing. We were on a fairly calm beach, but waves were still crashing right at the shore. She was rolling around, trying to catch them and surf herself in. It was fun. As soon as Joe returned from working out, we had to take him back to the same beach so she could show him. There are a few pictures...didn't get a good one of body surfing, but there are some cute ones of Joe and Rowan in the surf.

Thursday was another "rest" day for Joe...which we truly treated as rest. We went to a few different beaches (are you sensing a routine here?) because the weather was just perfect. Every day the forecast has been 50-60% chance of rain, but we have barely seen any so far. We've been bracing for a rain-day, and saved things to do for a non-sunny day...so we feel compelled, when it is nice, to be outside. Because of the big storm and all the rain before we arrived, we've been shocked by how ideal the weather has been. But Thursday was a very chilled day---played a little ball with Rowan, built some sand creations, but mostly just laid around and played in the
waves. There are a few pictures at Flickr.

Friday was a very windy day, so Joe dropped us off at the aquarium before he headed to train. Before we left for Maui, Rowan had been looking at this guide book (the very best guidebook for for Maui is called "Maui Revealed"...not a mainstream guidebook, but one written by people who've lived here and are not getting paid by any advertisers. There is also an "Oahu Revealed" and one for each island. Great history, stories, secret places, and very candid reviews). She saw a photo of some kids at an aquarium in the guidebook, and ever since, Rowan thinks that a main reason for our trip to Hawaii is the aquarium. So we had to go. We had a lot of time to burn at the aquarium since Joe had the car, and it was fun to do it at Rowan's pace. I'm a very efficient person, and tend to rush through these kinds of places. Friday I let Rowan take the lead, and I was astounded by her attention span. Our favorite part was watching a scuba diver feed a huge tank of sharks, giant rays, and other fish. We sat for over an hour watching all this.
Friday night we went to a church that Scott (Dan's friend who Joe has been training with) invited us to. It was a very loud, contemporary service with a minister who was quick to tear up and easy to listen to for 45 minutes. Rowan loves worship music--she dances wildly and tries hard to learn the words. Quote of the night from Joe: "who knew that if you crossed a Baptist with a Christian Reformed, you'd get a Pentecostal."

For more photos of the last few days, click here.