Hawaiian Native Forest, Pow-Wow, Stargazing, 5k Run & Body Piercing......

Yes, we're kicking off the summer in full swing here, and if this weekend was any indication of how the summer is going to be.....it is going to be a BLAST!

Kalopa Native Forest State Park.

Friday Sydney's school had a field trip to the Kalopa State Park. This is a 100 Acre section of a larger reserve where mostly endemic trees, shrubs, ferns and other plants live. It is a very cool place about an hour away from Hilo on the Hamakua coast, at about 2000 ft elevation (Makua -or mountain - side), it has big trees and it is nice and cool....

We went on a nature short hike,

On the way out of the hike we found a dead Jackson's Chameleon, it looked like it had fallen off a tree the poor guy...

then then the kids had some games (like spear throwing)

and then there was luau food: kalua pork, white rice, lomi salmon, poi and sweet potatoes....

Saturday: Hilo's 2nd Inter-tribe Pow-wow and Stargazing at Mauna Kea

Yes, you read that right Hilo hosts an inter-tribe Pow-wow. This was the second year and representatives from many Nations on the mainland come here for three days of dancing and interacting with each others. There were tribes from Michigan, British Columbia, Arizona, New Mexico and other places..... Kind of weird to see it here in Hawai'i.

Here are the kids in front of a Hawaiian Sailing Canoe at the Pow-Wow, of course the Native Hawaiians were also there representing their nation....

Later that day, our friends Leslie, Macario and Emma Rose asked us if we would like to join them at Mauna Kea to go stargazing at the visitors center. They set up telescopes and aim them at different planets and constellations. So we headed up there with food and some jackets, yes, jackets.... the visitor's center is at 9000ft an it was C-O-L-D!!!!... how cold? 33F! Brrrrrr! it had been a sunny hot day in Hilo in the morning and in the evening we were freezing our butts off!

It was very cool though. The summit is at 13,769ft so it gets even colder there.... one of these days we should go up there!

Yes, it was THAT cold!

Sunday

5k Run

I decided to enter a 5k run this morning just to see how it feels. I had never entered a distance race before, so I said what they hey...... So a friend and I went to Hilo's 7th Firefighters 5k Run. There were over 700 participants for the different events (5k run, 2 mile run/walk and keiki 1/4 mi races). There were a total of 244 runners, 137 of them men, and 25 in my division (30-39). Lots of families and young and old happy people there. I did much better than I anticipated, I came in 30th overall, 28th of the men category, and 4th of my division. I ran the 3.1 mile run in 22:39 minutes for an average pace of 7:18 minute/mile..... not too shabby eh!

Unfortunately I had no cheering squad so there are no pictures, you're just going to have to believe me on this one....

Body Piercing

Charlotte took Hana to the mall to get her ears pierced for her upcoming (get a load of this) Kindergarden Graduation Ceremony......

So, we are totally exhausted after this weekend, even Tiger is feeling the Dog Days of Summer..