I won!!!

I won a trip for 2 to Las Vegas!!

Not the most exciting location to be, in my opinion, nonetheless, I won!

I had entered a contest in a local magazine (Hawaii Parent Magazine) a few weeks ago in the hopes that I would find a cheap way to get to the reunion last August. Well, that plan didn't work out, however, they called at the beginning of September and I still won! Ha!

It made me realize that entering contests with a small readership will greatly increase your odds at getting picked; maybe I'll do so more often!

The package includes round trip airfare, 6 days/ 5 nights at the California Hotel, and meal vouchers for 3 meals a day for all 6 days. Wow. Nate and I have dreamt of going on a cruise so we don't have to worry about anything. This would be like a land cruise, and since we aren't big Vegas fans, we won't even feel pressure to even leave the hotel. Wahoo!

Now we are just trying to figure out when to go. Coordinating babysitting for 6 days is a bit trickier.

Anyone want to come stay in Hawaii for a few days? Round trip from LA right now is $344 on Hawaiian Airlines ;) Not free, but cheaper than usual!

Kezia's 7th Birthday Party!!

Kezia celebrated her 7th birthday August 21st while we were in Colorado with her cousins (Brent and Janae's families) and Ryan and Honey Hunt's family (Ryan and I were friends growing up). She is such a good girl, and I can't believe she is 7!! Older parents have 7 year olds, not young punks like us, so how did that happen?

Kezia wanted a unicorn party, and directed the decorating of the cake. Didn't she do a good job?

We first decorated unicorn horns, then played "Pin the Horn on the Unicorn". Then a witch came and turned everyone into unicorns, so they had to put their horns on their heads. We had an oat eating contest, but as everyone knows, unicorns don't eat just regular oats; they eat sugar coated oat cereal with marshmallow gems!

The kids had a contest, then the adults. I couldn't stop laughing as I watched the men snarfing down the cereal bits on either side of me, so I came in dead last. ;)

The witch had also hid the unicorn's jewels, but the unicorn had left hints all over the backyard on horseshoes. The kids scrambled to go find them then we put them all in order to find out where the treasure was.

It turned out they were water balloons! A whole cooler of water balloons was left empty in about 3 minutes.

Afterward, Kezia opened her generous gifts.

It was so nice for everyone to come join us, and for the help my sister and brother in law gave in putting it all on. I know Kezia felt really special, and that's what mattered.

Our mainland trip

Only a few more days on the mainland before the girls and I return to Hawaii. It has been a wonderful trip with great memories formed with family and friends. Go to www.burgoynetrip2010.blogspot.com to check out our happenings!

Click on video to help my nephew Kai

Please view this video made by my nephew Kai. He is trying to win tickets for a Jon Schmidt concert. Whoever plays this song, "Road Trip", posts it on YouTube, and gets the most hits wins tix. Thanks! Good luck, Kai!

My Birthday

Thank you, friends and family who called or sent notes of birthday wishes! That always makes my day. But I think the nicest thing said was from the woman I took paddling today who asked, "So, are you in school?" 31 sounds so old when you feel 18 in your heart.

Sunday night Kay and Nate made me a delicious meal and I stuffed myself full, then topped it off with Kay's famous chocolate cake and mint ice cream. I woke early on my birthday and went on a 5 mile paddle from Waimea to Ali'i with my friend Beccy Cravens (who is also going to be assisting in our stand up paddle fitness classes). (BTW, this is the same run that Nate and Kezia raced last Saturday!) Highlights included crystal clear water that made coral viewing possible for the whole run, waves at Lanikea, and finding ourselves in the middle of a pod of dolphins.

The girls and I tried to go see a free showing of Tale of Despereaux, but I got the time wrong, so we went to the zoo instead (and then went to the movie the next day). Then Nate took me out on a really nice date to a new restaurant in town, Luibueno's, which was mui bueno, and a friend of ours (who also happens to instruct for our school as well) was our server.

Then he took me to a video arcade where we played this ridiculous game of frog slappin' and tarantula shootin' and I let Nate beat me in a game of air hockey. And we ended with a little book perusing at Border's, something we both have always liked to do. Thanks, Nate! With how busy he is, he gave me the gift of his time, and that was really nice.

A wonderful day, and I feel privileged to share my birthday with my good friends, Nicole Shephard and Jill Schield. Any one else celebrating?

Kezia's race

There was a race on Saturday that benefited the surf house at Ali'i beach. It was to raise $ for ocean equipment for the kids, and we really wanted to support the cause, but we had a river clean up we were sponsoring.

However, in the middle of the cleanup, Nate decided to go anyway, and Kezia joined him on the tandem board. So spontaneous, those two. Nate said they got there 10 minutes after the paddlers had already left, but came in 10th anyway!

After the cleanup the rest of the kids and I joined them at Ali'i and Kezia said she loved it! She especially loved the goodie bag full of stickers and knick knacks, and the medal she won for being the youngest competitor.

Way to go, Kezia!

Upon eyeing all the goods Kezia got, Ivy leaned over and said, "Next race, I'm going with you, Mommy."

Sister Cho

She tried calling me 25 times a week ago Friday. I was too busy to pick up. I finally did pick up 4 times, but each time there was no one there. I wrote down in my planner "Call Sis. Cho". I didn't get to it Monday, so I wrote it on Tuesday's "to-do" list. Didn't get it done Tuesday. Wednesday. Didn't happen. She tried calling again, but I couldn't answer. Again she called. Then Saturday came. I was at the race about to go out. She called once more. I finally listened to the message on Monday. "Please," she said in a weak voice, " I have tried to call you so many times. Please call me. This is an emergency." I called her twice later that day, but no one picked up. Today a friend told me she had passed away. They assume she had died Saturday or Sunday.

And now I am thinking to myself, why didn't I call? In my head I answer, "Because I was too busy. Because I was trying to take care of my kids. Because I was working. Because I knew it would be a long phone call that would take conscious listening because her accent is hard to understand." But my heart retorts, "I had a lot of time." Or maybe I should have had a lot of time. I pray every day to be prompted to know who can use my help that day and to do something about it. I think I had received enough promptings, but did nothing about it. The hand was knocking, but I wasn't answering, and now I wish things were different.

Battle of the Paddle

So, we finished the race! And because of a few holdups on our end, that's excitement for us. Here's the scoop:

I did the 4 mile open race on a surfboard, and was happy to come in 4th overall in the womens' division. However, I was just happy to have finished the race! I was super stoked to have had 3 lessons the day before, but 5 hours of paddling in the sun the day before a race probably isn't the smartest training one could do, and I was considering not entering at all. But I was glad I did.

I'm the third person in this photo

Finishing the race

Here's me with my friend Beccy, who happens to also be an instructor for our fitness class (SUP-FIT.com). She came in 1st in the women's stock (race board) race!

Nate's race was the Big Race of the day, with racing boards and "the best of the best" paddlers. It was 5.5 miles in and out of surf in a crazy M shape, and between each of the 3 laps the paddlers were to run through a shoot on the beach before reentering the water.

There were SO many paddlers in this race, too! Check out the video to get a glimpse of how many people there were.

Nate came in smiling his first lap. Then I waited and waited for him to come in on his second lap. He didn't come in. And then the finishers began to come in, and Nate still hadn't come in from his 2nd lap! Where was he?!? Finally, he came in; his board had snapped in half shortly after beginning his 2nd lap! He was deetermined to stay on course, so for the next mile he paddled a wonky board that, with the added water weight, weighed 100lbs!!

When he got in, he ran to find another board, ran through the shoot, then back again for the 3rd lap while all the paddlers finished their race. Nate was out there all alone determined to finish.

I told the girls to watch their daddy -- he'll come in strong anyway. And if you check out the video of his finish, he came in really strong -- and still smiling! He inspires me. He charged harder and longer than any paddler out there, and came in looking more alive than any of the finishers.

Can you hear Kezia cheering her heart out for her daddy?

Somehow in the midst of all that was going on, Grandma the baby whisperer was able to soothe two 2yr olds to sleep. She's amazing like that. (Elysse is on the right; Juliana is a girl that has been staying with us for a few days while her parents vacation)

Kezia and Ivy played and swam the whole day long. They have so much fun together and their fear of the ocean diminishes more and more each time we go.

SUP into Summer race

The results are in: Nate got 2nd in his division, 5th over all; I got 3rd in my division, and really, I was just happy to have finished!!

Waiting for the blow horn...

It was a pretty brutal race - 4 miles following a triangular course straight out in the ocean. To give you a feel for what it was like, it was like doing an isometric squat on a balance board for an hour while doing triceps pulldowns as fast and as hard as you can. But we had great conditions, there was a good vibe in the water, and the best part of it all was a complimentary massage afterward. The girls had a great time playing on a large party disc with other kids. And we all came home bearing signs of time in the sun.

And for some wild reason, we are doing another 4 mile race in Waikiki this coming weekend....

Here's a video of the start of the race.

I was really proud of Nate. He was leading the pack for almost the whole race. Here's Nate's finish (sorry it's sideways!) Nate is the further one behind the first guy. Look how neck-to-neck these guys are! The guy that was a step ahead of him happened to be in a different division, so they both got 2nd anyway, and had a good laugh about it.

Nate with his 2nd place "medal"

Here's my finish. I ran all the way to the tent where our girls were cheering me on. Thanks, girls!

Training for the race

We didn't have a lot of time to train for the race, so we used our kids to increase the effectiveness of our training sessions. Like I say in the video, if you've got 'em, use 'em!