Saying Goodbye to a Frenemy

FOR SALE:

One candy-apple-red scooter. Low miles and great for the pocketbook (100 miles per tank!). Purrs like a cheetah and runs like a kitten.

This crotch rocket packs 50cc's of premium gas power. The aerodynamic design allows for state-of-the-art cruising speed topping off near 30mph. (35mph if you are going downhill!)

A handful of Triple-A and Double-A batteries is all you need to keep this chick magnet starting for years!

WHY ARE WE SELLING THIS FINE PIECE OF CHINESE MACHINERY?

Exhibit A (sick pictures of blood. You have been warned.)

This is from the first scooter crash. Bike vs. Dog = Lauren looses.

Exhibit B (sick pictures of blood. You have been warned.)

This was the scene of crash #2 (We are now calling it the "final crash.")

Bike vs. Rain = Lauren looses.

Her elbow was sooooo close to being scab free.

But it was quickly reopened spewing out a thick mixture of puss and blood. (Of course I had to snap a picture.)

So buyer beware! This island cruiser is not for the faint of heart (or Lauren.)

(Side note: Don't judge her shirt...it was one she was given for doing service with the youth at church.)

Photographic Memory

Dear Self,

Please remember this moment when you are smoldering in the hellish July heat of land-locked Arizona.

Love,

Me

P.S. Nice form!

"Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?"

El Senior came to Guam for a visit.

So did a tsunami.
And since my dad was en route to Taiwan via Tokyo, he was stranded on Guam for an extra day.

Our first day, Senior and I visited the Latte of Freedom, a misnomer that should be changed to the Latte of Two Dollars. Two dollars for a climb to the lookout? What you talkin' 'bout, Willis?

We planned a fantastic night out on the town, but tsunami warnings confined us to the jungle.

Don't those fries look delicious? Too bad they were gross. Quite possibly the worst fries I have ever eaten in my life. Bleh. Thinking about them makes me gag.

Our resident eye-witness reporter touched base with CNN periodically throughout the night. Did I say CNN? Oops, I meant Good Morning Arizona. One day...

Senior loved Fuji Ichi Ban, a local ramen joint with stuff-your-face dishes like these:

(photos courtesy of our awesome camera)
We went twice in two days. Don't judge.

Senior on beach.

Senior on hike.

Senior's daughter swinging on a rope.

Highlights of the trip:
Picking him up late (payback for Europe, dad)
Making up songs while waiting for our clothes at the laundromat
Crying together while watching my favorite new show, Coming Home
Sneaking him into school to show him my classroom on the day I called in sick

Love you, Dad!

Good posts come when you wait...(sorry for making you wait)

Hidden Waterfalls and Natural Ocean Pools

Living on an island presents many advantages:

a beach is always 5 minutes away,

you get to pay more for EVERYTHING (gas is now $4.12),

Lauren has been pleasantly warm for the past seven months (a moist 90 degrees daily),

laws and rules are more like suggestions and guidelines (it's like a bad game of Red light/Green light on the roads),

BUT the best part about island life is the plethora of picture-perfect adventures.

We went on one recently with some awesome friends of ours. We're so glad we did. It's not often we drag ourselves out of bed early enough on the weekend to take in the sights of Guam (it's okay to shake your head at us in shame). Our adventure led us to some hidden waterfalls in the village of Talofofo (aka "God's country" to the locals) and some natural ocean swimming pools in Inarajan. (We could just make up crazy names of villages and you guys would never know.)

Let the photo documentation begin! Readers, please meet our adventure crew: The Kimball family. Stan, Lynnsey and the four boys who we will refer to as Synonym, Mohawk, Bowl, and Mole.

Synonym is the brains on the left and Mohawk didn't spike his hair for this trip.

We caught Lil' Mole in the midst of his favorite activity...picking at a mole. I don't think Stan appreciated it very much. Stan will be wearing a turtleneck next hike for sure.

Where's Baldo??? Atop the first of 5 waterfalls.

When parents cut hair...you can almost always expect a happy bowl cut.

Mole loving life...picking, watching, sleeping and pooping all on his dad's back.

Attempting to look cool, calm, and collected while trying not to slip off the rock. That's not a rope, but a root of a tree helping on our way down.

Obligatory family photo op with waterfall background...regular backgrounds eat your heart out.

Chilly pants! Try not to look at my ten-year-old girl chest (Guess who is writing captions for this photo).

Despite incriminating evidence, Baldo did NOT punch Synonym in the face. He was just trying to get the little guy to flex.

Who doesn't love hidden waterfall caves? Lauren doesn't...I had to drag her into this secret hole most people overlook.

Or death-defying cliff jumps? (Okay, it seemed a lot higher than it really was).

Baldo has talent for posing for cameras in mid-air.

we bet yoU That If you were with us you would have jumped into this nasty brown water with us. (For the older readers: try to decode a secret message in that last sentence)

After 5 waterfalls, lunch and geocaching (Lynnsey never leaves the house without her gps) we took to the Philippine Sea.

Where's Baldo?

A cement diving board...was more than inviting for the boys. They didn't heed the no diving sign on the cement pillar.

Baldo tried to photoshop a tan on Stan, but gave up...just too white he said.

Here's a synonym for synonym...fearless.

Here's a synonym for Baldo...Crazy.

Below is the "picture of the trip." No photoshop here...just one amazing camera. (The Canon t1i)

Weekend adventures are in the forecast so bunker down folks...it's about to get crazy on Guam.

Scrabble Brained

Folks, I am 0-4 in my Scrabble challenges against Tina. I should be studying the dictionary right now, but I'm headed to the pool for a barbecue.

Game #1:
Christmas. On the beach. I came unprepared for the Tina Chau. Who knew she packed such a punch? My pride got the best of me and I held on to WIZARD for far too long. What a rookie mistake. I lost. Big time.

Game #2
It was a great end to Tina and Lauren's day off. We spent all day frolicking around the island and landed on the beach for our Scrabble showdown. We played until there wasn't a drop of sunlight left. And...I lost.

Game #3

An epic evening. Tina's bingo on a triple word score in the beginning of the game dared to destroy any chance of me winning...until I also scored a bingo on a triple word score. The Scrabble fates were on our side that night. Unfortunately they were on Tina's side a little more than mine. I lost (shocker).

Game #4

I came into the game feeling the most confident yet. I was winning in the beginning, but I got careless. Because we were playing at a barbecue, I didn't feel the need to challenge the word XIN. Big mistake. Huge. Hoping Tina would return the kindness, I laid down the word HEMI. She challenged me faster than a redneck running to a corn dog festival. (Bekka, there is nothing wrong with a good corn dog). She won the challenge. Scores were close until the very end, when Tina laid down HERM. Herm? Come on, herm? What the heck is herm? I threw down my metaphorical red flag and asked Sam to check the word. The Scrabble dictionary let me down hard that day. HERM is most definitely a word. HEMI is not, and neither is XIN. I dropped the ball and- yep you guessed it- lost the game. What have I done to deserve this?

Enjoy your streak, Tina. It will end one day.