Under the Sea

Kayaking was one of the things that was on the boys' must-do list. So I made reservations for two double kayaks (no time limit) with Bay Side Adventures. We've done it once before as a family as part of a ranger program at Whiskeytown NRA, but that was on a lake. With Hurricanes Erick and Flossie passing by the Big Island within the past few days, I was concerned about the ocean being rough. They assured me that Kealakekua Bay was sheltered, and that the water was calmer in the early morning.

If you say so...

Aloha!

Planning a family vacation seems to get a little trickier every year, mainly due to us all having increasingly crazy schedules. Last summer M was on his cross-country DCI tour, missing out on a family reunion. This year our spring break road trip was shorter than usual because I had to attend a scientific conference in Atlanta. And as for this summer, M took a physics lab at UCLA, which ran from June 24 - July 31, and J will check in for his senior year of high school on August 13. That left us with...

Testosterone Day

J's final game was supposed to start at noon today, but they were running about 45 minutes behind (the facility wasn't opened as scheduled). Fortunately, another parent texted us about the delay, so we could take our time getting over to Henderson. J stayed out late bowling with his teammates at South Point last night, so he definitely needed the extra sleep this morning.

Here's another clip of J driving the lane, putting up a floater, and getting the "and 1"! (Thanks to another team parent for the highlight!)

They're Playing Bas-ket-ball

Game day! J's first game was at 11:00AM at the Black Mountain Recreation Center in Henderson. The team played well for the majority of the game, but fell short at the buzzer. Here's a clip of our favorite point guard in action (📹: M)...

The Ninth Hawaiian Island

Yep, we're back in Las Vegas again, but this time it's for a weekend of basketball for J! The tournament is hosted by the Hollywood Dodgers, a historically Japanese-American youth basketball organization from So Cal. As a kid, R played in a similar league, the Chicago Nisei Athletic Association (CNAA), so it's especially fun to see things come full circle. J wanted to play with his good friend and joined his team for their senior season. And since J is Yonsei (4th generation), he doesn't count against the team's non-JA limit. Woohoo!

Playing Hooky

Very rarely do I have to travel for work. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of places I've been while on the company dime. So even though the purpose of my business travel has been to attend scientific conferences (admit it, you just yawned), I've been fortunate to have enjoyed some extra time to play tourist in... 

• New Orleans (1993): Preservation Hall, Jackson Square, Cafe Du Monde, tons of great food and cool jazz
• New York City (1994): Manhattan, Empire State Building, Staten Island Ferry
• Frederick, MD (2017): not exactly a hotbed of tourism, but there is a Civil War battlefield and national park passport stamp (woohoo!)

Up 'til now, I've only blogged about our travels as a family, but I think I'll make an exception for my solo trip to Atlanta.