Alex timed his wedding carefully so he and Kaitlyn would have a few days to honeymoon before starting classes, so we took the opportunity to bring a bunch of things from home for both him and Kyra. We managed to fill a U-Haul trailer with a bed, dresser, nightstands, Kyra’s enormous comfy chair, and boxes upon boxes of stuff.
Unlike the last time she headed off to college, Kyra knows her roommate (a woman who served in the same mission), knows the campus, and knows what her major will be. So she’s much more confident, excited, and ready to be social. We unloaded things into her new apartment, which is cleverly called a “lodge” because it sounds fancier even though it’s just as worn-down as any college apartment.
After a bunch of wedding festivities, we stopped at the shave-ice shack near her old apartment complex and enjoyed a late-night treat.
It wasn’t quite as good as the one on Kaua’i, but that might be because it wasn’t a scorching sunny 90 degrees, and we weren’t actually in the Hawai’ian Islands (although the shack was themed that way). Still, I’m definitely a convert to shave ice and hope to get a machine for Christmas or something.
It’ll be fun to have Kyra and Alex at BYU together, along with a bunch of friends they’ve made over the past few years. I hope their college experience is awesome.
Yesterday was Alex’s wedding. In the few months since he announced his engagement, we’ve been watching him plan, organize, and run through a thousand details leading up to the big event. Kaitlyn, his betrothed, did her share of the work from afar, since the two of them weren’t together for most of the summer. It was definitely hard to have a long-distance relationship, and to plan a long-distance wedding, but it all came together beautifully.
Here’s the happy couple at the head table:
And of course some goofy faces too:
Here’s a shot of their first dance. Notice their cloaks, and the dagger at Alex’s side. It was a medieval-themed wedding, and although most people showed up in standard Sunday clothes, there were a handful of committed friends who were carrying shields, covered in chain-mail armor, and even a guy in a full knight’s suit straight out of Monty Python. Alex and Kaitlyn cut their wedding cake with a sword!
Later during the reception, Zaque unfurled a long scroll and announced the story of the happy couple. He embellished it a bit, and added some side commentary like only he can. The tale was hilarious.
As an added bonus, we saw a bunch of old friends from Longmont. Some of them drove all the way out from Colorado, while others are now living in Utah and had a shorter trip. I ran into three yahoos who I’ve known since they were little boys:
And we took a picture of (almost) all of the Colorado crowd:
It was great to see all of the planning come together in a ceremony and reception that was fun for all. Now Kaitlex (as they will be known hereafter) is on their honeymoon. It’s weird to think I have a kid who’s married but I’m really excited for them. Here’s wishing them many, many happy years to come.
Today was the Grass Roots Ultimate summer league tournament. I started playing in GRU in the summer of 1999, so this was my 20th summer league. During these past two decades, I’ve probably played in a total of nearly a hundred leagues. So you could say GRU has been a big part of my life during my time in Colorado.
My team this summer put up a .500 record; it seemed like every week we’d win a game and lose a game. We continued that tradition today, winning the quarter-finals on a dramatic universe point, but dropping the semi-finals to the team who eventually went on to win the championship. Regardless of the score, it was a great team and we had a lot of fun together. Plus, we looked really sharp in our fluorescent orange jerseys.
My co-captain for this final season was Brenda, who was also on my very first summer league team back in 1999. She and I became good friends, and we co-captained probably thirty teams in the intervening years. It seemed fitting to finish this journey with her.
Last fall, my friend Jordan let me borrow her sparkly pink skirt for our tournament games. Today, she wasn’t playing in the tournament but drove to the fields to let me borrow her skirt once again.
Then she gave me the good news: I can keep it! I’ve added it to my ultimate wardrobe (alongside maybe forty jerseys from over the years) and will pull it out as needed. When I came home wearing it, Laralee almost fainted with excitement. Actually, that’s not quite true– I think her actual words were something like “If I hadn’t already married you, seeing you in that outfit would’ve definitely killed the deal.”
At halftime, a group of friends came over from other fields to present me with a plaque. Yes, a plaque!
It’s a little hard to tell in the photo, but that’s a piece of turf glued onto the wood backing, with a bare footprint carved out of it on the left. Despite the cheesiness of it all, I was really touched.
I took the opportunity for some selfies with friends I ran across on the field throughout the day.
These are only a handful of literally hundreds of people I’ve become friends with during my years in GRU. I love this sport, but even more, I love the people I’ve met while playing it. What an amazing community.
I still have a few more weeks to play some pickup games, and I’ll be assisting new league coordinators as I transition out of the organization, so I’m not quite finished with GRU yet. But I’ve played in my last game. Thanks for twenty years, everyone.
Yesterday was it: the last day we had all three of our kids at home. Alex left this morning for Utah, and in about a week he’ll be married. Kyra will be at college next week, and may come back next summer, but who knows. And Zaque will be gone for two years on a mission.
It’s really weird to know that this part of our job as parents is over. Well, maybe “entering a new phase” is a better way to put it. With three adult kids it becomes more about giving advice (sometimes carefully) rather than instruction. I’m excited for the end of an era and the start of a new one.
After multiple airline trips, hotel stays, and rental cars this year– all booked through Expedia– I wanted to check my status in their rewards program.
WOW! After spending nearly $5,000 on travel, I have almost two dollars to redeem for my next airline ticket or whatever. First class, here I come.
As the final installment in my Hawai’i saga, I have a random collection of photos from the trip.
During our layover at LAX, we had to get some dinner. There were three choices for restaurants, and Shake Shack seemed like the best option. As it turned out, it was the saddest burger I’ve seen in a long time.
Here are Alex and Kyra on the hike to Queen’s Bath:
While we were looking down at Wailua Canyon, we saw a guy pull up in an old beat-up Prius. The entire back half of the car was filled with coconuts. It looked totally sketchy.
Notice the rooster. They’ve pretty much taken over the island, and you see them everywhere. Sidewalks, along the road, parking lots, and anywhere there’s a flat surface, there are roosters and hens prancing around clucking. Kyra wasn’t at all pleased when she was awakened (every day) by the cock-a-doodle-doo of roosters at 5am.
Anyway, back to the coconuts. We talked to the guy, who apparently climbs the trees each morning and cuts down big bunches of coconuts. He pulled out a machete and proceeded to deliver a series of well-placed whacks to one of them. La and I both enjoyed a drink of fresh coconut milk.
I’m not normally a fan of coconuts, but there’s something about drinking it right out of a freshly-harvested one. Good stuff.
One afternoon we didn’t have any firm plans, so we headed down to a bike shop and rented cruiser bikes. They were pretty sweet.
There’s a nice bike trail along the eastern coast of Kaua’i, so we went about five miles up the shore. Not surprisingly, we saw some amazing beaches (several of which we’d visited earlier).
Oh, that blue. I love it.
We also partook of the traditional Hawai’ian shave ice (not shaved ice):
Sweet glory, that stuff is amazing. Laralee complained that it was “too sweet” (whatever that means). The kids and I absolutely loved them.
True shave ice is completely unlike a snow cone, and this particular roadside stand knew how to pump just enough liquid sugar to completely saturate the ice. Perfect!
In addition to the prolific chickens, I noticed a ton of wild cats. They’d just sit around outside stores, at roadside stands, or wherever. I’m not sure if they dined on chicken much, but there sure were a lot of them. Here’s one surveying his (her?) domain at a roadside park.
Laralee and I had opportunities to take nice walks along the beach. I figure that’s part of a healthy marriage: take your wife to Hawai’i and go to the beach.
The road along the southern coast of Maui has some really cool black-rock beaches, where the rocks are roughly the size of bowling balls.
When the waves come in, the rocks roll around and make a loud rumbling sound. It’s very different from the quieter rattling of finer sand in places like Waianapanapa.
In the photo above, part of the road is visible along the edge of the cliff. Much of the southern highway is a one-lane road that hugs the cliffs along the shore, with a sheer drop to the ocean (at times, hundreds of feet straight down). It’s a bit of a white-knuckle drive, but absolutely gorgeous.
Speaking of gorgeous, here’s Laralee with her wind blowing gently in the sea breeze.
At one point I noticed some waves hitting the rocks particularly hard, so I hiked over to take a look.
I got a bit too close.
On our last day in Kaua’i, I convinced Laralee and Alex to join me on the Kuamo’o Trail to the top of some cliffs overlooking the Wailua Valley. The trail was pretty crazy, snaking amongst towering grass.
We didn’t make it to the top, because we had to turn around so we could check out of our house on time. But we were rewarded with a nice view of Wailua and Kapa’a.
What an incredible trip. I’m thrilled we were able to go, and to take our kids. With Alex getting married next week and Zaque heading out on a mission next month, this will be the last time just the five of us can be together. Hawai’i is truly a paradise, and I can’t wait to return.
