All Poly Sports

I was invited by my good friend, Julie, to take pictures at the All Poly Sports camp this year. This is a football training event for high school Polynesian kids, though you don't actually have to be Poly to attend. Football players from all over the country fly out to attend the Utah and Hawaii sessions, and the level of talent at this camp is amazing. Originally, I was asked to just take a group photo of the coaches and players. To date, this is the largest group photo I've done.

After doing the indoor shot, I had an idea to climb a tree and get a birds-eye shot of the group. Problem was the tree was too tall for me to just climb into it alone, so the guys actually had to boost me up. This was the resulting shot... well worth the effort, I think.

I was asked to come back the following day to shoot players in action during training, practice and scrimmage games. One of the first things that struck me about these athletes was the sheer size of them. These are high school kids?? Really?!? They dwarfed me :) But the second thing I noticed was the obvious presence of culture and community at this camp. It goes further than the big hair and tattoos. The attitude these kids carried was noticeable in everything they did. I realized this event was about much more than football... it was about preserving and sharing a heritage that is much more than skin-deep.

Watching these kids train, it's easy to forget you're watching teenagers. Some of them may not even be old enough to drive yet, but they trained like warriors, and the coaches pushed them like men.

Perfection was the goal, and nothing less than 100% was accepted. These kids were committed to getting the most from their mentors.

I liked this shot because you could see the Honolulu skyline in his helmet.

Halfway through the day, the clouds came in and opened up. Most people ran for cover, but the players and coaches didn't budge an inch. If anything, they played harder! It was amazing to watch... it reminded me of the end of an intense movie.

One of my favorite shots is of a group of kids, arms interlocked, singing and dancing in the rain. These kids are from various rival schools all over the island and beyond, but you couldn't tell during this camp. Today, they were brothers.

The coaches spoke to the players about the importance of humility and appreciation for the gifts these kids have. Specifically, one of the coaches pointed at the family and friends who came out to support these student-athletes, even in the rain. One of my favorite parts of this camp is how the coaches mix life lessons into the training event. Of course you'd expect the kids to come out of All Poly Sports as better football players... but what a wonderful bonus that they also come out as better young adults, too.

When the rain let up, the intensity only increased. The scrimmage games were full of hard hits, smooth passes and fast carries. Every play counted as much as the previous... you would've believed these kids were playing a Championship Game.

The only thing scarier than the players in action was their coach getting them fired up! So much of this game and camp is about energy, attitude and motivation, and the coaches were masters of generating all three.

The big finale was the "Goal line Challenge" during which different offense teams take turns trying to score against opposing defense teams. This was when celebrations hit their peak, and it was an awesome finish to an impressive day.

The kids gathered for one last time to hear parting messages from their coaches, and some players were even recognized for their outstanding performance. The man speaking in the shot below is Alema Teo, the Director of All Poly Sports and the visionary for this event. If you talk to him for 60 seconds you'll realize two things... he's passionate about what he does, and he cares about these kids. What an amazing guy.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to witness such a cool event, and if they ask me back next year I won't hesitate to shoot for them again. To all the participants, good luck in your future endeavors. And to all the coaches, staff (like Julie), and sponsors, thanks for making a positive impact in the lives of these kids. When they are men, they will remember experiences like this, and they will surely be better people because of it.

All of the pictures from the camp are available for viewing and/or free-download here:

http://www.youlovespeed.com/All-Poly-Sports

Cisco Hits Double-Digits

Ten years ago, a little fluff-ball entered the world. And a few weeks later, that little fluff-ball would enter our lives. We couldn't have known what we were getting ourselves into when we adopted Cisco, but after a decade it's impossible to imagine our family without him.

Today we celebrated Cisco's 10th birthday, and we smothered him with the only thing he's ever wanted from us... treats. But second to treats, the only other thing he's ever wanted from us is love, and you'd better believe we smothered him with that, too :)

In addition to just being an awesome puppy, Cisco's also been a wonderful, patient subject in front of the camera. What I love most about his cute little face is the way he always appears to be smiling. These are all shots taken of him today. Don't you just want to squeeeeeze him?!

Most people comment that Cisco definitely doesn't seem to be as old as he is, and I'd have to agree. He runs and plays just as hard as he did when he was still a pup, and his youthful spirit serves as a reminder that we're all only as old as we allow ourselves to become (on the inside).

Every day after work we take Cisco for his walk around the local parks. We call it "Cisco's time," and we know he loves having the chance to re-mark all 400 trees that he claims as his own. This is Cisco walking Max home today... you read right. Cisco's the boss.

At the end of the night, when I'm relaxing on the couch and catching up on my shows, it's almost certain Cisco will be there to keep me company. After all, that's what a best friend is supposed to do, right? Always be there for you.

So, today I celebrate you, Cisco. You've given me so many laughs, a few scares, and a decade's worth of memories that I'll hold onto forever. You're my first baby, and I love you... every fluffy hair on your little body.

Diamond (Head) for Mother's Day

We're lucky enough to live in a place with such stunning natural beauty, so for Mother's Day we decided to take Sandra out for some time with Mother nature. We see Diamond Head every day while driving around Honolulu, but this would be our first time hiking to the top of it. Max started out strong & did a great job trail-blazing for his Mami.

About two-thirds of the way up we stopped for a quick photo-op with the crater. We learned here that Max is obviously not afraid of heights, and after reviewing this pic I learned that my left-hand's shaka could use a little work :/

I thought for sure I'd be wearing Max on my back by the time we neared the top of the climb, but truthfully the kid was an animal... no, really... look at him attacking these stairs on all fours. And our cute little animal apparently couldn't understand english as we pleaded for him to "wait" and "slow down."

Finally, we reached the top in less than an hour, and it was totally worth it. The ocean just seemed to go on forever, and the city seemed tiny. Sandra's favorite part was the amazing breeze that came in like a reward for making it all the way up.

Max had a blast running around exploring every nook & corner of the bunker/look-out, until something else caught his attention...

Atop another bunker just across from ours was a shirtless guy who'd just run the trail, and he was now doing push-ups and crunches. Max, maybe feeling as if he needed to defend his position with an equal show of force, immediately broke into his own awesome workout routine complete with his own push-ups and crunches. Maybe we should've named him "Extreme Speed" or "Hardcore Speed" or even "OMG Speed?!"

I guess matching the other guy's effort wasn't enough for Max, because just before leaving he had one more demonstration. That's right, tourists, you can go home and tell your family & friends that you saw a four-year old doing one-arm push-ups at the top of Diamond Head! Sandra and I were laughing and loving it, and I think the other guy may have tucked his tail between his legs and run back down the trail.

We had a great time as a family, and Max made some sweet memories with his Mami... that was the point of the whole day, and we all left smiling (and exhausted).

Happy Mother's Day, Sandra!

One Dead Duc

When I came out to my bike the other morning, I discovered the battery was dead. I mean, it was deader than dead. The only thing I could do was take the battery to the dealer so they could charge it for me. But first I'd have to get the battery out.

I've been a Honda guy for most of my motorcycle-riding life, and the battery on an '03 & '06 CBR 600RR is under the seat. So naturally, that's just where I assumed the battery was on all bikes. So, imagine my surprise when I peeled back the seat on my Ducati 848 and found... no battery.

Guess I was gonna have to swallow my man-pride & break out the owner's manual. Usually, I avoid manuals at all costs because there are so many words to read and I tend to fall asleep of boredom before I ever actually fix the problem :\ Luckily, this manual has pictures, too! You win this round, Duc book.

While I removed bolt after bolt on the left side of my bike, Max enjoyed cartoons on the ceiling of my Jeep courtesy of a pocket-projector sent by Uncle Jamion. Very cool gadget, indeed :) Thanks, bruh.

Cisco doesn't really care for Phineas and Ferb (hilarious, btw), so he just hung out, protecting Max and the pocket-projector. Good boy, Cisco!

Back to the bike, and.... Wa-BAM! Left-fairing is removed, and what do we have here?

That would be one ice-cold, juiceless rock in the shape of a battery!

I ripped that dead sucka out & hopefully we can pump new life into it so that I may ride again! Success is a happy ending (and I didn't even 'lectricute myself).

Awesome April

This month isn't even over yet, and it's already been amazing! My goddaughters and I have birthdays that all fall within two weeks over each other, soooo that pretty much means two weeks of none-stop birthday party celebrations and fun!

My friends at work surprised me with this cake. That clown was delicious.

Later, we had an evening BBQ/pool party at our building, and Kev created another one of his mean grill masterpieces.

This was definitely not for vegetarians (or anyone watching their cholesterol).

Sandra even baked a delicious cake for me and the keikis.

Brenna wanted to spend part of her birthday at the beach. Good choice!

And then there was more cake... and more keikis to help eat it.

This is my favorite shot of her that day. She's got such an awesome laugh, and it's very contagious.

Cisco even got in on the cake action by vacuuming up anything with frosting that hit the ground. That's why he's smiling :)

For sure, the undeniable party favorite was the trampoline.

The kids were having a blast even when they weren't jumping.

And then a few days later, we celebrated with Lucy. She actually chose to go on a hike to a waterfall for her birthday, but since I went camera-free I don't have any shots of it. Good times!

You know what she does to paparazzi? She runs them over!

Max was loving the kid-sized Jeep, and they spent the rest of the day racing and driving around the house.

Everyone walked away with big smiles and a bunch of great new memories.

Finally, congrats to the newest member of the Awesome April Birthday club, Swayzee! Welcome to the world, princess.

"What's that on her face?"

So, today Max saw a woman on TV and asked me, "Dad, um, what's that on her face?" He pointed to her cheeks with a determined child's curiosity and clarified, "See, those things! What are those?" He was talking about her freckles, and when I explained that some people just have them, he declared in a tone that would break any parent's heart, "I wish I had freckles, too." *light bulb*

So, I grabbed one of Sandra's eyeliner pencils and gave Max freckles. He loved them, and actually looked pretty cute :)

Then my little awesome decided to turn the pencil on me so I could have freckles, too!

However, mine didn't come out quite as nice. I guess some people just have a better face for 'em.

Still, it was a fun moment, and now it's a great memory.

179

I'm just like every other guy on the planet. Skinny guys wanna be big, and big guys wanna be skinny (unless you're a marathon runner or a world's strongest man competitor... those guys are happy). Since I'm a skinny guy, naturally, I want to look like Arnold Schwartenhoweveryouspellhisname looked in his prime. My personal goal is to hit 200 lbs of solid, my-dad-really-can-beat-up-your-dad muscle. My previous high-point was 189.

So, now I'm 32, and surprisingly I feel more in control of my body than ever before, though I'm not in the best shape of my life. I used to do over 20 pull-ups at a time easy, and on my birthday two days ago I struggled to get to 15. You can see my pain in the iPhone photo above (thanks Nicole Orta).

My starting point today is 179 lbs, and I feel confident I can reach that elusive deuce before my next birthday. I'll update again when the scale shows me 180 (I only check my weight in the morning before breakfast), and I'll continue to update every pound gained after that. Good times!

Birthday Bloggin'

I decided about a week ago that I would make another attempt a blogging starting on my birthday... which is today, April 8. I turned 32 at around 7:30'ish this morning, and I already feel the wisdom and maturity filling my mind with wise and mature things. *ahem* right...

When Cisco heard it was my birthday, he was especially excited. Not because he wanted to read my blog, though. He just wants some of my cake.

Maxim, for the first time, remembered all on his own to wish me a Happy Birthday when he woke up this morning! This was very special to me because, well, he's my little awesome! Turns out he really wanted some of my cake, too.

Now it's bedtime, and I can honestly say I had a fantastic birthday. I got calls and messages from my parents and siblings, serenaded over the phone by the Catoes, a ton of Facebook messages, birthday surprises from friends at work, and most importantly, I spent time with my wife and son (which, truth be told, is all I ever want, anyways). Thanks to everyone for making today feel special. I loved it!