Lovely LySandra

This is my new niece, LySandra... and she is about seven pounds of pure, absolute, adorableness. I took a few pics to capture the moment for her Mami, because God knows, they just don't stay like this very long. Funny thing about taking pictures of babies is they have the facial-expression arsenal of a professional actor. These are a few of my favorite shots.

The pacifier says it all.

Hand-modeling skills.

She already knows how to smile with her eyes.

Her ah-ha moment.

The "Handle With Care" stare.

Welcome to the world, LySandra! I hope you enjoy your stay, and remember Uncle Speed's got your back :)

Annex Beach

I work at a place we call "the Annex," and believe it or not, this beach is right across the street from us... so we call it, Annex Beach. It's extremely shallow, and at low-tide there's about 100 yards of floor exposed. It is magical!

Max loves to explore here, looking for rocks and coral. And when he's not exploring, he's showing off his muscles and dance moves.

My favorite thing about Annex Beach is that it's dog-friendly. So, on a hot day Cisco can wade in belly-high water and soak it all up into his coat.

There's plenty of space for Cisco to chase Kev chasing Max.

Lucy can hunt for treasure until her heart's content.

Brenna and Max can test their courage by dancing around sand crabs.

Proof that I was actually here, too :)

Airplanes and helicopters fly overhead often, so it's fun to wave at people coming to join us on the island.

The low-tide doesn't last long (less than an hour) before the water returns to reclaim the floor.

I'll give you one guess of who needed a bath the most at the end of the day.

Lululemon says, "Live near the ocean and inhale the pure salt air that flows over the water..."

We're so blessed to live in a place surrounded by so much natural beauty and fresh air. When I imagine Max looking back at his childhood later in life, I think he'll be happy with the memories and experiences he's made at places like Annex Beach. I love that he sees the outdoors more than he sees the TV, and most of all I love that he has friends to share these moments with. Life is good.

The Haiku Stairs

Lululemon says, "Do one thing a day that scares you." On Friday (Sandra's birthday), this was my one thing.

The Haiku Stairs, known locally as the Stairway to Heaven, are nearly 4,000 steps into the clouds. The reward for completing this hike is a view that none of my pictures will truly capture.

The stairs were actually pretty sturdy. But of course, it rained just before we went up, so they were a bit slippery.

The stairs are also much steeper in many places than they appear in these pictures, so we used our arms to help pull ourselves up. This turned into a pretty nice total-body workout.

Nature is trying to take over the stairs, but we won't let it :)

As you'd imagine, the higher we got, the more unbelievable the view became!

And, at the same time, the higher we got the more shocking it was to find there were still more stairs to climb.

The only thing better than taking on a challenge like this is doing it with friends. Kev & Jamey are animals when it comes to tasks like hiking, and they kept me laughing even when my body wanted to cry.

This was my favorite pan-shot... Lizzy looking out over Kaneohe & beyond.

Many parts of the climb are actually on the ridge of the mountains, so we could look to one side and see H3, then look to the other side and see Kaneohe Bay.

It's crazy to think that we started out underneath that highway!

I won't lie to you. If you're afraid of heights, this climb could scare the crap out of you. It's my only guess as to why we found a pair of undies in the bushes.

As we started into the cloud-line, parts of the trail became almost mystical.

Along the way, we found various messages sprinkled here & there.

My favorite one, however, was an "S ~hearts~ J" I found at one of the rest points... to me that means "Sandra loves Jermaine," and that makes me smile.

When we saw this structure appear in the distance, I thought maybe we'd made it! Turns out I was wrong. It's funny how every place can look like "heaven" when you're dead-tired :)

We did find a pretty gnarly cappuccino machine inside, though.

Finally, after a few more steps we could see our destination just ahead!

Turns out heaven has a radio tower.

The people who would tell you to get your head out of the clouds... have never been up here.

One last duck-face pose, and it's time to go back down... all 3,900'something stairs. The Haiku gets a thumbs-up from me, and I'm sure I'll be back to do it again.

I will say that a four days later my body is killing me! Ironically, walking up or down four (4) stairs feels more difficult than it did going up 4,000, and my back/shoulders feel like I tumbled down the mountain. But was it worth it? Of course it was.

Air Bender & Water Splendor

I won't say that these kids are fearless, but I will say they are definitely not afraid of the diving board :)

I remember when I was growing up, the diving board was the last test of bravery at the pool. However, watching Max, Brenna & Lucy, you'd believe launching into the air and splashing into the deepest part of the pool is really NBD (no big deal). The kids spent their day high-flying off the spring-loaded platform, and it was nothing short of good ol' fashioned, technology-free ('cept for the camera) fun! Brenna lead the courageous charge forward with her flips and kicks.

Lucy had some incredible leaps that seemed to mirror her life's axiom... freedom.

Max had us cracking up with his cartoon-like sprints off the diving board.

But the undisputed diving champion of the day was Kev! His flawless one-and-a-half rotation flips were unbelievable and something I think even an olympian would have to respect.

I had some good jumps, too, but my most memorable splash of the day came while trying to perfect my own one-and-a-half spinner. I broke out of the flip a little too late, and the sound of my body slapping the water was one that made everyone in the area go, "oooooooooo" and make that scrunched up, "I know that had to hurt" -face... you know the one. You can see the moment just before impact below.

I know some people just aren't fans of living in a place with an endless summer, but if you ask these kids (even the grown ones), they'd admit we could definitely do this all year long. Nothing's more honest than a smile on a child :)

For Aunt Sondra

Two years ago today, we lost Sondra Bentley... my wonderful aunt. Since then, family and friends have left messages of love and farewell at an online guestbook for her and others to read. I haven't. More truthfully, I just couldn't.

I should've said something by now, and if I'm being honest this has just been easier to avoid. But there's no closure in avoidance, and I feel there'll never be closure in this.

Anyone who's ever lost someone knows how hard it is to say goodbye. So I won't. I called her phone number until it was no longer hers just so I could hear her voice when it went to voicemail.

I loved reading the guest book stories and memories everyone has of Aunt Sondra. It's amazing to see her through everyone else's eyes, and the different perspectives almost allow me to have new memories of her. One of my happiest moments was introducing her to my son, her nephew, Max.

People always try to find something nice to say about someone when they pass, and when thinking about Aunt Sondra you don't have to try very hard. She understood and practiced what most people probably take a lifetime to learn; that every minute is precious, and every day is a gift. She appreciated the beauty of life and the simple things in our world. I think that's why I love the picture of her watching the sunset so much... it's so perfectly ~her~.

If you believe as I do, that our lives extend beyond this one, you'll understand the small comfort I feel imagining her finally reunited with Justin, the son she lost tragically to an accident when we were all still so young. She carried him around in her heart for the rest of her life, just as we will do for her now.

This still isn't a goodbye... it never will be. I cry because it hurts, sure, but I'm proud of how much she means to me. Her life was a model for so many others, and my life is truly better because she was part of it.

For Aunt Sondra, I took Max and Cisco to the beach today, and that's where I thought of you. The day was especially beautiful. Clearly, you were there, too. I love you.

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