And There Off.....

Yesterday we went to a regatta. We have to leave the house early in order to get a good parking spot. Once there we set up our chairs as this is an all day affair.
The different divisions in our club take turns bringing breakfast and lunch for everyone within our group. I always bring our own food to ensure that the kids have something healthy to eat.

The races open with an official starting the day with prayer. The first time I heard this I was so excited. To acknowledge God is so rare these days that it took me by surprise. I expect it when we are at church functions but not in a public venue.
The maninis (kids 10 and under) begin the races paddling, but their race doesn't get timed or really count for anything. Next, the 12 year old groups do a quarter mile race. Many families stay all day since the kids race early and then later on the moms and dads participate in the adult divisions.

It really is family friendly with much fellowship - kids swimming in the water as the races are underway, building sandcastles, raiding the food tables (sneaking way to many cookies), parents catching up on whats going on in each others lives and of course lots of cheering on our teams.

The hosting club sells home cooked food, and has a silent auction and raffle to raise money to support itself. Last regatta I won a brunch for two at a nice hotel....Looking forward to Robert coming back so we can use it.

I haven't learned how to place pictures and such, so this will have to do for now until I can read up on how to do the technical stuff. Tessa and Kiera are in the boat in the big pic, and our awesome coach is in the other. She always is dressed in some kind of Hawaiian garb. She really is the spirit of Aloha. Love it!