We didn't have a whole lot of plans for this weekend. Our younger daughter was coming home from Camp Erdman for a quick break, our older daughter had a program on Saturday night, otherwise I was looking forward to time at home with the family.

But when Hiro from Kids Hurt Too called on Wednesday to remind us that Kids Hurt Too would be paddling in the Dragon Boat Races at Ala Moana Beach Park on Saturday and Sunday I knew we had to reorganize so that our kids could participate.

It was a bit hectic in terms of our family schedule, but totally worth the effort.

On Saturday both girls got to go in the boat for the morning race. My husband and older daughter paddled in the noon heat and just my husband joined the group for the afternoon round.

We were the only team that had mostly kids and all the other groups were very supportive. We finished in the top three every time. The fact that there are only three boats racing at a time is inconsequential.

Of course it wasn't about the competition, it was completely for the experience. How often does a kid get to paddle, or beat a drum or wave a flag in a brightly colored canoe that looks like a dragon gliding across the water.

This was certainly a first for our family. I have always heard about the races, but never made it out to Ala Moana to check them out. Of course the west side was in full representation as we always bring our Waianae chairs.

By Sunday morning I was kind of burnt out and would have considered passing on another day at the beach, but the older girl was pumped and roaring to go. My husband stayed back to return the younger one to Camp Erdman.

Once again, it was completely worth the effort. The kids paddled in three more races, the last being the best. The kind and generous group from Hickam Nahoa mingled the two teams in the two boats which gave the kids a bit more power. They also graciously changed places in the winning department allowing Kids Hurt Too to go home with a third place trophy. Everybody was ecstatic.

I heard Cynthia telling one of the kids on Saturday that you are always a winner as long as you finish what you start. Wise words. That's exactly how it turned out for the kids from Kids Hurt Too.

Tags: Ala Moana Beach Park, Camp Erdman, Dragon Boat Race, Kids Hurt Too, Waianae

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 28th, 2009 at 5:26 pm and is filed under 1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.