Weekend Update

Alright, sorry I've been MIA for a while. It's been a busy weekend. 

I'll start with Friday. We went over to the west side of the island and I attempted to learn how to surf. Lets just say I won't be going pro any time soon. :) Surfing is not easy. I got into the water, and Cole jumped on his board and started paddling, so I hopped on mine and splash! Totally slipped off the side. Whoops. So I tried again, a little slower, and I managed to lay on top of the board. They float great, but they are narrow, so even just laying on the board you have to be balancing yourself constantly! At first, that was all I could really focus on. I started paddling out into the water, for the most part keeping my balance. Thank goodness the waves were small today, or I don't know if I would've been able to paddle out there! I have short arms, which makes it difficult to move very fast on a surf board. The majority of my time was spent trying not to fall off and paddling around when I started drifting with the waves. I tried to catch a wave a few times, but I was unsuccessful. I'm not very skilled at knowing when the wave is pushing me enough that I should stop paddling and stand up. I did finally get used to turning my board around, laying down, and paddling. Now I just have to figure out the standing part. Which should be simple, right..? :) I will definitely be giving it another try sometime soon. Here are a few pictures of the surfing adventure. 

Sitting and watching for waves to come in. 

There's Cole riding the wave. Clearly I missed that one... :)

This picture is awesome with the wave splashing up and Cole surfing in the background. Who knows where I am. Sitting out there somewhere I'm sure. You know, just balancing. :)

Saturday we all slept in a bit. I was exhausted from all that paddling and balancing, so the sleep was needed. Around eleven, Sandy and I went to Paia and looked at some of their cool shops. I found some really pretty stuff there. I didn't buy any clothes, but I definitely plan to get some things from there. I also picked out a few gifts for some people back home that I'm excited about. And I mailed Dad's present. Hopefully it gets there by the weekend! :) After we were done shopping there, we went to Kmart, because I needed a new swimsuit. I loved the one I had, but it was not sufficient enough to deal with the waves while surfing! I decided that I am a fan of one-piece suits. They stay on, and that's what's important! 

For dinner on Saturday we had grilled pork chops, and I tried lamb for the first time. Since it is a fairly common meat I don't think it fits under Matthew's category of "weird food" that I am aupposed to try. I thought it tasted pretty much like beef. After dinner we played a card game called golf. If anyone reading this used to ride the bus with me, it was almost the same as the version of golf we used to play on the ride home from school. I think Katie and I might have played it at home a few times as well. Out of the four of us, I got third. (I didn't lose, yay!) Kevin won, then Cole, then me. Sandy had the highest score. But she also holds the record for the lowest score, so I don't know that I could beat her again. :) 

Today, we went to the Wailea and Makena area again for the morning swim. The group they do this with is the Maui Pink Caps. (Most of them wear pink swimming caps.) I had a kayak again, which I think I am getting better at. I could actually steer myself around today, which I was not very good at last time we went out. I got a little bit of a tan I noticed, because I can see some crisscross lines on my back from my new suit. No bad sunburns yet, so that's a good thing. I got a little one on my shoulders last weekend, but it has turned a nice brown now. The water was so nice today, pretty flat when we started, although the wind did pick up a bit after we had been out there a while. The best part still is how clear the water is. It amazes me every time I'm in it. You can see everything! Cole got some great pictures worth the underwater camera. 

Sandy and I on our kayaks. 

Here is a picture of my kayak from below. Cole was diving around looking at the coral and the creatures. 

Fishies! 

This is a pufferfish swimming above some coral. 

Cole saw this while he was swimming. It's a pillow star. The other side looks just like a starfish, but puffy. Cole and another swimmer went down and picked it up and brought it put to show us. Fun fact about these things, they balance themselves, so when they put it back in the water, it immediately tipped itself over and floated down to the bottom. The star was on the bottom, probably about 15-20 feet deep. I'm glad Cole was the one getting it, because I don't think I can dive that deep! 

After we got home, everyone was just relaxing. I did some reading and then FaceTimed with everyone while they were having a bonfire. I'm definitely glad that we have that connection and I get to see everyone's faces. :) That's all for this weekend! I'll try to stay current with next weeks activities!