Hawaii!! Day 6

  We got up this morning super excited for the day - the much anticipated surf lessons!

Eating breakfast at the hotel

  We headed to the surf shop where we met our instructor Al.  He gave us the basics of surfing and we practiced on the grass.  We were awesome grass surfers!  Then we headed out to the water.  

   This is what I was worried about ... I had worried a lot about taking surfing lessons.  I was worried that I'd have a kid or two who wouldn't be able to do it, then they'd get frustrated, then I'd get sad, then I'd get mad that I was paying for frustration.  So I went into the lessons with a little trepidation. 

   We headed out to the water and Al would set us all up - he'd hold our board while we laid down on it, he'd send us into the wave at the exact right time, he'd tell us "Get on your knees!"  "Now stand up!"   And wonder of wonders, miracles of miracles, we could all surf!!  Tyler went first, and got up on his very first wave!  It took a few of us a few tries, but within 2 or 3 tries we had all successfully gotten up and rode the wave into the beach like a Hawaiian native I tell ya!  And it was SO fun.  SO fun.  We all surfed and surfed and surfed.  We needed Al to get our timing right, but once he got us in the wave we could all stand up.  And the little kids could even jump up and switch their front leg.  We got thrown off plenty, but the times we would get up would be so fun!  And we would hurry right back to Al.  We'd be watching the waves like we never had before, and see a big one coming, and kind of fight over who would get the big ones.  Al quickly gave Derek and Logan nicknames - Daddio and Big Kahuna for Derek, and Little Man and Logan-ator for Logan.  He really made the whole experience awesome. He gave all of the kids surftificates at the end saying that they had graduated from the beginning course in the ancient art of Hawaiian surfing.  It was so, so fun.

My pictures stink because I was too afraid to go out too deep with my phone - so I zoomed in as much as a could, but they stink.  I'm aware.

Tyler heading out

  

Derek giving the girls a tow out

Logan heading out

Bailey in pink, Tyler in red, Logan in black, and Derek in the green hat

Logan surfing!

Bailey surfing!

  After our 2 hour lesson, Al left us and Derek took over.  He'd send me and the kids into the waves over and over.  We kept the boards for another 3 hours.  It was the most fun.

After surfing we grabbed some shave ice.  Yeah, that size will do.

As I was putting in the address of somewhere we were going I looked at my recent Google Maps

searches.  I got a laugh of where we'd been, and what we obviously care  about - beaches, food and fun!

  The rest of the day the kids just wanted to swim at the hotel.  So they swam and swam.  We grabbed dinner at Outrigger Pizza - which we thought was a restaurant.  Then we thought it was a food truck.  Then we realized was more like a camp stove in the middle of a parking lot.  But still, they made a good kalua pork pizza!

                                 

And played a little giant Jenga

 At sunset Derek and I walked down to the beach.  Beautiful!