Dan's parents are staying with us this week, and they gave us a much needed break from the kiddos. We spent the night in Waikiki as a sort of late Valentine's Day celebration. We went to a movie, we shopped, we went out to dinner, we shopped, we ate cheesecake and we shopped. It was awesome. The next morning we woke up and grabbed some breakfast. Bare with me a moment while I reminisce on how incredible the breakfast was. Macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup . . . . I can't even begin to describe to you how goooooooood it was. Just another reason you should come visit us.
Here's another.
After breakfast we walked to Waikiki and met our surf instructor, Susie. She walked us through what we were going to do in the water, and she supplied all the gear we needed. Susie was met by 2 other guys who were there for the sole purpose of taking pictures of us. I think they might do this more for their own entertainment than anything else. Watching a couple of "Haoles" stand on a surf board for the first time has got to be hilarious. Especially when one of them is built more for a basketball court than a wave. The photographers told us to ignore them. That they had to be close to us to get good shots. That we shouldn't worry about running into them. That it would be so difficult to run into them they would give us a discount on our pictures if we did. Guess what.
The first step in surfing is to lay down on your 11ft board in the water. It was cold, but only for a brief second. After that you're sweating. You have to paddle all the way out to the surf spot (obviously). This was not nearly so difficult for Dan, who still manages to find time to lift weights from time to time. When I was in weights class in high school my goal was to be able to do a pull-up (1) by the end of the semester. That was the last time I cared how strong my arms were. Until this week. When Susie FINALLY said "okay, this spot looks good" I was so exhausted that I just laid my head down on my board for a second. I had no idea how I was going to make it through a 2 hour lesson. Then it was my turn.
Here's how it works. Susie says, "Kaysi, are you ready?" You (ready or not) say, "Yes." Susie says, "start paddling." You start moving your arms again. Susie shoves your board and you row one more time with each arm and then push up onto your knees. Find your balance. Onto your hands and feet. Find your balance again. Stand up. The rest of the time is pretty much spent keeping your balance. It's also a spectacular thrill. Weightlessly sailing through the water with only the strength of the ocean. Suddenly your arms (which only a moment ago felt as if they were about to detach) thrust themselves into the air with shakas on either end. (The "hang-loose" sign . . . . which, by the way, doesn't mean that here.) You now have the strength to do it again. And again. And again.
Each time you row back to the surf spot Susie gives you some pointers. The biggest thing is that you should be looking up at the beach the whole time you're on the board. You will go in the direction you're looking. I've heard this before with different things. Driving, biking, etc. None of these is more true than when you're surfing. This is where our picture discount comes in. So I'm riding a wave (because it's what I do now), and all I'm thinking is "look at the beach, look at the beach" This is because I bit it pretty hard a couple waves ago, and it was less than fun. Not wanting to do that again, I'm taking any advice I'm given. As I'm staring at the beach I spot the photographer from the corner of my eye on his board with his big 'ol yellow water camera aimed right at me. Now I'm thinking, "don't run over him, don't run over him." You won't believe what happened. Suddenly my board turned 30 degrees and aimed itself straight toward him. I see his face (because I've completely forgotten about the beach at this point) and in a second it changed from the normal smirk at the silly midwest surfer girl to, "oooooohhhhh, no." He literally abandoned his board and dove into the shallow, reef-filled water. I crash into the water right over top of him. Thus, we have these lovely, and quite affordable pictures to show you. (There's a sermon illustration hidden somewhere in this paragraph.)
I have no idea when we'll be able to do this again. But it IS going to happen. We've decided that if you would like to come and visit us it will only cost you one morning of letting us go surfing while you keep an eye on our kids. We'll return the favor if you bring your kids with you. Start doing push-ups now. Ask for Susie. Shaka.
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