Surfin Safari

The day I look forward to most on Oahu finally arrived. Surfing is one of most fun, simple (in concept!) and pure things I have done and it is difficult to describe the peace I feel when doing it...or at least trying to do it.

The waves weren't very big at all this time around, but that made both the wipeouts less grand and the paddling back out easier. And most importantly, it meant that Leila could come out as well! Rowyne had expressed interest in coming out and that might have been what triggered Leila's interest at first. Of course, both girls were so nervous and vocalized that numerous times before heading out. I was as excited for them as I was for me.

When we got suited up and learned the basics of getting up on a board, we started paddling out. Leila rode tandem with an instructor named Vi (or Fy?) which was the best thing that could've happened. She also had a 7 year old daughter at home and ensured that Leila had the most fun on the board possible.

Vi had calmed Leila's nerves pretty quickly and I could hear them chatting about all sorts of stuff while we waited for waves.

We even managed to catch a few together!

(this is the best)

Rowyne got the hang of it pretty quickly and our instructor Trek had mentioned a few times about her impressive paddling strength.

She was getting up quickly and often and loving every minute of it.

After a while, I got sick and tired of everyone talking about how well the girls were doing and thought it might be best to step up some localism and push them out of the way.

This is how that turned out.

(at least my board is still there)

Really, the only thing that could have made this better was if Ethan had come out as well... and he was quick to tell me that he changed his mind and wanted to go out surfing.

I don't blame him - it is one of the best feelings ever.  And yes, next time, he will most certainly go!

I originally wanted to have bigger waves since they were so much fun the last time. Of course, that might have scared off the girls, so this was a much bigger win. We were all so stoked by the end of it that as always, I regretted not doing it earlier and multiple times. Next time!

After surfing with the little energy we had left, we got cleaned up and headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center to learn some fun stuff and to go to "Ha! The Breath of Life."