Today is Tuesday, Feb 7,2017 and I type this from the balcony of our resort in Maui. I sit here on the 4th floor looking out into the ocean. It is not a quiet calm ocean, but wavy, rough waters. Today has been the nicest day so far, the sun has been shinning and the wind quieter. Early this morning was calm, however the winds are stronger now and there are white caps in the ocean. I love to hear the waves as they crash over and over. My view is lovely, the birds chirp, and the waters are noisy. I am here enjoying a little bit of peace and quiet. A moment of solitude in our week. I have been surrounded by the kids, Mark, and my parents. They have all been keeping us on the go. This is my only moment to have alone and I chose to do a little reading and blogging. I am reading a book "A Girl and Five Brave Horses", and it is so good. The family is out on a dinner cruise on the ocean. It sounds wonderful and I am glad it is them and not I. I will happily stay on land and let them go rock and sway over the ocean waves. If the ocean was quiet, still, and calm, I would still be get sea sick. I have learned from many boating outings, it is best to stay on shore. The older I get the worse the motion sickness gets. In an hour, my mom will meet up with me and we will go somewhere for supper.Today was great, we were up early, I was up by 6AM thanks to Mark's phone and his text messages that come through every morning. I fixed fruit bowls with the fruit we got from the farmers market along with yogurt. It consisted of pineapple, strawberry, and papya. Nothing beats, the real, fresh island fruits. In addition we had pineapple bagels with papya cream cheese. It was delightful. I could eat like that everyday! The boys went with my parents to have pancakes. They had been talking about it all week, and couldnt wait to have their pancakes at a restauratn where you get to make your own on a grill at your table.
By 9AM we were all back and packed, ready to roll on our snorkeling outing with our gear and a bag with water, chips, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. The beach was recommended to us by the snorkel shop. We went a few minutes drive from our resort to a public beach recommended for snorkling. I watched the waves crash on shore with swells that would take a person out. I watched for a long time and wondered how on earth this was going to work with Luke. He is very cautious and not the bravest at things like this. I was even having second thoughts about going in. It was very intimidating. I figured Luke would not even attempt to go and I would hang out on the beach with him. Mark was the first to venture out with fins, and mask on, he made his way beyond the big crashing waves. Soon Jake followed without much trouble. I looked over and saw Luke putting his fins on and his life jacket and said,"lets go." Honestly, I was the one dreading going in and worrying about the waves, but I wasn't going to let anyone know that. There were plenty of people we had watched attempt to go in and get tossed all over the place and waves crashing on top of them. Well, if Luke was ready, by all means I wasn't going to stop him but encourage him. I knew I had one shot at it and if it went badly I would not get him in the water again. We stood watched and waited. We went out a little and let the waves come past our knees, then at the right time I said "Swim" and he went. I was right behind him and kept yelling to go, to swim. I pushed him farther he when I could. The waves tried to push you back to shore and the sand would swirl and splash at you. We made it past the big shore waves and were headed out to Mark. I could hear the panic in Lukes breathing. He had his snorkel mask and tube in his mouth so it intensified the sound. He was breathing hard and panicking. You feel so tiny in the giant ocean with waves and the open sea, it is frightening to say the least. He swam on but in a frenzy kicking and paddling as fast as he could. Finally when he got to Mark we had him take his mask and tube off and float and calmly breath and relax a bit. Mark got him going snorkeling and he liked it and did great. I was amazed! He did better than I did. I stuck my head in to snorkel and was getting my breathing under control when I took some big long breaths then my mouth filled with salt water. I coughed, chocked and gagged salt water. After that it took me awhile to trust that it wasn't going to happen again. I couldn't relax and swim. We all snorkeled around for awhile seeing some fish and coral. It wasn't real clear as the sand being washed up made it hard to see. Most people say the ocean waves are not typically this rough. Getting back on shore was just as tough as going in. You had to time it right and the waves push you. I helped Luke get out without falling. He did so good. The rest of the day he played in the sand, ran on the beach, and dug holes. He was as happy as a kid could be. He didn't need anyone to play with or even sand toys. He was having a blast, Jacob enjoyed snorkeling and had no trouble at all. He also went walking the beach with Mark. They went on long walks up and down the beach. Jayden snorkeled and then tried to lay on the beach without getting burned. She was already pretty red and had coated layers of sunblock. She finally resorted to shade. We were on the beach at9 and left at 1. The later it got the busier it got. It was pretty entertaining watching people head out to snorkel or swim. We saw many people get tumbled around and knocked under waves.
In the evening Mark took the kids and my Dad on a dinner cruise, while Mom and I went to dinner at a nice restaurant hotel within walking distance.
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