Yep...we are hip surfer dudes now and know all the lingo.
Ha.
Katie-bug woke up super excited today--as did we all! We met the instructor and the Make A Wish rep in 'downtown' Hanalei to start the day. An added bonus....the instructor was Bethany's coach, Russel. I can't remember his last name. He's an Aussie with a great accent.
Katie and Coach Russel.
The Make A Wish rep brought her daughter and the kids were presented with candy lei's. How fun is that?
Russel looked the kids over and decided they needed 'rash guards.' Those are the shirts made out of swimsuit fabric that I formerly thought were just to protect against sunburn. Nope...they are to protect your skin against the rash you get from the surfboard (kind of like a rug burn).
The surf shop gave each of the kids a rash guard! They were so excited! They looked adorable. The shop also gave each of us some very nice sunglasses which just seemed above and beyond...
After that, it was off to the beach and meeting Bethany. Her dad was there too. Kate became extremely shy and could barely look at Bethany. She told us later that all she could think was, "I can't believe I'm standing by Bethany Hamilton." So cute.
Sitting with Bethany and getting instructions from Russel about rip tides and how dangerous they are.
Practicing getting from a prone position to a standing position.
Lookin' good, girl! Time to hit the waves.
Katie popped up on her first try and rode the wave all the way into the shore. Way to go, Kate!
Look at her go! Wheee!!!
Getting some additional tips from Bethany.
Back to the beach so that Bethany can instruct the other kids. Zoey was just a tad excited.
Zoey was eager to show Bethany that she had lost part of a limb, too. This trip was so wonderful in that respect for Zoey. We decided not to risk losing her leg in the water, so she surfed without it. As you can see, she did great!
Bethany effortlessly shows us how its done.
Then it was Chloe's turn.
Miss Molly LOVED surfing and is begging to go again. She's even willing to give up her birthday presents to pay for it.
Jillian gave it a try but decided it was more fun to watch than to surf.
J-Man was rocking the rash guard shirt and that surf board.
Jake made it very clear that he had no interest in being on a surf board. Ever.
Jillian and Kate admire some more of Bethany's expertise.
The last to try surfing was SaraGrace. She was a bit skittish and couldn't quite work up the courage to try it. I'm not sure how this transpired, but Bethany was soon giving SaraGrace rides on the surfboard to get her used to it. It worked. Pretty soon SaraGrace was willing to try a solo run.
She rode a wave all the way to the shore.
It was time for Bethany to leave so we took some pictures together.
I love this one! Katie was all worried about getting sand all over Bethany.
Even though Bethany and her dad had to leave, Make A Wish had arranged for the instructor to stay to help Jeff and I take a turn. We got to wear rash guard shirts too, although ours said, "STUDENT" on the back of them and we didn't get to keep them. HA. Reminded me of the student driver cars. (In other words...everyone get out of the way!!!) The shirts were skin tight (of course) and as soon as Jeff put his on he started singing, "Fat guy in a little shirt." It was quite funny.
It's much harder for guys to surf according to Russel. Jeff would have gotten up but I think he didn't want Russel to have to keep helping him.
Getting last instructions from Russel. My children were kind enough to point out that I had the whitest skin of anyone on the beach. Is it my imagination or are my legs as white as the sand...and might I even say....glowing? Ugh.
I look just like Bethany. Bwahahahahah. NOT.
It was an amazing day! We had so much fun! Jeff and the kids are all sunburned since they scorn suntan lotion. I...the whitey...put lotion on and don't have a sunburn--except for the spots I missed. HA!
We had a lot of time to talk to Bethany's dad and he was telling us how he and a few others from Bethany's foundation made a trip to Boston after the bombing to try to encourage those who had lost limbs. Most of them weren't quite ready to talk, so they left gift bags for them and talked to a few. He also invited us to their church after he found out we are Christians, so that will be fun tomorrow. Their church is in a tent! The kids think that is really cool--although were a bit bummed that it's not on the beach like in the movie. And Jordan asked if Carrie Underwood was going to lead the music. So cute.
Thanking God for this awesome trip and looking forward to spending Mother's Day in a tent church tomorrow!
