Daley Happenings: Hawaii cont'

Surf Lessons

This was probably one of the funnest days on our trip to Hawaii. Kari, Ben, and I took surf lessons. Jason was suppose to but he opted out due to the sunburn. Sharon and Rex hooked us up once again with these sweet lessons. Thanks so much! It was through a place called Hawaiian Fire and it's taught by firemen and women who know how to surf. The lessons were on a more secluded beach on the west side of the island so it was perfect for learning how to surf. They gave us some safety lessons followed by some quick surf lessons and then put us in the water. I have to admit I was nervous at first. I didn't know how well I would do or if I might hurt myself. But it was all good. I got up on the second try and loved it. It was so much fun! We learned on long boards and I've heard they're a lot easier than short ones, so I'm glad that we had the long boards. We'd paddle out to the instructors and turn our boards around and then they'd get us a good wave, give us a push and off we'd go. It was seriously one of the funnest things I've ever done. Although the paddling part was super hard. I'd paddle a few strokes and then I'd have to rest because my arms were so tired. I don't know how those surfers can do the whole paddling thing and make it look so easy. There were a few times they pulled me out to the waves because I wasn't paddling fast enough. Man I'm a wimp! They would actually tow two of us at the same time. They'd put a foot at the top of our surfboards and then start to paddle, towing us behind them. They were so strong! I guess you'd have to be to be a fireman. I really wanted to catch a wave myself, but it was super hard. The hard part was telling which wave was surfable. So I tried a few times, but was unsuccessful. Maybe next time. Thanks again Rex and Sharon. It was so much fun! There will be more pictures of the actual surfing. I'll post them when I get them.

Kari and I getting ready to surf.

Learning the technique

We're ready to be professional surfers!

Dole Plantation
After surf lessons we headed to the dole plantation for some yummy pineapple ice cream. I love this stuff! The kids loved it too. They had fun eating their ice cream, running through the gardens and feeding the fish. They thought it was really cool to see the actual pineapple's growing on the plants.

Jason and I in front of the Dole plantation in 2006 during our last Hawaii trip

Wiamea Beach

We headed to the beach next. I love Wiamea beach. It's a really beautiful beach and there's this awesome cliff for jumping. The waves weren't the best this day, so Afton had fun playing in the water. She was such a little fish on this trip. We couldn't get her out of the water. She loved it! We played in the water for a little bit, built some sand castles, and went cliff jumping. I think Daxon's favorite part of the trip was building sand castles with Ben. He had fun building them and then knocking them down. And I don't have any pictures of the cliff jumping. Sorry! But it was really cool because you could see this huge school of fish in the ocean right where you jump in. So we jumped into a school of fish. Don't worry, they weren't big fish. I do have some pictures of the cliff jumping from our last trip so I'll post some of those.