Thursday, December 26th
Wide awake by 7:00 a.m., OK, not wide awake, but eyes can see the light. Bill is the first one up and to no one's surprise, he's ready for a run. Upon hearing of her dad's agenda, Ashley jolts out of bed and gets herself ready to accompany Bill. That is the fastest I have ever seen Ashley get ready for anything. Bill and Ashley load up with their electronics (Ashley with her I-Pod for music - after all Dad isn't known for his chattiness - her words, not mine; and Bill straps on his running gps - after all he has been know to get lost - my words, not his)
While the two early birds are gone, the three of us do whatever we need to do to ready ourselves for the day.
By 10:00a.m. we are out of our hotel and headed towards Waikiki beach. A small detour to the first McDonalds for breakfast (those growing boys are always hungry).
Bill rents us some nice beach space; actually the beach is free, but it comes with a couple of lounge chairs and a nice large umbrella.
While the kids and Bill rent some paddle boards, I settle into the lounge chair with my book, and music (new Garth Brooks CD for Christmas) and my first nap of the day. It takes me a while to relax and close my eyes, as I discovered my "overly mother instincts" have me keeping my eyes on the kids (and Bill) to make sure they are afloat. I finally gave up this quest when they started to resemble the rest of the colored dots on the ocean horizon. Before I know it, two hours have flown by and everyone is back and the big smiles on their faces would indicate they had a great time.
We all share our afternoon experiences; Ethan had a foot encounter with some coral; Ashley spent he least amount of time in the actual water ( her balancing skills came in handy) Patrick got us close and personal with a sea turtle and Bill got up close and personal with his paddle board.
I watched a local beach supervisor/volunteer walk up and sown our beach section, collecting the box jellyfish that had been washed ashore and putting them in a container. There were warning signs on the beach about these stinging creatures, but it didn't seem to deter the tourists. (that would be us)
Ashley and Ethan did some cheer stunting near the water (just to keep in practice) I only witnessed one major wipe out. I think Ethan's chest still has an indent from Ashley's butt landing on him.
We spent a few more hours at the beach and then we eventually met back up at the hotel. This was when I settle into my second nap of the day.
Dinner consisted of take out pizza and wings in the room. It was a pretty early evening.
Stacey
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