Today we went surfing. We originally signed up for the boys and MJ to go surfing, but I got roped into surfing as well. We arrived in a parking lot and sat on surf boards to receive our 8 minute lesson before they threw us into the water. The two guys that took us out there simply gave us a push. It is akin to having someone hold your bike to start you off on your ride and then give you a big push. Then we simply had to stand up on the board. How does that sound to you? We only had an 8 minute lesson and believe it or not after that, we were ready to go. Lindy was up first and stood up right away. Almost everyone after her was able to stand up with the greatest of ease. It truly was a blast. The guys were so relaxed and simply let us do what we wanted. They encouraged me to try to catch the waves on my own and I was pretty successful. I started strong, fell down in the middle and then ended pretty strong.
At one point Luke and I were directly next top each other surfing. I fell off and he stepped onto my board for a couple of seconds. At another point, Jake surfed right over my board, if it weren't for the fin, he would have sailed right over me. Finally, we looked for turtles yesterday - today we surfed with them. The turtles are not afraid of surfers and have no problem getting close to the surfers. The instructors explained that the turtles are endangered species and therefore the turtles will get close to the humans. It was truly an amazing experience.
Across the street was a cafe where we ate lunch. You ordered at the counter and paid. For 8 of us, the bill came to $100.20. The cashier was very impressed with how cheap the bill was for our lunch. I handed her two $100 bills and explained that I was sorry that I did not have anything smaller. She thought for two seconds and said she would give us a discount of $0.20 to make it $100 even. Savings - what a great day and a great meal. We hung out talking about surfing and the kids were amazed to think about the ATV, bike ride and surfing. They were impressed withe the selection of activities so far. All is good.
In the evening, we went to a Luau. While the menu did not appeal on paper to many because it was traditional Hawaiian food, we went there with an open mind. It was an awesome experience. Before dinner, we walked around and took part in a variety of different Hawaiian experiences. Also the were plenty of photo opportunities. (Jake won the award for meeting someone we knew from home) It was just a great experience hanging out with friends and family. Throughout the trip and this evening people asked if we were related to the Webb's and when we told them we were just friends they all look shocked - like that's amazing that you get along. The food turned out to be very good. Hawaiian Chicken Long rice is clear noodles that taste like chicken noodle soup. Everyone tried something new. (MJ even drank alcohol.) At the end of the evening our server stated that he wanted us to stay around and receive our parting gift of banana bread. I told him that we really liked banana bread and he hooked us up by letting us take home lots of packages of them.
Finally, the Hawaiians have the right idea about food. Our server, Randy, stated that Hawaiians eat to stuff themselves until they are ready to sleep. I like that a lot.