dannis and michael: Soul Surfer

I loved the movie Soul Surfer and a few years before that was another surfer girl/football movie called Blue Crush that I also loved...there was also the Patrick Swayze movie Point Break and it was awesome. When I think of things that I always wanted to learn, surfing is up there at the top...right beside speaking another language and playing the piano...things I know I could do if I really tried but doesn't mean I will ever do...Anyways...
Before we went to Hawaii, I wanted to surf but once we got there I had kinda decided maybe the stand up paddle boarding was more my thing. So the day we planned to enjoy a $60 umbrella and chair rental at Wakiki Beach, mom, AR and I got there early and I was getting the details from the rental guys. I asked a bazillion questions on rental prices, lessons, private vs. group etc. etc. So, Michael had been at the conference and we decided that he'd be out just in time for an 11am private lesson for just him. So, I went over to pay the surf dudes of Faith Surf School and they were like what about you? I was telling them how good Michael was at wake boarding and I was capable of getting up on a snow or wakeboard but I didn't want to do a lesson with Michael because I would hold him back and I would wait until he was done and try paddle boarding. They were like NO. You need to surf. They had a slow morning i guess because there was nobody else signed up for the group lesson, so instead of paying for 1 private lesson, we got a group lesson for each of us and it was the same price, and we were the only two in the group! My mom was watching AdaReece so we didn't have to worry about her. And Michael showed up, they shoved these smelly red billabong rash guards at us and discussed what size boards we needed amongst themselves. There was a lot of discussion about the size board Michael would need. They went a size(or ten) up i think...Our instructor was Kawika(Ka-vee-kay) he said it is the Hawaiian version of David. There was about a ten minute lesson of us on the sand and the next thing i know we are paddling out to the waves on our bellies! what seemed like an eternity later we made it out past the breaking waves. i was literally exhausted. i had NO IDEA how weak my arms were and the super wide easy boards we were on were like paddling a canoe with your hands. I mean seriously. i was worn out and I hadn't even tried to surf! Once we were out there he gave us a few more tips and then he sent Michael out. I can't remember what he did because i was about to hyperventilate. All I could think about was sharks and coral reefs breaking my limbs and being pounded into the sea floor by crushing waves... So he told me to get on my knees, get ready and when he told me to stand up. Next thing I know I'M FREAKING SURFING!!!!!!!
Not to toot my own horn but I ROCKED at surfing!! And it was SO FUN! The only part that absolutely sucked is that if you rode the wave all the way in, which was THE BEST, you then had to get all the way back out there and IT WAS SO EXHAUSTING!! I think our 'lesson' was supposed to be 2 hours and I'm certain 1 hour of that was spent catching my breath and letting waves knock me back 10 feet toward shore after I spend 10 minutes getting 5 feet out. Whatever. I loved it and was so proud of myself and so glad those guys encouraged me to go for it. So, once we finished, we turned in our stuff and plopped down under the umbrella. Later, I went to the hotel down the beach that had the photo sales booth and watched a slide show of our images. There had been a skilled surfer that surfed alongside us and taken pictures and they were selling them. During the slideshow, I didn't know how much they were but i snapped a few shots with my iPhone. After the show was over, the guy told me the disk was $80. I talked him down to $60 but still couldn't let myself pay that. So we will only have the following evidence of our glorious hour of surfing in Hawaii: