Surfin' Dudes and other Hawaii stories

Okay, Dan may not be happy that I am sharing this story, but I can't resist. One of Brandon's Hawaii dreams has been to take a surfing lesson. Dan felt like he should do it too, but was overwhelmingly nervous about sharks. The thought of surfing tapped into deep-seated fears that apparently began when he watched Jaws as an impressionable child.

We signed up Brandon and Dan for a lesson on a beach near Waikiki. It was a hot day, and we rushed over right after spending the morning walking around the Swap Meet at Aloha Stadium (to find our Hawaii souvenirs) and then eating a big Pizza Hut buffet lunch. Maybe not the smartest way to begin an intensely physical exercise.

Dan and Brandon and their surfer dude instructer (who fit every surfer dude stereotype, from his "surfer-isms" sprinkled throughout his conversation to his laid-back approach to life) unloaded their surfboards and prepared to carry them down the hill to the beach. The other kids and I followed behind, but we were way behind. It took me about half an hour to convince Joseph that he really needed to walk, not be carried, the entire way.
By the time we reached the beach, we couldn't tell where they had "launched" and which surfers way out in the water were our guys, so we set up our stuff on the beach and played in the water while we waited. About half an hour later I saw the instructor and Brandon walking toward us from down the beach. Dan was not with them. Our first thought was "Oh no - a shark ate Dan!" Then we realized that Brandon and the instructor were talking and laughing, and it didn't seem likely that they would be so jovial if Dan had just been a shark's lunch.

They told me that halfway through the lesson Dan had felt nauseous and weak. He thought he might pass out. The instructor and Brandon towed him back to shore, and they set him up in the shade to cool off. They came to find me to get him a water bottle.

(Dan would want me to make it clear that surfing is a much more physical sport than we would imagine. And he was dehydrated and overheated and swallowed a lot of salt water. And he did great for half the lesson. And he is sure that if he was 17 years old like Brandon, he would have also been a super successful surfer. Okay. We believe him, right?)

I ran down to find my poor husband, who was, shall we say, not doing well. It was not possible for him to finish the lesson, so instead he recuperated and cooled off. Once the instructor was assured that I would take responsibility for Dan's welfare, he took Brandon back out for the rest of the lesson.

Brandon discovered that he LOVES surfing. The instructor said he was a natural and progressed amazingly fast for a first lesson. He caught some good waves and had a blast. We're worried that he may decide to blow off college and become a surfer dude for a living.
Brandon is on the left.
Joseph tries out Dan's surfboard while we played nursemaid on the beach.

Other random Hawaii thoughts for today . . .our GPS was our best friend in Hawaii. Everything about the islands is so laid back. Including the streets. They are particularly confusing to navigate. Our GPS is named "Agnes," and Agnes treated us well as we drove all over every corner of Oahu. We saw so many fascinating places and really loved the island (maybe not the hectic big city of Honolulu, but we loved everything else).
One of the great tips our friends gave us was to check out a little Portuguese bakery in Kailua to eat "malasadas," which is a cross between a scone and a donut. Oh, so delicious.