Bushes by the Beach: Day Two

Day two of the reunion, Daphne woke up at 5 AM (ugh), so after an hour of trying to keep her quiet I decided to take her down to the beach.  We ended up with a few of us out enjoying the beautiful morning in our jammies while Cassie snapped pictures from above without us knowing.

Cassie, Amy and I then did a brief jog on the beach, cut short as we worried about where April had gone to (slight miscommunication - she ran on the road instead of the beach).  Then it was inside for morning devotional on the Law of Obedience with the whole family, changing into swimming suits, and running outside to play!

One thing I absolutely loved about this reunion was Marinda and Elijah's foresight to leave each day very loosely planned.  My family has a tendency to over-schedule and set too many timelines when we are together in an attempt to get the most possible action crammed into each day.  This can be a lot of fun, but thoroughly exhausting as well. I appreciated the opportunity to take the trip at a slower pace and truly relax on this vacation.

This is Daphne mid smile while chowing down on an apple in the sandbox...however, upon closer inspection of her facial expression, she may have just been pooping. :)

In the afternoon while Daphne was napping, Burke and I walked down the beach with Daddy, April and camera-woman Marinda to have a surfing lesson!  I was excited to try something new, but a little nervous too.  I don't feel super confident in the water, especially not the ocean where scary creatures may come and attack me at any moment (think Soul Surfer).

Paddy was an awesome instructor and made you feel instantly that she had confidence in you.  After a few minutes of suiting up, teaching us the basics and practicing on the beach, we waded into the ocean to try the real deal.

Surfing is so fun, but a lot harder than it looks.  Paddy was so encouraging and excited as each one of us attempted to catch our first baby wave.  Apparently this spot is ideal for beginning surfers because the waves are fairly small and there aren't many other surfers to compete with.  

One by one, we each were able to boost ourselves to our feet (knees for Daddy) and ride out a small wave until we lost our balance and toppled into the water.

I was also surprised at how exhausting it was to paddle out each time to try and catch the waves and how difficult it was to time your pop just right.  About ten minutes before our hour session was up, I tried for another wave, but when I lost my balance the surf board came flipping up as my hand came pushing down to break my fall.  The force of the water behind the board bent my fingers painfully back nearly to my wrist.  When I came out of the water I thought for a minute I had broken my hand.  It hurt like the dickens, but as I slowly tried to bend my fingers it seemed it was just a sprain or a bad bruise instead.  

Um...what am I doing?!  Everyone else is doing a "surfin' USA" pose and I'm...doing some kind of Karate Kid  breathing exercise!

I didn't try to get up anymore after that, but instead cheered for April, Burke and Dad - especially Ape who was on her way to becoming a pro!

When we paddled in, Amy, Karl, Zakia and Dan were waiting to take over in the second session and somehow within a few minutes we ended up in a human pyramid!

I'm not sure if Paddy says this to every group, but she was flipping out at how athletic our family was on the water.  She said most beginners don't even get up on their first time and couldn't believe everyone got up.  In fact, we missed out watching the second group, but apparently Zakia was A-MAZING and rode wave after wave all the way back to the beach!

That night Burke and I were in charge of cooking dinner so we missed the California Raisin dancing going on upstairs.  (Side Note: over 20 years ago when I was a baby my family was at a reunion with our extended Bush relatives and they did a legendary dance to the California Raisins theme song with garbage bags, white gloves, and sunglasses.  Lij and Rin recreated this by providing everyone with glasses and garbage sacks for a dance par-tay.  We are such weirdos!  I love it!)

After dinner there was a talent show where Mom and Dad created yet another Bush reunion memory from our childhood when we lip-synced and danced to "The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" - hilarious.  Once the kiddos were in bed, all the adults stayed up late talking and Burke and I had a few moments out on the deck listening to the crashing and watching the foaming spray of the high tide waves on the sea wall.  What a marvelous day!