Maui: Four

Alternate title: Frank the Old, Wise Sea Turtle.

So, here are a couple things about me that you should know by now:

• I can't swim. Not really even a little bit.
• As a result, I have a slight fear of water. 

Now, this fear of water is a little strange because there are times when I love water. Like yesterday evening as I was on the beach in our backyard watching the sunset. LOVE. Or last night as I was watching the waves lit by moonlight after eating dinner on the back porch. LOVE.

Yet jumping in that water and being able to keep myself from drowning is something I just can't seem to get behind. The thought of it paralyzes me with fear.

However, let's not forget that 2010 is the year I do hard things.

So when everyone was renting snorkel gear for the week, I said, Sure, I'll rent some. Why not? [Life jacket included.]

But when we got to the beach and I saw the water and waves and what appeared to be twenty dead bodies floating just off shore, I felt the fear creeping over me. I promptly decided that my tan really needed me to put in some good time on the sand. I mean, how can I say no to my tan? It NEEDS me!

Then the peer pressure started. And although I was able to make it through high school largely unharmed by peer pressure, I find myself powerless over it now. Somehow I ended up standing in the water with a life jacket and goggles on. Then before I knew it was putting on flippers, all the while saying, "Oh...so...yeah...I don't think I'm going to do this."

It was probably at this point that I saw the three year old kid next to me, wearing water wings, kneeling on top of a boogie board, with his parents on either side of him. Then I took inventory of myself: Life jacket. Boogie Board. LL and BS on either side of me.

Great, I'm the equivalent of a three year old.
But if that kid could do it, then I could too.

I waded out further into the water and went for it. Never mind that I was floating along in a life jacket AND on a boogie board. Or the fact that I had a death grip on both LL and BS. What matters was that I was in the ocean, with my feet off the ground and my head in the water.

Now, if I'm being honest, I wasn't super impressed in general with the party under the sea. That is until I saw Frank. Frank the sea turtle. He was massive and oh, so adorable. And I could just tell he was wise. We kept losing track of him but at one point we couldn't keep from heading straight for him and swam right over the top of him. I was so nervous and loved it at the same time. He came up for air and stuck his cute little face out of the water.

Oh, that Frank. He might be the highlight of the trip so far.

This photo is proof that it happened. Notice how Brooke's body is slightly more submerged than mine. NBD.

I'm pretty proud of myself. PB teased that just getting in the water was my equivalent of bungee jumping. So, maybe that's true. But now I can say I bungee jumped.