New adventures with old friends: the Surfing edition

This Grand Adventure has taken us to the West Coast and into our 30th state--California!  California is a state we love to visit as there is so much natural beauty and so many fun things to do and learn.

After a few days making our way across to the coast, we arrived at the home of Hilary and Chris and their four precious kiddos.  Hilary and Nancy were roommates for a year back in the early Washington DC days, so our friendship is coming up on its 20th anniversary. I can hardly believe I just typed that number. Someone hold me.

Back in the "olden days", Hilary, Nancy and Mark all spent a lot of time together constantly exploring and going out to find new things to do in and around our nation's capital.

So it wasn't too surprising that HIlary suggested that Petunia might like to try something new during our current visit.

They took us to this state beach near their house. We had to drink in the scene.

A gorgeous beach is a good place to start in my book. Any day.

Surfboard-toting, beach-going minivans are cool.

Hilary's oldest two kiddos have been surfing for a while and Hilary thought Petunia might like to try it. At first, she stuck to the boogie board, which was definitely an upgrade from any boogie board she'd used before.  The weather was nice and warm for those of us sitting and watching, but the kids donned wetsuits so that they could stay and play in the water a longer time.

Making their way down to the beach was the first obstacle of the day.

This sweet girl loves the beach, sun, sand and water activities--all of it!  She was excited for getting out to play in those waves!

There were big enough waves for the best boogie boarding she had ever gotten to do. Look at that enjoyment!

This face!

After a while, Petunia decided she was ready to give real surfing a try. Her sweet friend  gave Petunia a pre-water lesson.

Love these sweet girls!

Walking her through the steps.

Eventually, you just have to get out there and try!

Get a look at her facial expressions in these next couple pics!

Surfing is hard. She wiped out and had to try over and over.

And then, for one very brief moment, there was this...

Victory!

Her time standing up on the board didn't last long, but I am so proud that she stuck with it until she got to see how it felt.  Earlier in the day, she thought she might keep to the boogie board because she knew she could do it and it would be fun.  Surfing would be challenging and risky.  

But she did it...and she loved it.  When she saw that pic of her standing on the board, her jaw dropped open.  I wish we could all see pictures of ourselves succeeding where we have been sure of failure before. There is no failure until you quit trying.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."  -Thomas A. Edison
 

Way to go, girls!

I think it's okay if this girl was just a little proud of her accomplishment! She had all the key elements for trying something new and difficult: 1. A willingness to try  2. A friend to show her the way  3. A determination to not give up

One of the reasons for our Grand Adventure was education through travel, and I tend to believe these kind of life lessons count.  Maybe double.

Emerald waters and white sands!

We are currently camping at Henderson Beach State Park in Destin, Florida. Everything we have heard throughout the years about the emerald waters and the fine powdery white snow is absolutely true.

In fact, being January and all, it was pretty cold last night when Mark took his first stroll on the beach. He said between the cold and the super fine white sand, he could almost convince himself it was snow!

Today we took a long stroll on the beach together. We were out for a couple of hours in very decent winter weather, but got back just before hours of rain came.

I adore the colors of these waters!

Our Heart in the white sand.

I'm not sure what Mark was telling Petunia here, but if it was "See those buildings? We're going there,"...then that would have been true. We did walk down there and back.

We have discovered the secret to having one of the most popular Florida destination beaches virtually all to ourselves: Go in winter the week that school starts back from winter vacation! If utilizing this tip, please note that your swimsuit is not needed. 

Petunia's personal palm.

Sunshine on the ocean makes me happy.

We have been blessed to experience a wide variety of beaches that Florida has to offer, from St. Augustine to Sanibel to the Keys.  The experience would surely not be complete without this stop on the Emerald Coast.

Memory Monday: A wide stretch of soft sand and a STARFISH

The Florda beach.

Ahhhh, just typing those words bring about a sense of calm, not to mention the joy that comes from looking at the soft sand and gorgeous light (okay, and precious little girl) in the picture above.

This memory was born  from getting to attend the wedding of a good friend a few years ago. It's the trip that allowed us to add the couple days of Disney I wrote about here.  As we were long time friends of the groom, Mark was a groomsman and I was there just as a guest.  However, to my surprise and pleasure, my past wedding-coordinating experience had reason to be needed and I got to play a role in the wedding, after all.

I was happy to just be useful.  The bride, however, who is gracious and kind, insisted on giving me a necklace for my time. I tried to refuse, saying no gift was necessary, but I could see she really wanted to give it, so I accepted gratefully.

In keeping with the beach location, the necklace I received was a beautiful silver, sparkly starfish.  The piece of jewelry was lovely in its own right, but the bride, who I was just getting to know, could not have known that I love starfish!  I don't love starfish in a 'collect them, wear them, decorate with them' sort of way. I just deep down have a fascination with the creatures because of a story I heard long ago that sticks with me right down in my soul and has had provided the inspiration I have needed to draw upon at uncertain moments.

To close this Memory Monday, let me share that story with you and ask you, please share this post with others if you know someone who might need this story today.

The Starfish Story

A young man is walking along the ocean and sees a beach on which thousands and thousands of starfish have washed ashore. Further along he sees an old man, walking slowly and stooping often, picking up one starfish after another and tossing each one gently into the ocean.

“Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?,” he asks.

“Because the sun is up and the tide is going out and if I don’t throw them further in they will die.”

“But, old man, don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it! You can’t possibly save them all, you can’t even save one-tenth of them. In fact, even if you work all day, your efforts won’t make any difference at all.”

The old man listened calmly and then bent down to pick up another starfish and threw it into the sea. “It made a difference to that one.”