Oahu, Hawaii - Day 6 (Surfing)

 Wednesday was an exciting day - the kids were excited to go for surfing lessons that were postponed from earlier in the trip due to dangerous surf.  AA and DD were also excited to try surfing.

The crew left the condo on time and got to Waikiki Beach about 20 mins before the start of lessons, just enough time for a bathroom break and to apply sunscreen.  The Sharky's Surf School crew were on time and very friendly - they wasted no time getting the 4 surfers through ground school to learn the technique of how to get up on the board.

After the 5 mins ground lesson, it was time to hit the water.  The team was sent immediately to the first surfing launch spot and everyone was shoved off by an instructor and told to "GET UP" when the time was right.

Everyone had a blast!  T really got the hang of getting up and staying upright on the board.  He didn't quite figure out turning (and only ran over one person) but was pumped about his abilities.  B was a little more frustrated that she couldn't seem to figure out how to stand up and stay up on the board - AA thinks her stance may be "goofy" (right foot forward) but she didn't have the patience to try and figure out another method of standing up.  She still had a lot of fun.  AA and DD were surprised at how easy it was to get up on the board (note: easy does not imply that they were successful every time or for the entire ride).

After surf school, the kids still had energy to burn and went back into the water for a little more swim/wave crashing time.  AA and DD needed to rest a bit.

Once the kids were dried off, it was time to go for lunch at Lulu's - a restaurant that the adults had visited before a couple times.  The food was better than everyone remembers from the last visit, although B was not happy that she had a couple jalapeños in her breakfast burrito, but she handled it well.

With lunch finished, the gang wanted to go to a couple shops nearby - DD wanted to get some new rash guards from Quicksilver and MBM wanted to find some new "Hawaiian clothes" for the kids.  There was also enough time for a mid-shopping trip Dolewhip snack.

The drive back to the condo was slow during rush hour (on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving).  Once back at the condo, everyone changed and made their way back to Monkeypod for supper, this time walking 12 mins to the restaurant.  Although it was the same restaurant, the scenery was different (seated upstairs this time) and (almost) everyone had something different to eat and drink (B elected for the same marghareta pizza).

After supper, time was spent shopping a little more at the nearby shops before walking back to the condo to finish the night with some video games.