Our boogie board rental was 24 hours so we still had them to play on until noon.  Avi rode in with me quite a bit before deciding to play in the sand.  He and I made little castle and houses for the tsunami to wreck. He seems to like playing natural disaster…. And he built his village just far enough away that the regular surf missed it; only the bigger waves washed in close enough to destroy his little mounds.

Zoe, on the other hand,  spent all morning on the board.  She ended up way down the beach and I had to go retrieve her twice.
 

At lunch we returned the boards, showered up, and I let the kids play at the playground while I watched from the deck of the Turtle Cove building ( where the rentals, gift shop, and check in are). I needed to charge my phone up there and use the wifi for a bit.  I didn’t expect any internet here so it’s quite nice to have  the option.  

I the afternoon we journeyed to the nearby Marine Corps base and air station Kaneohe .  Zoe and I agreed that we were jealous of the people stationed here.  There are 6 beaches at that base!  Our goal was the outdoor rec to see if they had smaller surf boards to rent.  

Success! Bellows only had adult size long boards, but Kaneohe had some short boards and one was a foam topped… So ideal for Zoe.  We rented that one for her and another hard short board for me and drive back to Bellows.  Stopped at a public beach on the way – but it was way too crowded an the waves were similar.  The guy at outdoor rec said the beaches on Kaneohe would not be good for beginners – they have a rougher surf.

 

Spent the rest of the day, until the sun was almost set, out the water surfing.  The short board is tougher to stand on,  so we have been pleased to catch a wave and ride on knees.   The breakers are also a lot closer to shore than where we learned in Bali… Which just means the ride is not quite long enough for me or Zoe to hop up and stand.  We have until 2:30 tomorrow afternoon to perfect our skills!  Avi had fun riding with me, wiped hard once, but hopped right back on.  Zoe is, of course, a fish. I helped her at first and then she was on her own!  I was able to surf a few times without Avi when he was done… But the sun was low and chilly so I didn’t want to leave him bundled in the towel in the beach too long. Those hot showers in the bath house are awesome.

 

This evening we ate some soup that I heated in the can over my fire log.  It was funny.  While I was “cooking” the kids played with some boys camping out too.   The sun sets around 6:30, so after dinner we were about to retreat to the tent for some reading when the family across the way invited us over for s’mores. We stayed a couple hours and chatted.  They were a super fun family to hang out with – the mom is from NY and the dad from CA.  He is a submariner and had been homeschooled. The kids were Zoe and Avi’s age, so fun was had by all.

 

 Tonight there are way more tents at the campground though it still isn’t full.  Hopefully the group playing the music will observe quiet hours here in a few minutes.  I would rather listen to the ocean. 

Saw a flight posted on the Hickam space-a board headed back home Monday … Via Guam.