Just Another Day in Paradise

After our epic vacation, we spent a day at the beach with friends. A very nice, relaxing day-
Tasha got this star fish out of the ocean. This was my first encounter with a starfish (besides at an aquarium). It was beautiful and so intricate!

Maia and Chloe looking at the starfish.

Early on in the day I learned how to snorkel! Jenny offered to teach me so I thought, "Why not learn now?" I jumped right in the water. The equipment I used was a little faulty and with me just learning it wasn't a good mix. I struggled to get my breathing right because you can only breathe out of your mouth when snorkeling. I soon picked up the rhythm but not after getting a very large mouthful of salt water- yuck! I soon realized that the snorkel tube took on water about every 45 seconds no matter what I did. So I had to stop and empty it out every so often. The mask also took on water and then I got salt water in my eyes. 

It was worth every bit of the hassle. The ocean life is incredible- I had only ever seen the ocean life in movies and on Planet Earth.  I saw other starfish, blue and yellow fish, Dory fish (like in Finding Nemo), a long skinny cream colored fish with a pointed nose, a big fat clear fish with multicolored stripes on its side, schools and schools of yellow and white fish gleaming in the water, and a lion fish with large fins (that Jenny later told us was poisonous). There is so much life under the water, and that was only a few feet from shore. I can only imagine how beautiful the reefs must be!

After snorkeling, I swam in the pool to get the saltwater off my body. I can't stand the feel of saltwater on my skin. Later, we ate lunch right on the beach. We ordered our lunch when we arrived in the morning and it was delivered right to us. 

In the afternoon I snorkeled again, collected a few shells, and sat with Levi by the edge of the ocean as he kept himself entertained, throwing rock after rock into the water and watching it splash. I also tried some coconut juice and meat for the first time, along with sugarcane. I didn't like any of those things.

The area where I snorkeled- a few feet away from the big white wall.

Taressa and I

I came home a little bit burned, sand still on my feet, and very tired- that, my friends, is a successful day at the beach!