Happy birthday Callie!

Hello everyone! Sorry for the radio silence... we had very limited data at our last location. I decided to not fight the flow and update you when we began to move again.

We spent the last 3 days celebrating Callie's birthday. She is now officially a teenager! (Ahhhhh!)

Callie was scheduled for 2 hours of surf lessons Friday morning, and 2 hours on Saturday morning. Friday turned into 3.5 hours, almost 4 hours. She had a great instructor. He spent lots of time on safety, science of the ocean and winds, and how it all applied to surfing. Then she leaned how to unwax and rewax a board and how to install and uninstall the fins on the board.

They spent about an hour on the sand, learning how to get from the laying on the board paddling position to standing up. Basically one quick hop that you have to stick like a gymnast sticks their landing. Really hard. She did great though and didn't get discouraged.

After all the prepping, they had a surfers pep talk and then hit the water. I haven't figured out how to load videos onto this blog, so you'll just have to take my word for it, she did great. It is even harder to stick your landing with the waves crashing into you, but she just kept going back and trying again and again. She didn't master it, but she was able to ride on her knees for a couple of seconds. She was smiling ear to ear everytime I was close enough to see her face!

When she was so tired she couldn't possibly try it again, we headed home and she passed out for a bit. We were planning on meeting again Saturday morning to finish but we got a message from the instructor around 2pm saying the town was closing down the beaches at 7pm that night (Friday) for the next 14 days (spring break was over after all..), and he offered to meet again that afternoon so she could finish. So we packed up and went the 45 minutes back to the beach. She worked with him another 2 hours until the rip tides got too strong and we had to call it a day.

All in all, she loved surfing. Her instructor said she did great for her first time trying. He also said she is fearless, not afraid of the water, the waves, or falling, which is unusual for a beginner. (We all knew that tho, she's a fish!) When we got home it was about 630pm CST and she was sound asleep in the car. She climbed up to her bunk and went straight to bed. We didn't see her again until almost 11 the next day. (Surfing is hard work!)

In advance of her day of surfing, the instructor was texting me, having her research different things about surfing... tides, winds, construction of boards etc. We hadn't told her about the lessons yet, so she was getting pretty annoyed at me thinking I was once again "trying to be educational" (her words... LOL). He even spent days finding us the right board for her height, weight, and ability, at the best price he could negotiate.

Saturday we headed to the surf shop and picked her up her own surfboard and the other odds & ends she neeed to continue on her own. It's a beginner long board, made of a heavy styrofoam that is textured and doesn't need to be waxed. Because of its construction, it won't hurt her if she falls and it hits her.

Sunday, her actual birthday, started around noon when she got up. We had pancakes for brunch, cake for an afternoon snack, and spaghetti for dinner (her request). She was able to spend some time playing roblox. She connected with some family on the phone, and even met a new friend her age online who is full time traveling like she is. All in all, I think she had a pretty awesome 13th birthday!

Thank you to everyone who helped with her lessons, the cost of her board, and everyone who reached out to wish her a happy birthday!

Love to all... keep healthy & stay tuned!