Moments D689: Underwater Screams

Today, EQ took a bunch of us snorkeling!   What a glorious morning it was!  Blue skies with puffy clouds mirrored upon the aqua waters.   The eight of us were eager to get into the water and explore!

And explore we did!  For over an hour, seven of us in the water explored the depths of the coral reef just North of the resort.  Pepper was our guide and he was a lot of fun as he tried to make our time in the water special.  He was obviously very comfortable in the water and the reef.  He was constantly lifting rocks and shells to show us what was hiding beneath.  Under one of the rocks lifted, there was a starfish.  He pulled it from the rock and ocean floor and  let it go near the surface.  We watched as it fluttered in the waves and back to the sandy floor below. He showed us sea eggs, and marbles, and at one point he even took my hand and we chased a stingray.

But, the best moment, by far, was when Pepper convinced me to touch one of the soft looking corals on the reef.  Now, I come from a mentality of "look, don't touch", but he was flitting about so confidently and I had begun to trust him.  I figured, why not?  I could gently touch this coral, right?

And so, I dove down with him, and gently touched the soft coral.  When I realized that my fingers were stuck in the coral, I screamed!  MY FINGERS WERE STUCK!  "AAAAARRRGGGG"  When I touched the sticky coral, it grabbed me and held on! It was like a bad horror film moment!

With a firm tug, of course, the coral let me go.

As Pepper and I surfaced for air, we were both laughing hard.  Topside, he explained to me, my cousin and EQ who were within earshot, that this coral was food for seahorses.   After the laughter all-around subsided, I watched my cousin dive down and experience the same sticky coral as it grabbed her fingers.  While she didn't scream as I did, you could tell she was still surprised at just how sticky it was!

Moments that surprise you.

Moments that make you laugh big and deep.

Moments D686: Waterslide Fun

We were up early, but not too early.  After a lazy breakfast, we decided that today was a beach day.

Snorkelling, drinks, a walk along the beach, swimming, some lounging, (more drinks) and then....later in the day, my cousin mentioned how much fun the waterslide was.

Um....pardon?  The waterslide?  You mean the "big kids" can play on it?

OOOOOH yeah!

And so we did.  

My first ride down the slide was very slow.  Boring.  Disappointing.  

Boo!

But, not one to give up, I decided to give it another try.  This time, with some coaching from EQ on how to keep my butt from slowing me down, I managed to fly down the slide and into the pool below.  

Weeeeeeeeee!

Yes. Now that's more like it!

After three or four more trips up and back down again, it was dinner time.  What a fun way to end the day!

Moments enjoying the silliness of a waterslide.

Moments realizing you really are a big kid!