Day at the Beach

This past Saturday I got to spend the day at the beach. However, it wasn't your normal beach vacation. Our church rented two buses and then sold seats on the bus. For just $5 you could get a ride to one of the beaches on the south part of Honduras. So all the Casa kids, the 5 brothers and their parents, my mom, Mike, David, Carlos, Saul, Eduardo, and a friend of the boys all woke up at 3:30 and were loaded on the bus by 5:30 ready to make the 3 hour trip to the beach. In true Honduran form we left 30 minutes later than we had planned and things were absolutely chaotic. We sat on a hot bus for far longer than any of us cared to be on there and broke every bus capacity limit ever set. 

We dealt with bus sickness, boredom, jelly fish stings, monstrous waves, fatigue, cranky pants, sibling fights, and so much more. Yet simply watching the kids enjoy the day made it all worth it. They laughed and played all day. I loved watching them chase waves or conquer their fear of the water. 

Katty was fearless. It didn't matter how many times she got knocked down or sucked under water she always came up giggling and ready for more. She loved to have me carry her out into deeper water so that we could get walloped by big waves together. Every time I'd see a wave coming I'd tell her to put her head down. She'd take a big breath, close her eyes, and tuck her head in just in time for the wave to come crashing in around us. She thought it was the best. 

Maryuri conquered her fear of the waves and even seemed to enjoy herself. Granted it took a huge wave that knocked her and my mom over before she decided it wasn't half bad. 

Throughout the day I found myself reminiscing about beach trips I've had with my parents. I can remember my dad playing with me in the waves. I can remember him reaching down to pull me out of the water countless times after a wave knocked me down. I LOVED (still do) the beach. It was fun being on the flip side. This time I was the parent....ripping kids out of the water when they got knocked down. I found out that dragging your kids to the beach isn't all fun it games...it is HARD! :) 

And of course our trip wasn't without calamity. On the way home we had problems with the police AND blew a tire. We had to stop for half an hour or so to get the tire fixed. Needless to say with all the added problems it took us much longer to get home.