the not bummer summer

a few summers ago, my girls favorite movie was judy moody and the NOT bummer summer.  ever since then, we have followed suit with judy and sort of mapped out some things that would be really exciting and adventurous to do over the summer.  and like her, we attach "thrill points" to each activity, in an attempt to accomplish enough points to reach the conclusion that we have had the most epic summer of all time.

i think it is fair to say, this summer genuinely achieves the status of "NOT bummer summer".  i would even go as far as saying that it was truly epic.

that's an incredibly bold and sizable statement, so in keeping up with my trend, the suburban momma will substantiate that statement.  you get to be the judge.

if you follow suburban momma, you know that e went surfing for the first time last summer in coronado.  you also know that she LOVED it. 

 in fact, she enjoyed her first wave catching experience so much that she has talked about little else for the better part of the past year.  we aren't much of a vacation repeat family, but because of our thrilling summer last year, we decided that a repeat trip to coronado was in order.

another well known fact of those that read this blog (or follow me on Facebook) is that my hubs showed my girls the movie soul surfer a few months back following a read of this book...

shortly after watching the movie, my girls began "surfing" on boogie boards in the yard.  the front yard.  often.  very often.  with their left arm tucked into their shirts as if it had been bitten off by a shark.

it was a little bit embarrassing and a whole lot of adorable.  i was hired to be the announcer of the big competition.  and then i was fired because apparently i didn't get their names correct and wasn't using the proper surfing terms.  

and then there is the morning they woke me up out of a sound slumber to beg me to allow them to do this:

they even told every single solid detail about the life of bethany hamilton to a face painter at the hubbies family work event in an effort to explain what they desired to be created on their cheek.  this further resulted in a lot of people raising their eyebrows and looking at me funny.  followed by the question... "i thought she was delaney/ellie".  

this surfing and bethany thing became a wee bit of an obsession, one might say.

you may also recall that e began emailing this past spring for the first time.  the first email she sent was to bethany hamilton (the surfer from the movie who survived the shark attack).  the first email she received was from the bethany hamilton fan club.

in addition (as if all of that isn't enough), a few weeks back i was feeling annoyed at something that was challenging for me to do.  i don't remember the full details, but i was struggling with something physical and e was sitting by watching me.  after a few minutes (and her sensing that momma was having a difficult time), e looked at me and said, "mom, bethany always says something that might help you.  do you want to hear it?"

of course!

"bethany says, 'i don't need easy.  i just need possible'".

it was in that moment that i saw this obsession with new eyes.  here is my girl, all 8 years of her, falling in love with something (and someone) for the first time.  she's never been a fan of much for too long.  but here she is...  choosing someone so inspirational.  i hugged her and thanked her for sharing that quote with me (and secretly wiped the tear out of my eye as i realized that i have much to learn from my ever so wise eight year old).

if you add up all of this, well, we just knew we had to indulge and nurture this obsession.  it is a good one- physical and spiritual in nature, as well as one forming a familial bond.  i'm all in.

somewhere along the way with this bethany obsession we discovered that her board (from the shark attack) and some other cool things were located about an hour north of our coronado vacation destination.  in an effort to nurture their craze, we decided to surprise them with a road trip stop on our way to vacation.

and so we did.

and when we got out of the car scott shot me a look and silently directed me to read a poster on the window.

the poster indicated that bethany was going to be competing in a surf competition that very weekend at that very beach.  oh, really?  you don't say!

we went into the museum and did the museum thing.  the girls were less enthusiastic by the historical display of surfboards  from over the ages and overly enthusiastic with bethany's board.  e just kept examining it with disbelief.  next to the board was a television screen that appeared to not be working.  e asked me to get the museum curator to see what was supposed to be on the screen.  he came over and started to crank things up.  apparently he had been the surf expert in hollywood for the making of the movie.  he began chatting with me while he started the video.  apparently, hollywood had to dilute some of the facts for the movie because bethany's story is even too unbelievable for hollywood.  e became engrossed in the movie and i continued to chat with the expert.  we chatted about the competition and he told me not to waste my time- you can't see much from the beach and the crowds are typically huge.  and then he told me about hansen's.

bethany was going to be doing a signing at the surf shop to promote her new cobian sandals.  1 hour.  huge crowds.  but a chance to meet bethany.  "chance" being the word that i wasn't sure of.

scott and i kept this little tidbit a secret and discussed it that night after the girls went to bed.  did we really want to spend a day of vacation back in the car for a chance that the girls might meet bethany?  what if it didn't work out?  would it ruin the vacay?  i imagined the crying that would ensue...  and it almost stopped me right then and there.

but then we started to recall some of the facts from the video clip that we saw in the surf museum...

according to bethany, she and her mom had started praying for God's will in her life to be revealed just a short time before the shark attack.  and after the attack, she didn't walk away thinking God had failed her.  she KNEW it was the exact opposite.  she knew that this was the answer to that prayer.  she declares that her shark attack has allowed her an opportunity to share God with more people than she ever could have had the attack not happened.  and she's right.  God doesn't fail us and He boldly answered her prayer and gave her opportunity to share His light with the world.

and how could i not foster that love affair for my e?  how could i not help her embrace praying for God's will?  how could i not show her that obstacles can be overcome with God?  how could i not help her develop a belief that challenges are really just opportunities in disguise?

and so we hopped back into the car a few days post museum tour to visit hansens surf shop in hopes of seeing bethany.  when we arrived the line was already wrapped half way around the building.

we hunkered down in line and waited with the mass of people.  scott took the girls to the beach for a bit and then on one on one dates to a nearby ice cream shop.  and we waited.  and waited.  and chatted with our line neighbors...  and then...  after several hours bethany arrived.  the line began move (ever so slowly) and an excitement began to build in the girls.  and eventually our turn came and the girls were face to face with bethany.

it doesn't get much more thrilling or epic than that!  they were in awe.  d was obsessed with her outfit and her smile and her sparkling eyes (seriously- she has the kindest eyes...  even after an hour of poster signing!)  and e was just obsessed.  with everything.

and then we went back to our regularly scheduled vacation of being beach bums.  d caught her first wave with the help of her daddy.

and e attended surf camp and rode the waves for the better part of a week.  she was non-stop.  over and over hopping up on her board and perfecting the balancing act.  

p stayed a little bit closer to shore and hung with momma on the beach.  we collected shells and cheered on our crazy surfing family together.

and the older two continued to tuck in their left arm from the sleeves of their clothing.  e wore a dress three times (!) and p wore her velvet winter jacket...  because it is her favorite.  and because she is p.

and then we distributed thrill points.  this momma came to the conclusion that a week on the beach, catching first waves and their 100th wave, and spending time as a family, and ice cream dates with daddy, and meeting bethany = infinity thrill points.  

it was truly a NOT bummer summer.