Today was a great day. It didn’t start out so good with earth crashing thunder and lighting at 6:00 am until nearly 12:30.
Greg was the early bird again this morning. He sat on the balcony and read his Kindle while it poured cats and dogs around 6:30am. He had the pleasure of witnessing the trash collectors pick up our dumpster and shake it violently over and over again making so much noise I am sure it woke the entire complex. The rest of us tried to sleep in-between cracks of thunder. I hoped I would sleep through the rain and when I got out of bed the sun would be shining.
Greg rallied the boy troops and they agreed to play some beach Monkey Ball in the rain. The lightening had stopped so it was clear to head to the beach even if it was raining. We would have gotten wet in the ocean anyway so why not get wet with a little rain? I agreed to be the photographer.
Monkey Ball is a game Greg made up years ago with the kids. It is usually played with a tiny, tiny wooden bat, but we had a beach bat and ball to play with this time. They marked out the field, if the ball doesn’t make it to the pitcher it is a strike. If it doesn’t make it to the first line beyond the pitcher OR it hits the pitcher it is an automatic out. If it makes it to the first line you have one man on base…. Second line it is a home run… out of bounds is an out. If someone catches it it’s an out. If you hit the ball and it doesn’t go to the first line and you manage to hit it again before it hits the ground it is a home run. Rules have been known to change and added with each game. They had a great time playing.. Nick schooled everyone and the rain had stopped.
I watched the Monkey Ball game for a while then I went for a walk along the beach for a bit. The storms had washed in a bunch of little pink jelly fish.
We walked through the marina to see if we could talk to someone else and get a second opinion on the weather. The sun was peaking through the clouds and there was no sign of rain. We really wanted to Jet Ski so it was worth the time to look around.
We located a gentleman near AJ’s restaurant that was just opening up and guaranteed us a good time on the Jet Ski’s. He said if while we are on the water we feel a storm is moving in we can head back and they would give us a rain check for another day. It seemed like a win, win because we didn’t see any rain in sight.
We saw some cool stuff along the way...
We signed the appropriate papers and suited up in our life preservers while he prepared our Jet Ski’s.
As we were standing there waiting a sea gull decided to fly over and poop on Leslie… she was NOT happy. I got a picture of it, but she forbids me to use it in my blog. As I was helping her wipe the poop off her face and life preserver the gentleman renting us the Jet Ski’s took liberty in “assigning” me a specific "special" Jet Ski and I was not aware of this.
As we were standing there waiting a sea gull decided to fly over and poop on Leslie… she was NOT happy. I got a picture of it, but she forbids me to use it in my blog. As I was helping her wipe the poop off her face and life preserver the gentleman renting us the Jet Ski’s took liberty in “assigning” me a specific "special" Jet Ski and I was not aware of this.
He called us all over to the Jet Ski’s and I was the last one to join the group so I stood over on one of the red Jet Ski’s so I could hear what he was saying. He explained all the rules and how to maneuver the Jet Ski. When he was finished we started to all get on a Jet Ski. I was physically standing on one of the red ones so I started to board it. He calls out and says “Maam, this one over here is yours”. I said “Oh, I didn’t realize we were assigned certain ones, what is the difference?” He then proceeded to say something about the blue one was governed and the two red ones were brand new and they were not governed yet. He was going to put the two guys on the new ones. Well, I didn’t want a Jet Ski that couldn’t go as fast as the other two and I was rather offended he would place me (the woman) on the slower Jet Ski. Now Greg says he was not suggesting anything by placing me on the other Jet Ski and it was just poor communication. I disagree.
I was upset over the whole deal and was saying so to Greg while I got on the blue Jet Ski. The gentleman said he could put me on a red one… its fine (with a tone). I said “No, I am fine, (I didn’t want to cause a scene, but later my kids told me it was already too late) Nick may want to switch out and ride with someone else however if this is a slower Jet Ski. Maybe Leslie should ride with me since women should have the slower ride.” Yes, there was a little sarcasm in my tone.
He then proceeded to open my compartment on the Jet Ski and start to remove my personal items and said “Come on… I am placing you on another Jet Ski.” I slammed the compartment shut and said “No, I am fine.” He tried again and I push it shut.. (Greg told me he felt the guy and I had a slap fight) He then pulled the safety cord off the Jet Ski and said “Well, I am not allowing you out on this one so you are going to have to move”. I gritted my teeth and moved to the other Jet Ski. As he was putting the safety cord on the new, red Jet Ski he continued to say “I have to deal with my girl friend mouthing off all the time and HE (meaning Greg) is on vacation so he doesn’t deserve to have to deal with this… everyone can now be happy”. He almost lost a couple teeth during this little exchange. Greg and Jonah had already pulled out so Greg didn’t get to hear his little snide comments. Oh I was mad…. BUT….. I got a brand new, red, non-governed Jet Ski just like everyone else. I threw a little fit and got my way…. I was happy.
I typically let things slide and I am usually the last person to ever say anything, but I felt I should have the same experience as the other guys. Just because I am a woman doesn’t mean I don’t want to blast around just as fast on my Jet Ski.. .and I did too… we maxed those puppies out and had an absolute BLAST!
Once we were out on the water we switched places and allowed Leslie, Jonah and Nick to drive around a while too. We had so much fun.
After Jet Ski we were hungry for some ice cream. Greg said he hoped Cold Stone didn't give me a blue bowl instead of a red one like everyone else. Ha ha ha... very funny. This continued throughout the rest of vacation.... careful.. make sure mom gets the red cup.
We went back to the mall area where we were yesterday (which involved yet another difficult, left hand turn). We ate Cold Stone and it was yummy!
We went back to the mall area where we were yesterday (which involved yet another difficult, left hand turn). We ate Cold Stone and it was yummy!
We turned left again and headed back to the condo. Each time we drove to and from the condo we drove on Holiday Road. EACH and EVERY time we turned onto this street I had to sing the song Holiday Road from National Lampoon’s Vacation…. It just felt appropriate.
Once back at the condo we grabbed flash lights and went to the beach for “crab night”. Crab Night has been a tradition for years with the kids. Flash back to THIS post if you haven’t read it for a more descriptive version of crab night.
Crab Night was a success. We saw all sizes of crabs and turned it into a game of who could find the most crabs. We enjoyed teasing Jonah and making him feel as if crabs were chasing him by chasing him with the light of the flash light. It took us back to the days of when we did it with our kids for the firs time. Jonah was a good sport and we had a lot of fun with him.
We walked along, enjoyed the salty breeze, the beautiful stars and the crashing of the waves…. again in awe of the majestic beauty of the sea. Somehow I got behind the group a little bit when I stopped to look at the stars and breathe to take in the salty air. When I started walking again I followed the group ahead of me with flashlights. We passed our condo entrance but I just thought we were continuing our walk in the other direction. After a while I caught up to them a little bit and realized they were not my group at all. Greg and the kids had already headed back to the condo. The kids arrived at the condo first and they thought I was with Greg. After Greg arrived back at the condo he asked “Where is your mother?” They said “We thought she was with you.” Greg headed back out to try to find me but I had already figured out what had happened and met up with him on my way back…. It was pretty funny and again they all had fun teasing me.
It was a fantastic day, although I had to get a little feisty during our Jet Ski experience it was well worth it in the end.
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