Finally pushed through the jetlag... and I woke up at a startling 5:00AM (8:00AM PDT) today. I can still smell the leftover pizza from the night before and *burp* I can still taste it. Heh...
We decided yesterday that today was going to be a hotel day, where we simply enjoy the expensive resort we've paid for. Y'know... we're in the same hotel. There really isn't that many places to go. You can't get lost. But alas... we decided to head to the pool together. And so we wait. Not 1... not 2... not 3... not 4... but 5 episodes of Guy Fieri on Food Network later... we still haven't moved. OMG.... let's goooooo..... But still... I had to keep my mouth shut. It's not my family.
Finally... we decide to ditch the fam and went to grab some seats, which is important. You grab strategic seats and you can sit there forever by just leaving a towel there. And once we get there... "Oh... I want shade." or... "Oh... I want to sit by the slides." Or.... "Oh... I want to be near the bar." Never is there consensus. Why did we bother???
But pool time was awesome. We did get there early enough where the water slide had a relatively short line. Found, not one, but two awesome hot tubs for some relaxing. And the boys... the boys really showed off their swimming skills and swam their hearts out. Here's the kicker... by the time we were done... (lunch time?), the other family shows up. And as we're about to yield our seats to them... the dad says, "We actually wanna go to the lagoon instead." And to think... we waited for you. #SMH
Turns out they slept in after a long day and a crappy 7-eleven wet sandwich dinner. So they had a nice brunch at the hotel. Good for them. But that meant, they weren't hungry. We were!! Off we went...
Here's the kicker (one of many more), we didn't bother waiting. We showered. We left for a local mall. Honestly... I think Joyce was tired of my icy stares. There wasn't a lot of selections at this mall... other than this Bistro inside a theater. The food looked... decent. It had everything. Pizza. Ribs. Fish and chips. Poke. Prices were marked up. Let's just do it.
The greeter was kind of odd. I told her we had a party of 4... and a party of 5 coming. But she couldn't seat us in a big table together. Forget it... we'll sit and eat. When she led us to the patio... the place was almost empty!!! Plenty of tables to make one big table. Again... forget it. We ordered. When we were about done... the party of 5 six shows up. Grace makes a beeline towards us... surprised that we were seated in a cozy table for 4. Without missing a beat... she hops on over to an empty table and grabs a chair. The waitress and the greeter give each other stares. I don't think they expected Grace to do that. I don't think Grace expected to see us four sitting together without saving a big table. I don't think... I cared.
Done with lunch... we stroll around the mall and find the Queen's Marketplace. An ABC store that had groceries, fruits and veggies, alcohol, souvenirs, and a hot and cold deli. The prices were reasonable. Why didn't we eat here?? The kids started hunting around for souveniers. Joyce chased after them. And I slipped away to the wine section. Ahhhh.... my happy place. There was even a wine tasting room (it was closed.) We shopped around for about 20-30 minutes... and was ready to leave when.... you guessed it... the party of 5 shows up.
Don't matter how fast you go... eventually... it all catches up. The party of 5 appeared and I saw in their eyes... the look I had when I first arrived. I naively thought we'd head back to the hotel. Oh no... we ended up shopping with them for another 30 minutes. All the while... I was just standing there. With 6 cans of beer and a bottle of Volcano Red wine in my backpack - staring off into the ether. Recounting every moment of my life where I could've made a left turn instead of right.
Half a forever later... everyone's ready to go. By ready... they also grabbed a bunch of microwavable, ready to eat, bento boxes for dinner. Along with... wait for it... a rotisserie chicken. They stole my thing! I thought I was the $4.99 chicken getter/eater. And right when I counted by chickens before they hatched... someone comes back with a cup of noodles. They suggested... we can have breakfast tomorrow. Before I can blink... SW is already gone... searching for his cup of noodles. Fine. Fine. We can't have smooshed 85 deg buns every day. 5 minutes later, he's back. Ready to go!! Before I can blink again... the other two grandkids storm off and get theirs. They couldn't go together. I swear... the next thing they were gonna do is take turns going to the bathroom.
We got back to our rooms... chillaxed a little and off to the lagoon. I think by now... everyone's adjusted to each other's habits, schedules, and vacation-etiquette. Cuz no one waited... we simply said, "Let's meet at the lagoon and we'll see you when we get there." The lagoon is a fascinating place. It's a natural salt water lagoon with a man made waterfall and sea life. But it's dug out so the water only the hotel guests can access it and is relatively private with next to no waves or current from the actual ocean. The perfect place to get use to snorkeling in a safe environment.
Everyone got out their snorkel gear and went into the knee deep water. Ohhhh... what a mess... "I can't breathe!!" "It hurts my chest!!" Well... I'm guilty of it too. "Water keeps getting in!!" The snorkeling mask I used were the ones we for our first Hawaii trip. A decade of baking in the garage... the plastic and suction wasn't as fresh. It was so frustrating. Grace's kids gave up within minutes. Geez.... all that money spent. This was just the appetizer. We were planning on a real snorkeling trip too. Grace was like, "I don't care... I'm coming with you guys." HA!!!
Then as we were about done for the day... some guy says, "There are turtles by the water fall." It was about 100 yards away, maybe 2-3 lengths of a pool. I'm not sure why we did it... but I let SW put the fins on with his regular goggles... and off he went. NN and Joyce got their snorkeling gear and followed us. I put on my aged mask and pipe... and off we went.
I'm a decent swimmer - in a swimming pool where my feet touches the ground. But out in the open... with salty water... and I'm not sure if I can stand up... And that's what happened. About 50 yards from shore... water started seeping in my mask. I got nervous. I tried to tread water to empty the mask, but I couldn't really get my neck above water. I had a huge panic attack!!! Was I gonna drown???
I relied on instincts. Did the good ol froggy style with my head above water and pushed. I looked back to shore. I looked at the waterfall. Which way do I go???? Do I ditch SW and save my own life??? Where was SW???? Was he safe???? There was nothing I could do to help him. And how much deeper were the waters by the turtles?? For some reason... I decided to plow forward. I thought... If I can make it to the turtles... there were a couple of stand up paddle boards. I can always grab a hold of something and ask for help... put I needed to finish that trek. But no matter how hard I swam... how hard I kicked.... I felt like I was going no where. Stupid breast stroke. Slow as heck... with the only saving grace being I can breathe (overrated!!)
Kick. Brush. Kick. Brush. Forcibly... inch by inch... I got closer. And closer. Eventually... I saw the tips of Joyce and NN's snorkels. They made it. And they had their masks off!!! They found a rock to stand on!!!! Found my wife. Found my daughter. And SW???? He was a fish.... not a thing to worry about. When we found our rock... our salvation... we were able to admire the turtles up close. Magnificent.
The swim back to shore was a little better. I didn't aim for the original spot I launched. I went for a closer area. But once again... I swam slowly and assuredly. Horrible. Absolutely horrible. Once again... lost sight of SW. Had he needed anything... had he had a panic attack... had anything happened... I would've been unable to help him. That helpless feeling is nauseating. Finally got back to shore. SW was fine. He didn't think anything of it. Joyce and I gave each other looks. That was bad parenting. We need to do better. And when I sat down and collected my thoughts... I realized I completely forgot I had a breathing pipe. Duh!! Completely forgot I can backfloat and rest a little. Duh!! Completely forgot I can do freestyle - my natural style. Duh Duh Duh!!!!
Time to wrap up the night. We never did meet up with the other family... the one who started the day late. They went off on their own to Tommy Bahamas. And we microwaved the food we bought at the deli and had dinner at the hotel coffee shop. Heh... gotta hand it ourselves. We can find a way to save money. Everyone was absolutely... exhausted. If not... dead. *gulp!
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