Shark Bait!

Paddle boarding is one of the things I've wanted to try for a long time. I even put it on my list last year with the hope that I might try it before my next birthday. Well, how about for my birthday?! Yep, I got a little bit older wiser on Thursday! What a day! I found a surf school teaching stand up paddle boarding, made the appointment, and psyched myself up to learn something new. Not such a big deal for most people, but I have a little bit of a phobia when it comes to fish. What? Don't you?

I grew up playing in the waves in San Diego, never really giving much thought to what was in the water with me, but at some point that changed, and ever since coming to Maui for the first time a couple of years ago, I realized being in the water really freaks me out. I've tried not to make a big deal out of it because I don't want my kids to adopt the same fear, and I think I've actually made some real improvement in overcoming my scare-dee-cattedness during this trip. But it also points to why I was drawn to paddle boarding - you get to be on top of the water! Genius!

The lesson was a lot of fun, taught by a sun-baked guy named Armadillo. I had two other ladies in my group, and one 10-year old...so how hard could this be? Not that hard really! It reminds me of riding a horse, only steering is opposite, and it's more like you're standing on the horse trying to balance. I only fell in the drink once! Well, twice, but that second time was Armadillo's fault. We had absolutely beautiful conditions for first-timers - no wind, and no waves! Hooray! The bad news though was that the tide was very low, which gave us very little wiggle room over all the coral - and there is a ton out there! We were in this perfect little lagoon, and once we started to feel very solid on the boards we sat down to take a break. That was when Armadillo mentioned the sharks......and then we saw them! Crikey!!

At the edge of the reef, about 50 feet from where we were sitting, we could see fins pop out of the tiny waves every once in a while. While I sat there thinking "Worst Nightmare!", my teacher said, "Let's get closer!" Ha ha, right? He told us that they were white-tipped reef sharks, that they were usually in this area, and "pretty harmless". I'm proud to say that I didn't ask, "Where is the motor on this board because I'm outaaaaa heeeeerrreee!" We stayed a few more minutes, and it was pretty exciting to spot them come up into the waves like that! Then we left them in peace, but I will say that I kept looking back to see if there was anything following me. Shiver me timbers!

So, anyway, I did it! I loved it, and I'm going to do it again today! Hooray for trying new things, and for awesome birthdays!!

Meet My New Friends - The Honus

I was surprised that during the first two weeks of our vacation in Maui we didn't seen any green sea turtles (honu in Hawaiian). When I mentioned this to Andy, he said casually, "Oh, I saw some when I was surfing yesterday." But that doesn't count! I wasn't there! Then a few days ago our friends who live here told us about a "secret spot" that was guaranteed to deliver, and oh my gads, did it ever!!

Armed with our new snorkel masks, we dove in to take a look. I am so excited that I got Andy the GoPro camera for Christmas last year. Usually it hooks onto his surfboard so he can get "rad videos of himself shredding," but you can also just hold it and take underwater pictures and videos. Yippee!

You can look, but no touching!! These guys are sadly endangered, and you will get in
BIG trouble if you mess with them.

Check it out! Listen for the crackly noise - I couldn't figure out what it was, and frankly it gave me the creeeeeps because in real life it's pretty loud, but Andy (a walking encyclopedia) told me it's the sound of the fish and turtles taking little bites of stuff off the coral. Chew with your mouths closed, my friends!

Rachel Swims with the Honus from Jenny Coleman on Vimeo.

Can you believe how close it swam to my little Rachel? Ollie and I were watching from the rocks just above the water (these guys were right at the shoreline), and we were ooohing and ahhhing, and then jumping up and down when we saw that! Getting this close to nature is exhilarating for me - I can't even imagine how my safari will be!! I leave in two weeks! Yaaaaaay!!!

Rainbows of a Different Kind

I am loving all the color around here! We are so lucky...

Jolly Good!

Leading up to last week's "Wedding of the Century", I hadn't given much thought as to how I was going to actually be able to watch the ceremony. We cancelled our cable subscription right before we left for Nicaragua (take that, Comcast!), so maybe I hadn't come to the realization yet that I would either have to watch in the middle of the night, or wait for it to come out on Netflix. Thankfully, my unspoken prayers were answered when my buddy Bonney invited me to the viewing party she was going to. In a very giddy text message conversation, I told her, "I would love to watch! I thought I was the only one!" Ha! Little did I know that approximately 2 billion people would watch - but could they possibly be as stylish as I us? Oh, I think not!

Bonney arrives at the party with the breakfast of champions -
cupcakes and champagne. Oh, and wearing the veil from her actual wedding!

I had told Rachel early that morning that if she could get ready for school super fast, then maybe she could watch a little coverage while she ate breakfast. It was the speediest costume change ever! I told her that I didn't want to know any details because I wanted to see it for myself, but I couldn't help asking her, "Did you think her dress was pretty?" She told me, "It's the most beautiful dress in the world, and she's the most beautiful lady in the world." Awwww!

The rest of the day went by in this fantastic, giggly blur. I followed Bonney to her friends' house, hoping that I wasn't imposing, but also excited beyond belief that this was going to be a girl's event! Girls really know how to do these things correctly, I think! Just look at this spread that was waiting for us! We died and went straight to England!

Our beautiful hostess, Pam, had thought of every detail. Seriously, the menu was in a frame!

Bonney, Mo, Pam, Linda & I enjoying one for the team!

After a lot of genuine gasping, ooohing and ahhhhing over the sweet party set-up, plus some picture taking, and after more friends arrived, we finally got down to business and started watching the event. As typical girls will do, we picked apart every outfit (even the men). We loved Kate's mom's dress, were surprised that we liked Camilla's ensemble, and hated everything about what William's cousins, Beatrice and Eugenie, wore. Poor girls! Oh, but didn't David Beckham look like a million bucks??? We couldn't agree about his hair, so we had to do a fair bit of rewinding and freeze-framing to discuss it properly. What?

Then things really heated up when we saw the princes arrive in their lovely car! We took a moment to toast Diana, who we all wished could have been there with her sons, and who we decided was there, actually.

Wow, is Pippa stunning, or what? I didn't even know there was a Pippa until two days before the wedding, but I decided immediately that if Andy and I ever renew our vows, I'm wearing THAT dress!

We were all gaga for the happy couple, of course, but we couldn't stop loving that adorable rascal, Prince Harry! We're also going to start a petition or something to get him together with Pippa. Wouldn't that be grand?!

The best moment of the day! Yes, I know they've been together for eight years already, and it's probably not the first time they've ever kissed, but I'm a sucker for romance, especially on a grand scale. I loved getting this picture of Pam in there with them!

To send us off properly, Pam put together swag bags. Swag bags!! Unbelievable.

Thank you so much to Pam for putting this beautiful party together, and for not minding that I was a total stranger, and to Bonney for inviting me in the first place! It was one of the funnest things I've done all year! (Thanks also to CNN, for giving us the best seats in the house - we saw a lot more than even Kate's mum did!) Good times!

 

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

Today is my husband's birthday, and although he doesn't want a lot of fanfare, and would rather not be getting any older (tough luck, Babe!), I'd like to wish him a Happy Birthday and a year of love and adventure! We're off to a fantastic start - we leave for Nicaragua in two days!! He can't even sleep now, he's so excited. He's been packed for days! His surfboards are waxed and waiting, he bought about eight cans of sunscreen - the good stuff - not what I grew up calling "suntan lotion" with an SPF4. He's got our transportation all worked out, and we'll be one of those big shot families at the airport looking for a guy holding a sign with our name on it. Sweet! Not to mention the mansion we're staying at! Dios mio!! There is a very cool group of people coming along to join us there, and in all we have twelve to fifteen people (including kids, and yes, they should be included)! Should be a fantastic time!

This photo booth picture strip was taken on Oliver's 6th birthday - ten days ago! I told you I've been busy - and from the following pictures you'll see why. It was super funny to see him wake up on his birthday morning, with me kind of shaking him awake, saying, "Hey sleepy head! It's your birthday, you know!" He sat straight up in bed, then shot out of the room yelling, "Dada! It's my birthday, you know!" It was only 6:30 a.m., but we needed to get things going. They left right away to get some fresh doughnuts at Voodoo, the best place on earth for fresh doughnuts, and that's where the pictures were taken. Andy told me later that Ollie really wanted to play all three of their pinball machines, and he let him, although the people sitting at the table near them were giving him the stink eye, mentally saying, "It's only 7:00 a.m., you know!"

Oliver lined up his presents from us in a nice straight row. He likes building walls.

After his party, which was a fantastic success at a place that specializes in making dreams come true for six year olds (think enormous jungle gym, arcade games, trading tickets for "treasures", etc.), we went down to the Willamette under the St. John's bridge to play with the remote control speed boat we got him! It was awesome! Afternoon sunshine, not rain! Woohoo!

He was so happy! But wait, the fun continues! The next day we headed to Build-A-Bear Workshop so that Rachel could pick out some cute stuff for her bear (her birthday present from Grammy & Granddaddy - her birthday post is coming too), and of course I couldn't resist getting a new lovey for Ollie. I'm such a softie!

To end the day on a high note (oh that's bad - you'll see), the kids asked if they could climb the wall at REI. Although they've been climbing (bouldering, really) their whole lives, they've never done it in a harness before. This time, I said yes!

Looking back at where he just came down from.

Turning six is a blast! Don't you agree?