There are a few ways your day can go when you start with a Margarita before noon. Eleven a.m. to be exact, and I am pretty sure mine went the best possible way. But how did I find myself in a beautiful outdoor restaurant before noon sipping a perfectly blended margarita? Let’s back up a few hours.
We woke up around eight and after some lounging around the room, headed to breakfast. We were one of the first to stake our claim on the lounge chairs on the beach and as a result we were ocean bound quickly. Except for one tiny hurdle.
“Oh look at that Jelly Fish.” The words were enough to turn our mini-dolphin child Skyelar into a timid- I’m not going in the water today- child. After a few minutes of pleading, Kaia and I went without her. It was a bit windy and low tide, so not the best snorkeling conditions, but we saw some giant parrot fish, some silver somethings and a nice school of pretty big angel fish, all just a few feet from the shore.
We came back in and I finally convinced Skye to just suck it up and come out with us. “We haven’t seen any Jelly Fish at all. But we did see an anemone and some Nemo fish.” She relented.
After a few minutes and a solid 100 meters out, I felt a sting on my ankle. It hurt, but I ignored it. No need to incite panic. Then, came the wail. Yup. Skye got stung on the hand and the shoulder and refused to wear her goggles, swim or even walk back to shore, so she clambered on my back and like a very heavy backpack I swam back to shore, with Kaia by my side.
Things calmed down when we arrived until….yup. Kaia got a big sting. She dropped to the sand and began whimper crying too. It was a sight to see. I knew from my own sting that it didn’t hurt that bad and that it would stop burning in a few minutes. So I began the ill-timed speech that went like this, “Getting stung by Jelly Fish is just part of being in the ocean. It stings. It sucks. But sometimes you just have to deal with it." They weren’t having it.
After finally making it back to our chairs, everyone calmed down. And that is when we saw Joe and Sarah walking down the beach. Our kids ran to them armed with Jelly Fish tales and welts. We had a quick catch up and decided we would head down the beach to a restaurant they had heard about called Serendipity.
We crawled over a few rocks and just like that we found this beautiful secluded beach and restaurant. The kids having already forgotten about the jelly fish were back swimming the small waves and we were sitting overlooking a stunning view sipping on previously mentioned margarita.
A few drinks later and some lunch, we were all in the water. It was perfect. The kids were smiling. All life was as it should be. After what felt like an eternity, we headed back to our beach chairs and said good by to Joe and Sarah. I took Kaia out for more snorkeling and a quick Kayak to a nearby island.
We chatted. We swam. I couldn’t believe that she was nine and my kid and my friend and that this is how we hang out now- in the ocean, burnt and red and warm and satisfied.
Back in the room- showers, screen time, books, sleep. Up for dinner, back in “town” with Joe and Sarah.
Now, we are in bed, the room is cooling off and quiet. The girls are watching a movie, Mairin is reading and I am getting this thing written.
Tomorrow? Who knows. More of the same. There is no goal. No agenda. Just life. Sun. Sand and Sea.
We woke up around eight and after some lounging around the room, headed to breakfast. We were one of the first to stake our claim on the lounge chairs on the beach and as a result we were ocean bound quickly. Except for one tiny hurdle.
“Oh look at that Jelly Fish.” The words were enough to turn our mini-dolphin child Skyelar into a timid- I’m not going in the water today- child. After a few minutes of pleading, Kaia and I went without her. It was a bit windy and low tide, so not the best snorkeling conditions, but we saw some giant parrot fish, some silver somethings and a nice school of pretty big angel fish, all just a few feet from the shore.
We came back in and I finally convinced Skye to just suck it up and come out with us. “We haven’t seen any Jelly Fish at all. But we did see an anemone and some Nemo fish.” She relented.
After a few minutes and a solid 100 meters out, I felt a sting on my ankle. It hurt, but I ignored it. No need to incite panic. Then, came the wail. Yup. Skye got stung on the hand and the shoulder and refused to wear her goggles, swim or even walk back to shore, so she clambered on my back and like a very heavy backpack I swam back to shore, with Kaia by my side.
Things calmed down when we arrived until….yup. Kaia got a big sting. She dropped to the sand and began whimper crying too. It was a sight to see. I knew from my own sting that it didn’t hurt that bad and that it would stop burning in a few minutes. So I began the ill-timed speech that went like this, “Getting stung by Jelly Fish is just part of being in the ocean. It stings. It sucks. But sometimes you just have to deal with it." They weren’t having it.
After finally making it back to our chairs, everyone calmed down. And that is when we saw Joe and Sarah walking down the beach. Our kids ran to them armed with Jelly Fish tales and welts. We had a quick catch up and decided we would head down the beach to a restaurant they had heard about called Serendipity.
We crawled over a few rocks and just like that we found this beautiful secluded beach and restaurant. The kids having already forgotten about the jelly fish were back swimming the small waves and we were sitting overlooking a stunning view sipping on previously mentioned margarita.
A few drinks later and some lunch, we were all in the water. It was perfect. The kids were smiling. All life was as it should be. After what felt like an eternity, we headed back to our beach chairs and said good by to Joe and Sarah. I took Kaia out for more snorkeling and a quick Kayak to a nearby island.
We chatted. We swam. I couldn’t believe that she was nine and my kid and my friend and that this is how we hang out now- in the ocean, burnt and red and warm and satisfied.
Back in the room- showers, screen time, books, sleep. Up for dinner, back in “town” with Joe and Sarah.
Now, we are in bed, the room is cooling off and quiet. The girls are watching a movie, Mairin is reading and I am getting this thing written.
Tomorrow? Who knows. More of the same. There is no goal. No agenda. Just life. Sun. Sand and Sea.
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