Lazy days...

Today we spent a lazy day at the beach after the rain cleared up. It seems like every Saturday has afternoon rain. Anyway, I didn't think the snorkeling would be so great because the tide was really low. From the road you could see almost all of the reef. Boy was I wrong.

Jessi, Jaydn and I snorkeled together. Perhaps the fish just think that people don't like to snorkel in low tide (they don't, generally), so the fish were out having a huge feast. We saw all kinds of fish, and there were a few times it felt like we had literally hundreds and hundreds of fish surrounding us. Usually, when there are only a few fish out, they will scurry away and hide when they see you. But when there's hundreds of fish out in one small area, they stay around. It was beautiful! I was happy that Jaydn went out so far with us.

I even saw a crown of thorns starfish (which looks just like it sounds) which I had not seen up to that time. These pesky creatures kill coral, and are supposedly the cause of coral reefs dying all over the south pacific. They're also poisonous, I think, so I stayed clear.

It felt great on my back, which I hurt a few days ago. The muscles in my back are all wierd now because they are compensating for my lower back. But swimming was great. Afterwards, we hit the ice cream stand again.

Today I also tried my hand at husking a coconut. Man, is that hard work! I eventually got it open, using hedge trimmers, and I was able to get the juice out. I broke open the inner shell to get to the fruit, but lost all interest in cutting that off. So now it is in the fridge, ready for the next day I feel so inclined. We have coconut trees all around our house, and Jaydn has brought me several coconuts to husk. Maybe someday...

These days we spend at least some time each day planning our New Zealand trip. We're so excited! We've decided to take a camper van around instead of staying in hotels. We'll see how it goes!

Every so often Jaydn takes some pictures with the digital camera (like the one above). Here are just a few of his more recent gems: