Flashback Friday: Waimea Bay

When I was in fifth grade, my family took a vacation to Hawaii (Oahu) for Spring break. We went again several years later, and I absoultly fell in love with the place.

During my family trip there (fifth grade), we spent an afternoon at Waimea Bay. This time of the year the waves are HUGE, but as spring turns to summer, it mellows out completely into a swimming pool.

Well, I thought I could hang with the waves (in fifth grade). These are waves professionals surf on. So, I was down there with the waves, and the lifeguard (in his loud speaker) yells, "Little girl in the pink swim suit. Please get out of the water." He goes on to repeat it probably 3 or 4 times (accordingly to my family, becuase I didn't think he was talking to me). Finally, my family came to get me when the whole beach park's attention was turned to me.

This picture is taken at Waimea Falls--across the street and up the mountain from the Bay. There I am with my dad and brothers.

And this picture is taken at the base of the mountain on our hike up to the falls.

Here I am in front of the Hawaii temple on my birthday (my birthday always fell on Spring break). I asked for a flower crown for my birthday. haha.

And here I am with my mom in front of BYU-Hawaii.

Eight years later, Cliff and I returned to the same beach. We attended BYU-Hawaii just before we got married. This time, we showed up with our boogie boards. The surfing season was dying down, so the waves weren't terribly huge, but still at a professional caliber. We had so much fun one day, and just as we were getting ready to get out and head home, we decided to ride one more wave. Just as we turned around to paddle out, this is what we saw:


SERIOUSLY. NO JOKE. The wave we saw was probably even bigger. And the guy you see facing the wave, that was our distance as we turned around. And we were COMPLETE amateurs. I saw my life flash before my eyes. Cliche, I know, but it is so true. The wave SLAMMED DOWN ON ME, picked me up, and I probably did 3 or 4 kartwheels in the wave. I was completely sucked under, and thought that was it. I kept telling myself, "I'm close to shore, hold my breath, I'm almost there. The wave has to take me to the shore." It finally slammed me down under a foot of sand, and I layed there helpless. Cliff was sucked under just as bad, but ran over to me, dug me out, and carried me up to the shower to rinse off all the sand. I couldn't hear anything the rest of the day, and my ribs were terribly bruised. It was a brutal experience. A week later, we decided to head out and tackle it again (I know...you think we'd learn our lesson),but this time, the waves had calmed, and this is what we saw:

Crazy how it changes from season to season so fast.

These snorkeling picture are taken at our favorite beach, which is adjacent to Waimea Bay.

If you have ever talked to me about Hawaii, you know I have STRONG feelings for the place. I used to get teary when I'd talk about our experiences there. Probably just recently (and it's been 4 years!) I can talk about it without getting emotional. I tell people that something is meant for us there, and they laugh and say, "Of course! It's Hawaii! Everyone would feel that way." But my connection with the place was more than that.