The Best Day Ever

Sea turtles are my favorite. I've felt fiercely protective of them since I was shown a graphic video of them being killed for their eggs in middle school (whose idea was that, anyway?). So when we heard there was a Sea Turtle hatchery near by, we had to go.

It did not disappoint! We learned a lot about the program they are running there, where they rebury eggs that are in danger and have hatches right there at their facility. Very cool.

We made a donation and were able to release a baby turtle into the sea. I was geekin out about it, so excited! Baby sea turtles are about the cutest things I've ever seen.

The three of us carried her to her starting point on the beach. It was important for her to walk down the beach and into the ocean so that she imprints on the beach. In 30 years she will return to the same beach to lay her eggs. 

Super proud mamas

Um, hello gorgeous beach. I'd return to it too if I were a turtle! 

I was tempted to give our guys a hard time because it always looked like they were carrying giant wads of cash. Then I discovered that there are no coins in Sri Lankan Rupee, only bills. He is holding less than $100 US here.

After the sea turtles we thinned out the wads of cash a bit, trying our hand at traditional Sri Lankan fishing. It is a beautiful tradition. Me, Nathan and Brandie are pictured above.

They wrapped up the boy's heads and gave em each a stick pole. Wasn't long before they had each caught a fish. All 6 of us caught fish.

I was super appreciative that the fish I caught (little guy right by my sleeve) was kind enough to match my cover up. He was tie dye green and yellow- we were meant for each other!

Then the real fisherman jumped up on their fishing stands to show us how it's done. I would guess they average a fish a minute, if not more. I could've fished, or even just watched the fisherman fish, all day.

But alas, we headed to another beach for Jeremiah and Nathan's surfing lesson. Nathan did great, hopped up right away and rode the wave in to the beach.

Brandie and I hung out and cheered for our guys, they did awesome!

When their trainers came in they offered to give Brandie and I a quick lesson too. It was unexpected but why not? So we got a condensed lesson and out we went.
Turns out, I can surf! Who knew? It was the most fun I've had in a long time. Seriously, so. much. fun. We were in a pretty great place to learn, as the waves were smallish and good and the water was shallow so we didn't wear ourselves out swimming.
Of the 4 of us I had the easiest time getting up and staying on the surfboard, maybe I had good balance from dance, maybe it was beginners luck. Either way it was the best afternoon.

Best action shot of the day was Brandie bailing. I mean, I laugh every time I see it, it's just SO awesome! She looks so athletic, until you see the nose plug.
At one point I went gliding past Brandie who was paddling back out, she shouts, "DO THE SPLITS!" and so... I did. Without falling off the surfboard. I do have picture and video proof but I didn't want to risk straining my reader's eye muscles from extreme eye rolling.

For the finale Nathan and I got up at the same time. We might just abandon our lives and turn into beach bum surfers... if it weren't for, you know, those 5 kids we've produced....shoot.....

We headed to yet another beach and waded out to this rock out cropping.

The views were stunning as we could see 360* around us. The tide was coming in and the sun was getting low, it was lovely.

We watched this guy fishing with a net for a bit. He was really graceful with how he cast it, clearly it was not his first try.
The following pictures are possibly my favorite from the trip, as Nathan and I were further down the beach and had no idea Brandie was even taking pictures. Having truly candid moments captured is a gift. And I am really grateful for these.