Day two in Newport Beach

Josh woke up early with Greg, Garrett and Jordan and went with them to a running club training meet. Josh thought it was a club for adults but it was actually kids mostly between the ages of 8 and 12. He also thought that it was going to be an easy three mile run but it ended up being twice that plus hills! Greg and Jordan ran eight miles at about a seven minute mile pace, and Josh ran six miles with Garrett at an eight minute mile pace. This is a family of runners... today was a slow day!! All of the kids in the club are very fast; one 11 year old girl is a world record holder for running a mile in 5:03!

Diana made us an amazing breakfast of beans, rice, eggs, and guacamole. We discussed our options for the day and obviously LOVED the idea of going surfing! After loading up the surfboards and wetsuits, Garrett and Greg treated us to In 'N Out Burger... it was the first time we had it, and it was delicious! He then warned us to not swallow too much salt water otherwise the burger would come back up... When we got to the beach we got a quick lesson of how to surf and obviously took some goofy photos.

Greg brought his camera and underwater case, and took a bunch of photos of us "surfing."

Actually, that last one is of Greg. He was fantastic! I know it might seem unbelievable, but Josh also stood up numerous times and really did some surfing! Unfortunately there isn't any photographic proof, but I swear it's true! I managed to "knee surf" a few times and just once barely got both feet flat on the board before tumbling off. We had a great time and Greg and Garrett were so helpful and patient!

Josh, Greg and I were exhausted when we got home but Garrett still had energy, so he and Jordan went to a trampoline gym for a few hours. These kids never get tired! Later, Greg and Diana took us to dinner at Taco Mesa; we have been ridiculously spoiled by this family!! They told us more about their background and we learned that Greg is the CEO of his own networking and IT security company, and its success has allowed them to do a lot of traveling: they recently got back from a three week vacation in Australia and New Zealand. They also have a very interesting educational philosophies: they do not send their kids to school or home school them; instead, they are home "taught," free to learn any subject as they wish. It sounds pretty wild but it works for them!

After dinner, we watched "Shutter Island," but it had been such a busy day that everyone slept through at least part of the movie!

Josh and I share the same high today: Josh actually standing on the board and surfing a wave! It was so great especially because it only took him 30 minutes of trying to actually succeed! My low is that I'm not really strong enough (or I don't have the right technique) to paddle out against the waves... I got knocked around quite a bit! Josh didn't have a low for today :) My "ho" was getting out of the ocean and realizing that a lot of water had collected in my wetsuit around my ankles... it looked super gross! Josh's "ho" is that he was outrun by eight year old girls (not that it was a contest)... I had no idea that kids could run so fast!