Jan 2- Jan 7th
New Smyrna Beach Fl.

For the past week we have been up near Orlando, visiting family. They had a soccer tournament, so we went to see that
 and then continued on to the house that they had rented, and which we were going to stay at for the week.

The first night we went out to a Japanese Steakhouse, which was pretty awesome. You would sit at a U-shaped table, and in the middle was a large metal sheet which they did all the cooking on. These guys are skilled; it’s hard to describe exactly what they did. They could make a volcano out of an onion, could flip shrimp up and catch them in their hat- yes, I know that sounds strange-, and did much more amazing things. Also, the food was fantastic. OF course, around halfway through the dinner, Devon and Sawyer (cousin) decided that it was a great idea to put a small straw in a larger straw and shoot it at people. Then they kept asking the waitresses for more straws. IT was actually quite funny.

The next day we went and visited a beach that we had visited by boat; Ponce de Leon inlet. Place with crazy currents. Although this time we came prepared, with wet suits- we had gotten them for the cousins for Christmas- and boards. We actually didn’t end up using the latter much, just drifting around and playing in the waves and currents. And trying to avoid the jellyfish, which were also drifting. Now, the water was cold- yes, even in Florida the water is very cold in January- but the wetsuits helped a lot.
 
However, we decided that the beach closer to the house was better, so the next day we got ready, boards and all, and headed over. The waves were amazing. We went in the morning, when it was high tide, so the waves were larger closer to shore. It was awesome, after you got used to the 60 degree F water- very cold in Celsius! After looking at the pictures, we thought we were crazy to have gone out in those waves. They were like 4-7 feet high. Yet we went back in the afternoon.

And the next day too. The next day there was no wind, yet there was a current. The waves were even bigger- it seemed- than the day before! We tried to get out to the first break of the waves- the 8 footers. It was very difficult, but it was worth it... if they didn’t crush you first. Which happened quite frequently, and really hurt. Dad was helping me get out to the waves, as I couldn’t stand, and he would keep saying that I was going to ride the next wave. However, at the last moment, he would be like “NOPE. Go under this one”. So you had to dive off the board and under the wave, hoping that you made it. Yet when we caught a wave- FINALLY- it was amazing! You would go almost straight down the curl if you weren’t careful, and it was just awesome to ride them. However it was kind of funny when you looked out and saw someone’s board flying in the air... With no one on it. It was also fun to race people, if you managed to catch the same wave, or battle them- as Meridian and Devon called Gladiator fighting- or see if you could make it all the way in to the beach, or try to double up- whether with people or boards or both!

                We got some great footage of those two days, with both moms on camera duty. They got an A+.

Also, you have no idea how much hot chocolate we went through that week. It was like crazy cold- yes, I know, I can’t really boast when compared to Canada’s crazy cold weather right now.

We also attempted to cook, which was scary. We tried to make muffins, couldn’t find a muffin tin, and ended up making a muffin slab. Then we tried to make lava cake, and had to clean up the butter from when Acadia shot it everywhere with the beater… it was on top of the microwave for heaven’s sake! And I had absolutely nothing to do with that. Although we did manage to make decent meals, such as some very yummy rice dishes and pizza.

The last day we went to a Mexican restaurant for diner, and then went to a grocery store, bought two things of ice-cream, whip cream, chocolate, chocolate bars, and chocolate sauce. You would never guess what we did with it.

Now, you may have noticed I only went through about 5 days. I had said we were there for a week. However, I don’t think I need to go through every day. I went through the most exciting ones. That’s good enough.

Yet I will explain what we did on the ride home, because it was very awesome. We stopped at a book store for about 3 hours. And stocked up on books, which we bought with Christmas money. Then we got home and found out that the cats remember us and went to sleep because we were very very tired.