Aqua Log

It is the final weekday of spring break and I wanted to do something different and fun with the kids so I decided to take a drive to Holland to visit the aquatic center. The place was pretty cool - diving boards, zip line, splash zone for kids, water cannons, vortex, floating obstacle course, floats, basketball and of course an aqua log.

First off - I didn't really want to go swimming but I figure I better get used to parading around in a swimming suit and jumping in cold water. So, I joined Janis on her adventures. First we saw the inner tubes and Janis immediately wanted to float in one so we jumped in the water and she floated a bit before she decided we could check out the splash zone.

Splash zone had much warmer water and it was geared toward the smaller kids - really shallow water, lots of water spurting out from everywhere, a tire swing - it was pretty cool but not really adventurous for Janis. Yet all the really "cool" stuff as Janis would say, was considered deep water and if you wanted to swim deep water, you had to swim 25 yds. A big challenge for a 7 yr. old - but not that tough - she managed to swim the entire way without stopping and as soon as she got the thumbs up from the life guard we were off to the diving boards.

Yet, I don't think Janis ever got on the diving board until we were about to leave - we got sidetracked by THE AQUA LOG.

The aqua log is a huge floating noodle - like what you see on those stinkin Japanese game shows and the idea is to run across as fast as you can without falling off. Yeah. Right. Ben showed me how it was done - with speed and grace he made it from one end of the log to the other before jumping in - he did great. Then Filippo. He managed to do it as well - but not as quick or as graceful. Then Janis - she stood on the starting block jumped on the log and got about three strides before she bounced off and into the water. Then it was my turn.

I only wish we had video because even the lifeguards were laughing and you know - I think it takes a lot to get them to crack a smile after a week of special hours during spring break. So I stood on the block and Ben is giving me advice "Just run, don't think about it - just go." So I went. The first step I took I paused and took one more and I don't even know what happened next. I think I fell on my front, bounced back and flipped somehow because I inhaled a ton of water. I came up laughing and I could only imagine what I looked like - and then I tried it again.

This time when I fell it was a bit more graceful but I still couldn't get passed pausing after the first step. Ben is adamant about saying you can just run like you are on a track and he doesn't think about the log -he just runs and that is probably the truth but I think that log and I are going to have a tougher time.

It is a mental block I have to get passed. How do I make my body go when my brain wants it to stop? I figure I'm going to have to learn to work on auto pilot at some point in my military career - that I will have to do something my brain tells me I shouldn't be doing but my body must. So I think the aqua log is just the tool I need to get my mind right.

As for parading around in my swim suit - it was ok - I look forward to the day when I'm more confident than ever - I think the Navy is gonna take care of that part for me.