A Springy Kind Of Summer

Saturday morning I woke up at 6:30. On purpose. I'm an early riser even on my days off but 6:30 is kind of pushing it. A group of us had plans to go to Wekiwa Springs and it's common knowledge that you always get there right when it opens, because it gets crowded fast. And a lot of the times the parks will reach maximum capacity by 10AM. So I changed into my swimsuit and made sure all of our stuff was ready to go. Cooler. CHECK. Towels. CHECK. Sunscreen. CHECK. Donut float. CHECK! The last thing I had to do was put contacts in my eyeballs. I'm not exactly an expert on the process but I feel pretty damn comfortable with it nowadays. I tried to put the left contact in and not only was it in my eye but it was lost. Yeah, contacts can get lost in your eyeball. It's happened to me a few times. The contact gets folded and suctioned together and is hiding out in some crevice of your eye. The first time it happened I nearly had a panic attack until I found out a contact can't roll into the back of your eye and go into your brain. Whew! It's still pretty freaky though. It doesn't hurt but just feels like something is in your eye. BECAUSE SOMETHING IS. The minute Dustin woke up I told him what we were up against. Then seconds later Pat tested him to let us know he was here. The minute Pat walked into our house I asked him for advice on how to get it out. I texted Rachelle for advice. I only really trust daily contact wearers. I tried everything they suggested. Dustin tried to help me. I lifted my eyelid up, down and moved my eyeball all around. We couldn't find it but I knew it was in there. I just knew it. I was so pissed. I foresaw my day going something like this... I'd have to go to the springs with a stuck contact, be blind (no glasses OR contacts) all day and end up at the doctors to have them dig it out. Except at the very last second before we had to leave, Dustin found it and we worked as a team to get that sucker out of there. Once it was out, my eye felt instantly better. But now that it was out I was kind of hesitant to try it again. But I did anyway and was able to pop them both in within seconds of each other.

We were out the door and in the car - which is where we were introduced to a whole new problem. Dustin bought me a donut float for my birthday and I of course wanted to take it to the springs for it's maiden voyage. The problem was it was too big to fit in the trunk so Dustin put it in the backseat. Which had it been only the two of us it would have been fine BUT Pat had to fit back there too. He ended up having to sit in the middle of the donut. I almost hurt myself from laughing so hard. But then I immediately felt bad when he told us how uncomfortable it was. He said it in a very nonchalant Pat way which made it even funnier for some reason. I hurried to the springs so he could get the hell out of the donut hole. We got there right on time. Actually about 10 minutes early. We were the 3rd or 4th car in line waiting to get in. Apparently they don't open the gate until 8 on the dot. Poor Pat had to open his door to try and get comfortable in the meantime. Finally we were inside the park. We walked down to the water and were practically the only ones there besides the two long distance swimmers in wetsuits that just did lap after lap. Dustin, Pat and I decided to go check out the water. I mean, I don't really know why we're always so surprised when we dip our foot into it and it's FREEZING cold! We all just hung out on the steps with our feet in the water. And then we'd go down another step. And then finally Dustin just went for it. And then Pat followed. Just as Dustin and Pat had gone in, the Benton's arrived. I was happy to have Rachelle and Shelbi as moral support. Getting into the freezing water at 8 in the morning is hard work ya'll. Poor Shelbi even had goosebumps! We finally just got in and eventually the water didn't feel so cold anymore once we started swimming around. I got a lot of use out of my donut float. Actually I think most everyone used it at some point. Not only is it awesome looking but it's pretty damn sturdy and comfortable. We spent the whole morning swimming, snorkeling, diving (mostly Matt aka The Aqua Daredevil), floating, slipping off slimey rocks which lead to laughing so hard I couldn't breathe, and exploring the wildlife (again, mostly Matt). Matt caught a turtle within second of getting into the springs. And then he dove in a cave and caught a fish with his bare hands! BARE HANDS! He was like his own aquarium exhibit because as soon as one kid saw the fish he wanted to pet the fish and then EVERY kid wanted to pet the fish. It was pretty funny. Shelbi and I went for a stroll around and found a baby gator, a big turtle on a fallen tree, and a wild Dorito bag. It was great. I was so thankful that I was able to see the whole day. It's something I never take for granted. I've been the blind girl at the beach or in the pool for far too long - but not anymore. I actually could see underwater (with goggles of course)! It was such a fun day with awesome friends (minus Sam =( because she was in CO).

We all headed back to our place to shower and change out of our swimsuits. And then we enjoyed a lovely BBQ lunch at Bubbalous. MmmMm. Then it was back to our house for video games. Us girls just watched and iPhoned. Ha! We were al pretty worn out. Dustin and I could barely move that night. We were exhausted and sore which are usually signs of a really good day. It most certainly was.

Springy Summer from Ashley on Vimeo.