Maddie, Me & the Monk Seal

So I was telling Maddie last night that sometimes you have to work a bit to have a memorable adventure. On the way back from dinner last night walking to the condo, the only work we had to do was to look up and view the near-full moon glistening through the palm trees..ahhhhhh. Today's work involved another hike. It started out as a search for a nearby place to snorkel. We walked past Turtle Bay where we played in the surf last week (then it was murky, today it was crystal clear) and we vowed to return and snorkel the reefs we spied this morning. We continued eastward down the beach (a wonderful, sunny morning with a cool onshore breeze to cool us) and were just walking and talking. Maddie asked what these holes in the sand were, and I explained that crabs dig them out and hang down there. A few minutes later I hear Maddie hyperventilating, thinking she spotted one of the crabs we talked about. Instead I look back and see a 500 pound Monk (I think) seal!!! I was walking in the surf and must of walked within a foot of his head (see pic), and Maddie was walking above him thinking it was a rock, when his tail flipper swung around and scared the breath (an other things) out of her. We both nearly tripped over this thing without even noticing it! We laughed so hard...how could we miss a 500 pound seal?! We stopped and took some pics and had a great time laughing at ourselves. So a day we thought would be all soccer again had a snippet of wonder awaiting us...we just had to get out and walk and the Universe delivered...awesome. How grateful we were! More later after the game...Aloha!