Once they came out of the water for the first time, all the adults started pushing sunscreen. Most of the kids didn’t listen though, saying they don’t burn. They might not burn at home, but this was Gulf sun and five and a half hours of it; they would later wish they had listened. Ben, Billy, and Laura dug a hole in the sand. Laura sat in it and we took some pictures.
KC, Tonya, and I watched them, and the rest of the kids went back into the water. Billy and Chad had to dig her out of the sand, then kept digging until they hit water. They kept going, and soon enough Chase got in the hole. He could almost stand straight up; the hole was so deep. Chad made sure that the sand looked flattened around Chase and we took pictures of them, too.
Everyone got back in the water again, except Ben, Billy, and me. I lathered most of the guys up, this time, since they were beginning to feel the burn. Chris and Billy still refused to put any sunscreen on, though, so I told them I wouldn’t feel sorry for them later. Ben headed back to the van first, to return some phone calls from work. Chase soon followed him, so that he could change clothes before everyone got there. Chad and Chris went next, as Chad was burned and tired of the sun. I left Michael and Billy to tell the others to come soon after. We looked for an airbrush shop to get shirts made, but couldn’t find one, so we went back toward the motel. Most of the kids fell asleep on the van.
Michael woke up at one time, yelling “I want to go home. I feel like a greased monkey!” By the time we got back to the motel, the kids were in pain. All four of the girls were red, but not too badly burned. I was red, and burned on my lower back and the back of my legs, but not in pain (yet). Chase and KC, who’d allowed me to put sunscreen on them, weren’t too bad off. The other boys, however, couldn’t stand to be touched. Billy and Chris, the only ones that put no sunscreen on, could barely stand to move. Billy got pranked by Chris sometime during the evening, though. A little brotherly retribution?
Heather, Alyssa, and Lee came by to say goodbye. We sat around talking for a long time. Lee gave us his card so that we could call him or email him. Heather gave us letters with her contact info. We already had Alyssa’s, because we’d been in contact with her dad. Most of the kids sat, dangling their legs in the hot tub. They’d spent a good part of the week in there, but couldn’t handle the heat tonight. Tonya and I sat above them, on a bench on the balcony, watching them, talking about the week. Michael joined us for a while, but didn’t stay the whole time. Lee had left for a while, but when he came back, he sat and talked with me while Tonya went to pack. Erinn had run by a little earlier with Lee’s U of Texas hat on (wrong orange, buddy!). Eventually, he decided to give it to her, signed it and handed it over. We hung out there for a long time before everyone began to drift back to their rooms. Everyone began surrounding Lee again (I told you these kids loved him… And he had told us that we were one of his favorite groups that had every come through, which the kids just ate up), and goofing off. I stayed by myself, on the bench, since I hadn’t really ever unpacked, so I didn’t need to repack. Lee and Erinn began having a water fight, and all of a sudden, they’re dumping water on my head. So I joined in and Erinn and I teamed up against Lee. I did call time out long enough to put his card up, and he allowed that. Not only were we soaking each other clothes that we were going to wear home or at least pack in our luggage, we were using refrigerated water to do it. It was cold, especially in the Texas heat! We got so wet that I went and changed shirts and Erinn put one of Michael’s on over her shirt.
Ben soon made us stop, cause no one was getting anything done. He laid down some rules about packing and going to bed. Lee decided that he needed to leave, so everyone made sure to get their picture with him, one last time. We finished packing, Ben inspected rooms, and we split up into our rooms. Chase, Michael, and Erinn came to my room and we talked again for a while. We knew that we had to be up early the next morning, but I was still wrapping everyone’s hammocks (using a trick I learned from my Honduras trip) and the guys didn’t want to go to their room for various reasons. I didn’t mind them being in my room, as I enjoyed listening to what they had to say during quiet times like these. Sometime after midnight, Billy came in the room, everyone looked at the clock, realized how little time they had left to sleep, and left for their rooms.
