Ava's first trip to space

We recently took a trip to a little island called Gili Trowangan rated by Lonely Planet as one of the top 10 places on earth to visit. While we were there the kids had the opportunity of a lifetime and got to try scuba diving. Yes, at the ripe old ages of eight and 11 they got to scuba dive! She was extremely nervous and I wasn't sure she would go ahead with the whole program, but with the help of an amazing dive instructor, Vanessa Lil from Scotland, the kids dove and had a great time. Here is what Ava wrote about the experience:

Today I took a diving lesson. My instructor was very nice. Her name is Vanessa. Under water we played with little plastic rockets. We each had one. We counted to three with fingers and then threw them at each other. (We swam in the pool because I had to learn first). We did flips and hand stands. She taught me "Dive Language" (when you're under water you can't talk so you use signs). She showed me the signs for "turtle," "clown fish," "my ears hurt," something's wrong," Let's go up," "I like it down there," "shark alert!" " A moray eel," "I love this!" and "RRRUUUNNN!"

When you dive you get an extra breather for in case a friend loses air. They call it an octopus (I don't know why.) We fooled around with our octopuses. Vanessa stuck hers in my wet suit and pressed the "shoot air" button. I did it to her arm.

Before long it was time for me to go. Before I left she gave me a sruprise. I got a Bubble Maker towel, a Bubble Maker tattoo, two bubble maker stickers, a certificate, an activity book and an invitation to come back!

The next day I went diving in the ocean. I was REALLY scared. But since it was just me and Vanessa if I didn't want to go under I didn't have to. But I started off going one meter and then I did the down signal and we went two meters deep. We swam inside a school of fish. We saw a very rare fish: Baby Bum Headed Parrot FIsh. It was giant! The full grown ones are as long as me! I saw a giant mountain of coral, it was so big that I had to bend my knees to not touch it. We stayed under for half an hour. It felt like two seconds. Vanessa carried a blow-up flag so the boat would follow us and we would not get lost. Vanessa helped me do a flip. We saw a lot of Red Tooth Trigger Fish. We also saw some parrot fish. And some yellow fish with black stripes. We also saw some Butter Fly Fish and Pygmy Snapper. It was the funnest thing I ever did in my life!

At dinner time, before we ate, we got drinks and we saw Vanessa. She Came and sat with us. My parents ordered a drink for her. I was telling her about how in Maui at the Aquarium they had a shark breed thing. We both were sad about people eating shark fin soup. Vanessa ran to her house and came back with a shark tooth. She gave it to me!

My mini pledge: Tomorrow I will see Vanessa for the last time on this trip. But I promise I will find her some time. She was the best non-school teacher I ever had. I WILL SEE HER AGAIN. Signed: Ava