SHARK BOY

We are not sure when the obsession started but I am sure it was when Branton was about 2 years old. It started with killer whales. Branton loved them. His first love was a killer whale named Speequil. It was a 3 inch long stuffed animal. We aren't really sure if that was the real name,  Speequil is what what we heard come out of that little two year old boy.  It was his best friend. He could not sleep without him. All he talked about was Killer Whales. He could not wait for the day to come when he could go to Sea World and see a real Killer Whale. He then expanded his passion to all whales, dolphins, and sharks. 

When he was 3 the movie Shark Boy and Lava Girl came out. He was Shark boy from then on. Makenna, was Lava Girl for a while. Speequil took a back seat, his new love was Sharks. When we went to the library, he checked out shark books. He would tell us all these really cool facts about sharks. I never knew all of these interesting facts, I started liking sharks. 

Adam and I went to Cancun, Mexico over Easter in 2005. I guess we really did not get the obsession yet because we brought home a shark tooth necklace for Braxton and a painting of killer whales for Branton. Branton was happy and never complained, but the next year when we went on a cruise he begged us to get him a shark tooth necklace. 

Branton is part fish of some sort. I think this is why he loves all the sea creatures. Since he was 2 1/2 he has been negotiating his life jacket. He would tell us all the time, "I can swim, I don't need it!" So when we were in the pool we would let him take it off. If you did not watch him, he would jump out of the pool, run to the deep end and jump in. He was so fun to watch. The kids would say "Branton do a flip!" Branton would stand at the end of the pool jump and flip into the pool with perfect form. Then we would hear "Branton do a back flip!" Branton would  back flip in making it seem so simple. He was always the center of attention at any swimming pool.  This was our only child who never took one swimming class, took some tumbling classes but was never taught how to do a flip, back flip, or cannon ball. The only explanation we ever had was that he was part fish. 

Branton entered kindergarten and his first project was to make an animal from household items. Does it surprise you that he wanted to make a shark? It turned out awesome! Adam and Nana Dixie helped him. They used duct tape and rhinestones for the teeth. They made a poster that looked like the ocean. He loved it. Since then we have made several reports and projects all about Sharks.  They had a day in kindergarten when all the kids needed to come dressed as an animal and know 3 facts about that animal. Branton of course was a shark and already knew too many facts about them, he was so exited. I bought him a wet suit and we gave him a faux hawk. This was the best day of kindergarten. 

When I go to the school it always makes me laugh to see everyones art work and how Branton always find a way to manipulate it into a shark. For Valentines, all the cute hearts hanging on the wall, saying things like, I love my mom or I love my dad. Branton's is a sideways heart  with teeth, a smaller heart on top upside down  to make the shark fin. His reads, I love sharks. He had to give a report on what he wanted to be when he was 100 years old, apparently he is being reincarnated into a shark. I could go on and on. 

So of course you can imagine the day dreaming that Branton has about swimming with the sharks. He would tell us about how he was going  swim in the ocean, find a shark, hop on it's back and take a ride. I think he really thought he would be able to communicate with the sharks. Then for Christmas Santa brought us a family vacation to Hawaii. The stories just got better. 

Adam and I found out that they had an excursion were you could really swim with the sharks. We knew we had to do it. Braxton and Makenna declined the offer so Adam, Sam, Branton and I swam with the sharks. It was truly amazing. We went out on this pontoon boat 3 miles out from the shore. When the boat stopped it was already surrounded by sharks. The sharks knew the sound of the boat and knew they were about to be fed. The sharks were about 6 feet long they were everywhere! You truly can appreciate all of gods creatures when you see them up close like that. They were beautiful. We all got in this 8x5 cage with snorkel gear, then they pushed us out from the boat. It was amazing, the sharks just ignored us but swam all around us waiting for their favorite food. Lucky for us they do not like people. So Branton got to live out his life long dream at 6 years old. I hope he doesn't want to move to Hawaii one day. I can't imagine life without my little shark boy!

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