A Surfer For Life

There is one thing in my life that I can say I have been deeply and truly passionate about...surfing. I have been body boarding and surfing on and off for 17 years. It never gets old, never gets boring and it has a way of cleansing the mind, body and soul. I once read a quote somewhere that said, "if everybody in the whole world surfed, there would be no war." The ocean waves offer its riders a thrill, an excitement like no other. I am an avid snowboarder and a roller coaster connoisseur...neither of these activities even come close to the sensation I get from riding a wave. Surfing is the hardest thing I have ever learned how to do, but once you conquer it, you never look back.

When Doug and I bought our house in 2004, which is 5 minutes from the main beach I always surfed at, I decided it was time to take up surfing again. Doug had never surfed before and was up for learning. He was quickly sucked in and we began surfing together every moment we could. We were also both very much on the same page about raising our future children to learn to surf. We are lovers of everything that has to do with water, therefore swimming is extremely important for our kids to learn and surfing is just a given.

In Maui, 2 years ago, we decided it was time to expose Paige & Jimmy to the wonderful world of surfing and the ocean. Paige was 2-1/2 and Jimmy was 18 months. Paige has always been fearless in the water and I knew she would take to it immediately. Jimmy is much more cautious, but I wanted to take him anyway. Maui was the perfect place to introduce them to the waves and surfing, the water is warm and the waves were small. I knew they would need to be a little older to expose them to the frigid water temperature and larger waves at home.

Paige playing in the shore break. Every time a wave took her out, she came right back for more. Look at the smile!

Jimmy having fun, but not quite as brave as big sister.

Pushing Paige into some small shore break at the house we stayed at. She loved it and could not get enough.

We tried some bigger waves too...still loving it!

This was an awesome ride! You can't see his face but he is crying the whole ride. He was not very happy about this experience.

We found a great beach called Kalama Beach Park, close to where we were staying. It had small waves to take the kids on. We rented a 10' soft top surf board. As soon as Doug walked over with it, Paige was jumping up and down with excitement. Doug and I took turns taking it out on our own to get acquainted with the board and the waves. Then it was Paige's turn! Our first wave, I had her lay down the whole time because I wanted to get a feel for going tandem. By the second wave, we were set. I popped up to my feet and when I had my balance, I leaned down and grabbed the back of her life jacket and pulled her to her feet!

Here we go!

Loving the smile on her face.

Paige taking a ride with daddy.

Here I am coming in with Jimmy. He did not want to be on the board. As soon as we paddled out, he kept saying "down".

We took the kids every morning to the beach to body board and we went 3 days in a row to surf. It was so awesome. It was my first time back in the water in a very long time too. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures of each other surfing. Seventeen years of surfing and I have maybe 3 pictures of myself in action or with my board. It is hard to find someone with the patience to sit and wait for you to catch a good ride!

Maui - There was fun little shore break at the house we were staying at.

Paige lived in the water just as much as I did. I sometimes truly see a mini-me in her. She always wants to be a part of whatever we are doing.

Maui - Stand up paddling is so amazing. So peaceful. And my little 2-1/2 year old daughter sat quietly at my feet enjoying the ride.

Fast forward 2 years, Paige is now 4-1/2 and Jimmy is 3-1/2. They have been in swimming lessons for a year and a half. Both of them are comfortable in the water and can actually swim. Jimmy is still cautious, but is becoming more and more confident with each exposure to the water.

A couple weekends ago, I had the itch to surf. I checked the report and found out the conditions were incoming high tide, 1ft.-2ft. Doug says, "you should take Paige with you." I begin to think this is a really good idea. The conditions are perfect to introduce her. After a little more thought, I decide to take Jimmy too. I am very lucky that my kids are very good around the water and very obedient, therefore I am comfortable taking both of them on my own. We own a 9ft. soft top surf board...so Doug gets it down for me and puts it on the car. I load up the gear and the kids and we head over to the surf shop to rent 2 small wetsuits. We left the house at 1pm. By the time we rented the suits, got the beach, unloaded the car and got all 3 of our wetsuits on, it was 2pm as we were heading to the water. It takes long enough to get myself in and out of a wetsuit...now I have to do 2 more!

Into the waves we went, body board in hand. They barely flinched at the cold water. Pushed Paige into a few shore break waves...she is loving it! Jimmy's first wave, he wipes out and tumbles under. Comes up, shocked at the cold and b-lines straight for the shore. It took me an hour to get him back in and comfortable again. By the end of our day, he was back on the board.

My little surfer babies. I love this shot.

 

Paige having a blast!

My mini-me.

I tried taking Paige tandem on the surfboard. It was hard. She is a lot taller and heavier than she was in Maui. We have a shorter surfboard and I am out of shape. I tried very hard to get us into a wave and I couldn't do it. She started to get a little scared, so we came in and stuck to the body boarding. My main goal was to expose them to the cold water, the power of our waves and begin teaching them to be cautious in the ocean. Always be aware of the people around you and never take your eyes off the ocean. Teaching them surfing etiquette will come later.

We had such a great time, that we packed up the whole family the next morning and did it all over again. Doug and I had a chance to take turns surfing, while one stayed back with the kids. It was great! Alyssa had a great time shoveling sand into her mouth or wandering around with her snack trap.

Alyssa loves the beach and water. I think she is my future pro-surfer. ;-)

  
The kids had a blast that weekend and keep asking when we can go again. They don't understand that the conditions have to be just right. Our beach can get big and strong. The shore break can be knarly and unsafe for the kids. Fortunately summer is usually pretty mellow, so there will be more opportunities to take them. I am excited to see the passion growing in them. It will be a great day when all 5 of us can be surfing together!

It was also nice having Doug at the beach that day with the telephoto lens on my camera. I have been out of the water for a long time and it was not my best wave, but he was patient enough to catch me in action!

YEAH BABY!!