Today was a great day. It was one that I can only hope the kids will remember for a long time. After Aaron's shorter than normal nap today, we went out to try surfing again. Jeff was apprehensive about taking the kids surfing again - after we did our lesson very successfully, we tried it on our own with the kids with terrible results. Anyhow, it was really warm out and we didn't have anything planned for the afternoon except spending time together. Surfing it was. Jeff insisted that we bring boogie boards to ensure some sort of success and happy kids this time. Last time, the unsuccessful time, we went back to La Jolla Shores since that is the consensus best place to learn to surf and it was terrible surf, loads of kelp and yuck to tread through in the water. The kids were miserable which made us miserable and it just was a rough time. Aaron had a great time playing in the water though in his little wetsuit.
Anyhow, back to today. We headed out to Coronado beach since it (a) is closer and (b) is cleaner and (c) is a nice beach which we go to more often than other beaches in the area and (d) my friend says her husband takes her daughter (same ages as Kyle & Emily) there to surf. Off we went. I tried a few waves myself first since the kids were playing frisbee with Jeff and Aaron. I was able to barely stand up, but got a little thrill ride.
Emily's turn was next. Upon approaching the water, Emily was nervous. She sort of reverted back to 2 year old Kyle who was terrified of the ocean (noise and all). But she got out there. I towed her out and she attempted her first wave of the day. She rode it in like a boogie board. After a few more attempts and confidence boosting, she was standing up and loving surfing again!! Yahoo!
Kyle was up next. He too was frightened of the waves and took a minute to acclimate. Despite being in a wetsuit, he said he was cold. It was just nerves so any little thing was getting to him. Anyhow, he slowly but surely got the hang of it again and was standing up and riding the waves, jumping for joy with happiness. He had an audience on the beach who were cheering him on as he rode his waves. It was a pretty awesome moment for him to be successful and have the cheering crowd.
Jeff took a few turns while I took a turn corralling Aaron who just wanted to get in the water, but kept getting knocked back by the waves. Jeff had some good waves and was able to get to kneel a few waves in. He tried to put Aaron on the board (in the shallow) and ride him in, but Aaron wouldn't have it. The kids both took a few more turns as the sun was setting and two dolphins swam by (I'm not making that up!) and surfed in. They are both thrilled to be able to surf.
We followed that up with dinner out on Coronado and playing with these UFO sling shot toys on the beach. From what we know, it was the kids' first slingshot experience. Some guy was peddling these toys that are a little helicopter type sling shot that you shoot into the air with a rubber band and the lights on it make it look like a cool little UFO. The kids loved it. Aaron sat there watching them until the music in the background got to him and he just had to dance.
It was truly a fantastic afternoon with the whole family. I do not have any pictures except for some grainy dark video on Jeff's phone of the kids playing with the slingshots on the beach and Aaron dancing (there was some private function on the beach with a band playing California music - Beach Boys and the like). Despite the lack of pictures, I wanted to document this for the kids. And there you have it. A great day for our family.
