Just a quick update on the trip!! Yesterday the boys fulfilled a great wish they've been harboring...the desire to surf! My Michael started this trend by hanging with his friend (post serious sports injury when weightlifting and team training at the school was a no-no to healing). He started Long-Boarding (like skateboarding but more flexible like snowboarding or surfing). Michael being Michael he quickly elevated the Long-Boarding to an obsession to do more and better and more and better. He fell in love with it and like all new activities he pursues he researches the hell out of them, checks the origin, the trends, and what it will do for him as a person. This child came wired this way, I was merely the vessel that brought him here.
It wasn't long until kids began showing up at our town home on these things but he wasn't just satisfied with cruising around - there had to be a sense of accomplishment. Enter Long Boarding in the rain, midnight rides, and miles lapped up. Yup. So the whole adventure of 'skating' quickly morphed into "I'm going to snowboard this winter" and "I want to try paddle boarding" and finally "I'm going to surf." Yesterday was the crossroads where it all came together and again these kids filled me with gratitude at being their mom. We drove quietly to the rental place and each one admitted they were quite nervous from "What if I get hurt" to "Hey is that a shark fin in the water?" But within 15 minutes, $50 each, 4 wetsuits and a meeting site by a jetty there was no turning back.
I told them I was proud of them (they and their two friends) because they made a choice to have experiences instead of things. Sometimes as a parent you say things that the kids chew on and throw in their suitcase for life.
They met the instructor who was relieved that they long-boarded because, from what I gather, it's the same concept of balance and movement. There was a quick lesson on the sand to go from what yoga calls a modified cobra position to a surf stand, and that was it -they took to the water...
That's my beautiful son William (a Pisces) who is always happy in the water :)
That's my beautiful son Michael (an Aries) who is always happy as long as he's moving :)
And this is the money shot for mom...another one of those pics you want them to have when they are in their 80's so they remember when they were young, healthy,
and it all lay before them
They spent an hour in the water and when they came out I asked them "Was it worth it?" They all agreed it was and William said "Ma it was one of those things, ya know? One of those life things." Yes my precious love, I do know.
They talked about it for hours scheming on how to get to the ocean more. And then they realized they would have all winter to try snowboarding. They were happy, the kind of intrinsic generated happy that comes from one on a cellular level a core feeling (no video game does that ).
Later that day we met up with a friend who is on the island staying bay side, and she owns a paddle board shop...Mike and his buddy Andrew have been dying to try this...
the sun was setting...
The word Magic doesn't do it justice....
I wish for you a life of experiences not things.
Namaste
This trip was put together on a shoe string and almost didn't happen, I'm working on the $ breakdown for the blog but I will tell you not one cent was put on a credit card :) The above memories are our souvenirs, not a boatload of bills - You can do this.
