Now that I have kids, it’s so awesome when I can bring them to work with me. My surf yoga retreat business, Surf With Amigas, has recently begun adding family friendly retreats. It’s so awesome to have returning Amigas come back with their husbands and kids to share the adventure with the whole family. My kids are always stoked to participate and are inspired by the older kids.
Here’s the highlight video from a recent retreat. I can’t wait for the next one!
Surf With Amigas is gearing up to do our first family retreat in Costa Rica in a couple of weeks. In preparation, I loaded up my family including my sister, her husband and their 14 month old into a boat to head across the gulf. We surfed some rights, walked through the jungle to a cute little resort for lunch and pool play, and got up close and personal with some very friendly monkeys. It was a great test to see how kids could handle the boat trip and long day. They were all passed out on the boat trip back but they loved it! Continue reading Family Boat Trip Surf Session
Surfing with my kids has been a dream come true. The past week in Costa Rica has had pumping waves, and for the most part my kids are hanging on the beach with our awesome nanny while mama gets some turns in. Towards the end of the swell there were some super smooth easy peelers coming in at the bottom of the point. I asked Soleo if he wanted to catch a wave and he shook his head no, until Luna agreed. She’s 3.5 and got excited. After 18 month old Soleo watched his sister ride a wave, he was eager to get one too.
With two little ones it has been a struggle to get both down to the beach at times. We live a short walk away, but a short walk for us is still a long one for little legs. My husband Kim bought a wagon frame and wheels in the states, brought it down and added a wooden seat. Now walks to the beach are so much easier. The kids think it’s really fun to ride!
Luna is starting to get into riding a surfboard in very tiny waves and Soleo just loves running around in the sand and pointing at birds.
Our family lives primarily in Northern Nicaragua, but we do spend several months per year in Costa Rica. We love our little house in the jungle, watching monkeys from the porch, walking across the street to check the surf, playing with the kids in the river, and catching waves ourselves.
I pulled out the GoPro on the last couple of days of our trip to capture a few scenes summarizing our life in paradise. Kid play, a lot of checking the surf, and even a bit of surfing.
It’s been a while since Luna has wanted to get on the board in the ocean. We didn’t want to force it, preferring to wait until she asked. The last few days she has been asking. Yesterday morning she surprised us by riding her first few waves solo. She was even paddling back to dad (with some pushes from mom) after each ride. We didn’t have a camera.
Today, armed with a GoPro we tried again. The waves were a little bit bigger and more consistent so she was a little more nervous, but she did get this one great ride and ended it with a big smile!
It’s been a while since Luna has wanted to get on the board in the ocean. We didn’t want to force it, preferring to wait until she asked. The last few days she has been asking. Yesterday morning she surprised us by riding her first few waves solo. She was even paddling back to dad (with some pushes from mom) after each ride. We didn’t have a camera. Continue reading Luna’s First Solo Waves
It’s been so fun to play now that Luna is a bit older. She’s loving being at the beach, in the water, and on horseback. She’s talking a ton, mostly in Spanish, but also knows the hand sign for “more”. She doesn’t use it often – only when she REALLY wants more of something. I was so stoked to see her using it while galloping on horseback.
Here she is at 15 months old enjoying everything around her. She caught her first wave on mama’s back and is having tons of fun playing on her boogie board.
These shots of Luna on a bike, in the park, at the beach, in the rain, and looking at monkeys were taken right around her first birthday. So fun to look back.
Salt Water Mama 