Our little surfers

Yesterday was the kids first day at summer camp here in Costa Rica. They returned to the international school here in Nosara, Del Mar Academy, to join the SPLASH program which is best described as a bilingual summer camp for visiting families. They will be there for this week, while Tim and I use the time to work and maybe get in a few yoga sessions, surfing and lunches together.

We had tried to get the kids in surf lessons the first week, but with their love for boogie boarding and a mistakenly scheduled lesson by me on Sunday, we hadn’t gotten them out before their camp started. So we went ahead and arranged their first lesson for today, after we picked them up from camp at 3pm. The low tide would only be in the late afternoon for 2 more days this week, and I checked with the kids and they said that indeed they were up for it even if it was after camp.

As the clouds came in at 3pm, I began to wonder if we’d have the typical afternoon thunderstorm and have to cancel the lesson. It started to pour down rain as we walked over to Nosara Surf Academy. The kids were not too concerned about it though, and by the time the instructor arrived and began choosing their boards, the rain had stopped.

I decided not to do a lesson the same day because it would require a second instructor… and I really wanted to be able to watch the kids. I was thankful I had Aubrey’s waterproof camera to take in the water with me.

The instructor, Kim, was great with the kids. His son, age 7, also goes to the Del Mar Academy as a regular student (their school year is not over yet) so he had him with him as well. We were recommended to Kim from the owner of the house we are renting, and we couldn’t have been happier with his demeanor, patience and how he worked with the kids.

Watching him manage the two kids with their boards, I couldn’t imagine a group lesson with kids that young with 3 kids. Rylan was more often on his own and the instructor helped Aubrey get out to the waves and catch the waves often. By the end of their first hour, Rylan was able to do the entire routine by himself. Aubrey did a great job with balance, and once she caught a wave was almost always able to stand up.

They, of course, didn’t want to stop when the lesson was over. Lucky for them. The lesson includes the board rental for 24 hours. Tim took them out a few more times after their lesson, but not for too long, as he could see they were tired.

By the time we all got out of the water it was 5:40, just a half hour until sunset. So we decided to stick around the beach and watch the sunset. In doing so, we met the owner of one of our house dogs, a visiting family who lives in Santa Rosa, and another family who just moved here originally from Napa, who moved here to help run the school the kids are going to camp at!

It’s very interesting to hear everyone’s stories of how they found out about Nosara, and how they decided to travel or move here. It’s one of the things that makes this place so fun to me – it’s so undiscovered.

By the time the sun had set and we made it back home, we realized we needed to get the kids fed and to bed as soon a possible. They were exhausted. So we headed over to Kaya Sol for dinner. Upon returning, Aubrey and Sierra were asleep within minutes of hitting the bed, with Rylan asleep not long after. I guess it is possible to tire them out so much that they hit the beds and fall straight asleep.