Adaptive Paddling The Launch

*turn DOWN your sound to avoid our annoying chatter in the background!*

This is a really cool video of HOW they launch the kayaks at the Adaptive Paddling program.

For some reason Blogger was being a bugger about loading it in the post, so I had to do it this way.

But I hope that those of you who are interested enjoy it!

Adaptive Paddling Day 2

Day 2 of Adaptive Paddling

On this day the group was going out on the back bay to paddle in the ocean!

We met at the launch ramp bright and early to get the group together.

At first it was a bit hard for  Nathaniel, as he had to wait patiently for his friends to get launched, but he did good!

There were kayaks to get ready.

And some participants took a village to get ready.

But that smile as he headed in?

That made it TOTALLY worth it!

Others had been doing this for years and were great at at!

Finally (in Nathaniel's mind) it was his turn!!!

The launch!

Oh man... look at that BIG boy....

Yup...

 it's official...

I take too many pictures...

 so get over it already :)

And they are off.....

Notice anything here????

The boy is in the bay kayaking and momma is standing on dry land!!!!

Yes, I let him go with the volunteers!

It was a bit hard

I am totally used to being RIGHT there with him, but all went well.

They went for awhile down the bay.

But the weather was a bit tricky, so they turned back early.

Not that I mind, I think it says a great deal about their commitment to the participants. The instructors prepared all term for this, only to have bad weather the actual weekend. But they were more concerned about safety, which is awesome!

Here is Nathaniel racing Dr. Taylor again...

It was so cute how everyone indulged his desire to race!

All too soon the adventure was over and it was time to pull the kayaks out.

And get everyone settled on dry land.

This was a GREAT experience and I am looking forward to hearing when they offer it again so Nathaniel can do it again! (And they DID invite him back, so I guess he wasn't TOO much of a handful!)

This was Nathaniel and his THREE Instructors...

He loved them all and had a BLAST!

Thank you to the Cal Poly Adaptive Paddling Program!!!

Adaptive Paddling Day 1

Last weekend Nathaniel had a wonderful opportunity to participate in an adaptive paddling program.

My little water bug was VERY EXCITED to try this out. And I was excited because he has been seeing the kayakers out in the bay for years and recently been asking me A LOT to try it out!

He does not look excited at all does he??

Day 1 we met at the local college, where the program is run through, to meet everyone, have some yummy lunch and so the instructors could adapt the kayaks to the participants.

We spent lots of time (in the BLAZING hot sun!) so the instructors could adapt the kayaks. Of course this meant that Nathaniel made lots of new friends whiel everyone else was working! I LOVED that each group of instructors adapted each kayak especially for the participant that they would be working with. It was VERY individualized and neat to watch.

After the kayaks were all adapted the participants and instructors got in the pool to practice.

Everyone was very patient with Nathaniel and he had a blast.

They did make the mistake of telling Nathaniel he could get out of the pool whenever he was ready. Didn't they know he would NEVER be ready????

So around and around he went!

Taking all three of his instructors on turns with him...

And then someone gave him the idea that he could RACE other people in the pool.... and it was ALL OVER. That boy is a racing fool!

To conclude day one I will leave you with this little video...

 make sure you watch the end...

SO Funny!

Stay tuned for day two when they went out in the back bay!!!