Paddleboarding

Using their state of the art equipment to learn how to get up on the paddleboard

Omar has a quick recovery from what could have been in the water a fall overboard

Outside the All Water Sports ready to go!

The one Bri ended up using here was one and 40 made in the world - it cost $1800!

paddling out to deeper water so I can stand up without potenital injury

Me trying out the inflatable one - it did keep my feet cooler though

Bri and I both bought groupons to learn to paddleboard. The lessons are normally $40/hr, so we basically got 2 for 1. Bri and Brandon got their first babysitter ever and we were off to paddleboarding yesterday before my little birthday shindig. It was so much fun.

They had a ball with a board on it that we practiced paddling and getting from the kneeling position to standing. We then all got our own paddleboard to use and began. We were at a salt water river or something. I never even noticed it before. The water was pretty dirty and it looked like gators would love it, except it was salt water.

When we got to the dock (it is a boat dock where people go boating) our instructor asked us who we thought would be the best at doing this. I said Bri would be because she is so good at yoga and stuff. So she got the inflatable one. Little did we know that was the hardest one. She lasted about 15 minutes and fell in. Thankfully the instructor let her use his (which is what is shown in the pictures). I tried the inflatable one after we got back to see what it was like - it really is hard. It is very wobbly. I guess the reason that people get inflatable ones is they are cheaper (about $200 cheaper - typically an inflatable one is about $400) and it is easy to take it with you. I was thinking it would be awesome to have one, but you would need a place to store it and they are just plain huge! Not only that but you would need a vehicle that could carry it - they weigh about 40 pounds and are so long. I guess that is why people get inflatable ones - they are portable.

The instructor says it takes an extra day to get used it. I guess beach paddleboarding is completely different and different boards that you use. I can imagine it being difficult. In general paddleboarding was a breeze to learn and not hard to get and stay up.

Omar and Brandon had a race on the way back. Brandon ended up heading for a tree and he was in the lead. I told him to do his back yoga move and he tried and rammed into the tree breaking off a branch. Omar won by default.

We didn't bring our camera with us. We saw this guy with his family of  in this little boat that he had built. It was the craziest thing ever - it was like a little box car probably 5x5 or something and there were 6 people in it (not small people either). Just chilling on the river. I wish I would have had a camera - it was the craziest thing ever. I have no idea how it floated. I asked him how he got the boat there and he said he stuck it in his car. I asked how he got it in the water and the daughter was like he put it on his back! We also went to a place that the instructor usually sees a lot of manatee when it is low tide. It was high tide so they were hiding.