Wow what a great day we had yesterday!
Nanci Grenier Boutet owns the
Aquaholics Surf Shop in Kennebunk, Maine and has a heart for our kids. So three times in the Summer, the third Tuesday of June, July and August, she gives a big shout out to all the local surfers to come to Kennebunk Beach and take our special little ones surfing on their
Special Surfer Night.
We went yesterday for the first time, Chandler surfed until he was a Popsicle, and loved every minute of it. Tommy, Chandler's cutie pie surfing coach, comes down from his home in Quebec to vacation in Maine with his family in August, and he takes part in the event while they are here. Chan had a great time with Tommy and learned how to say, "Merci, Tommy" at the end of the day.
Here are the best shots from yesterday. It was so wonderful to see all our little guys loving the time they were having in the water, their dad's being able to do real father son sports bonding stuff that happens so rarely with our kids and, of course, to have a nice zone of love around our kids where they could be their weird, loud, difficult, haphazard selves with out a judgmental look or nasty comment as far as they eye could see.
Thanks so much to Nanci for doing this and thanks so much to all the loving, supporting, understanding surfers who made our kids day! All my pictures from the day will be posted
here, and anyone connected with the event has my permission to download and use them in any way they like (as long as it is respectful to those in the images, of course). If anyone connected with the event would like hi res images, contact me at
mail@adventuresinautism.com
These are the best pics of the day. Fog rolled in at the end, so those are not as clear, but as you can see... a good time was had by all.
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| My Webster |
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| Chandler having a ball in his wet suit |
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| Sensory issues in full effect, but didn't end up standing in anyone's way |
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| For this little guy, getting his wet suit on was the hardest part, but dad got him through it. |
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| Nick meets his teacher, Josh Wilbur |
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| The instruction begins |
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| Pam preps Scotty for the water |
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| Loucas learning how to pup up |
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| Some took things slow and easy |
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| Some were a little bolder |
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| But they were all loving it |
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| Don't miss the guy in the back |
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| Nanci introduces Chandler to Thomas Duplessis who taught him. Chan was so eager to get in the water that daddy never got the chance to change into his swim suit. |
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| Happy guy |
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| Chan's first big ride |
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| Loucas and Chandler decide they are ready for the big waves |
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| Loucas totally rocks on the surfboard |
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| This guy was great. He got up several times and clearly is on his way to really surfing |
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| Picture of the day! Don't know who is happier, Stephen for surfing so well, or his friend when he sees Stephen! |
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| This little girl was so precious. Every time I saw her, just huge grins while being out on the water. It was infectious. |
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| As the fog was rolling in, I ran down to the end of the beach to catch these two. Biggest shredders of the day. |
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| I think that this might be my favorite. Levi Wiley, God bless him, is working his butt off to make Zeke happy, and that joyful face is the big pay off. |
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| Thank you for being there for our kids. |
News piece on Nanci's program:
http://www.wmur.com/chroniclevideo/24606545/index.html
