Rant Time

So my son Davven is turning 5 this April. And because of this he's heading off to school in September. This is something that I am not, by any stretch of the imagination looking forward too. I am really not ready for him to go to school, daycare is bad enough. Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that Davven isn't ready, he's smart, witty, sarcastic, understands concepts easily and really has an amazing vocabulary. Although he can be distracted easily and gets bored quickly if the pace is slow. He is after all MY son and does take after me. What I'm getting at is i'm not sure I'm ready to handle all the things that comes with him going to school. Anyone who knows me knows that my school years don't really bring back great memories for me, and of course I know that I can't let Davven in on my apprehensions about school. I'm just afraid that he's gonna come home from school and tell me how little Johnny told him to fuck off and Little Sally said he was an idiot, then I'm gonna go down there and spank the living piss out of Johnny and Sally and drop kick johnny's mom across the parking lot while Sally's Dad cowers in the corner...But I digress...
We've all seen these kids on TV get bullied and come back and shoot up a school, the kids that did the shooting always get blamed for thier"senseless acts of violence" but I have a different view on that,,,no-one ever says shit about the kids that bullied them so bad that they thought shooting up the school and killing themselves was the only answer...Cause honestly they are just as responsible as the kids that pulled the trigger. I know that Davven may or may not have to deal with bullies, and that I assume we've done a good job that he won't be one(cause that's not acceptable either). And I'll learn and adapt myself as his school years progress, and teach all i can about protecting himself. And most importantly letting him know he can talk to me at anytime about anything. So if he is bullied and he is afraid of something at school, that Nat and I are the first line of defence, and not grieving parents of a kid that just shot up a school or got punched and in the chest and died in a playground.
Thanks for letting me vent
Darren

Home from Aruba

Well it took over 19 hours, 3 planes and a long drive, to get from our place in Aruba to our home in Pincourt. Most of the bags made it, still waiting on my kite/boardbag to get here from Detroit. And I'm slowly unpacking and getting things all sorted out here at home. The house is in one piece thanks Mom, Dad and Steve for watching the house...As I slowly unpack our stuff, and watch the sand fall. I'm feeling like I'm sure alot of people feel after a great trip. A bit happy to be home and a bit sad not to be back in the sun and sand. And although the thought of living somewhere where I can kite more often than I do here so I can push myself to a place that I'll be happy with my kiting(hahah that almost sounds like I believe it) More importantly my wife and son were very comfortable in Aruba, Nat jogging everyday and loving the heat and getting all sweaty, and Davven with his love of the ocean and all things that came with it, from swimming to snorkeling to his new found love boogie boarding. Watching him progress from day one to day 31 was amazing, he was so confident in his abilities by the end of the trip that he's talking about learning to wakeboard this year when the ice melts.
Moving somewhere like Aruba is not totally out of the question but certainly not realistic anytime soon...But I think maybe we'll look into buying some land there and building a house we can rent out and visit 2 to 3 times a year, and maybe start thinking about moving to the east coast by the ocean in a few years...Nat's job is totally transferable to the east coast, but the thought of moving Davven and Nat away from my parents whom they are super close too is daunting and stressful, so for the meantime we'll continue to enjoy our life here in Pincourt, and take trips to distant lands where the wind is steady and the waters warm. We've got a few places on our radar for the next adventure, Soma Bay, Egypt, Cumbuco, Brazil and Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, who knows maybe we'll find a place the we like even more than Aruba...though I highly doubt it.

Aruba the final week

So this is our final week here in Aruba. I wouldn't say that it's gone by super fast, we've certainly done alot. Lots and lots of time at the beach, snorkeling and kiting and recently helping Davven learn and excel at boogie boarding. I personally had a secondary motive for coming here and that was of course to kiteboard my a$$ off, which I have. But as a husband and father my priorities are to my family first, but the unexpected joy that I got for 2 days in a row from standing in the ocean for up to 3 hours pushing my son into wave after wave and watching him laugh and smile as he rode the waves to the beach. And then watching his confidence rise, as he started to learn how to get back out throught the breakers by himself and return to the line-up and do it all again, was something that I hope i will never forget. Now those of you that know me well know that I love being a Dad and love being a husband to Nat, but I never thought in a million years that I would give up the 3 best wind days of the trip and not go kiteboarding cause the waves were good and Davven wanted to go boogieboarding, but thats what happened and I couldn't be happier, cause honestly they we're the best three days of the trip.
Darren

Getting Comfortable in Aruba

We've gotten real comfortable with this country, the people, the rythym, the ocean, the sun, the waves, the wind. Even though it's only been a week, we've come to really enjoy this place. My wife, Nat, really loves the beach and all that comes with it...Nat is not the greatest of swimmers but has really come to enjoy snorkeling and we plan our days around my kiting and which beach will have the best snorkeling conditions. We took a trip out to Boca Grande on the other side of the island to do some onshore kiting in big waves. We went with Dylan and Joey from Holland, of course Davven was pals with them istantly. Boca Grande was crazy big waves and perfectly steady onshore wind which was so different than I'm used too. I actually started forgetting about my kite and concentrating on my riding. Which was hard in the chop and mackin waves. But so much fun...Honestly the best session of the trip so far.
After Boca yesterday we had a very chill and mellow day at the beach in the morning, just relaxing and snorkelling at iguana beach, which is a tiny hidden gem that is tiny but probably the best snorkelling on the island so far. After the beach we had lunch back at the condo and Nat and the boy took a long nap while I cleaned up and fixed up all my gear from the beating I took at Boca...switched pads and boots fins and all that. Tommorow should be a great kite day gonna go early after Nat takes a run and kite till lunch...
I'll check back in a few days
Darren

Aruba Trip Sun and Surf

Well... after spending 2 entire days at the beach and soaking up the sun, the little one was a bit cranky yesterfay so we decided to take it eay in the afternoon and just chill at the condo and watch movies and play indoors. I think we all needed to recoup after the sun shock our skin has recieved. Even after applying 30spf we all have a bit of sunburn here and there. Davven seemed to bounce back this morning cause he's bright eyed and bushytailed and ready to go...Looks like another day exploring the beaches of the area and I'm gonna kite a bit more than I did the other day. The first day of kiting was amazing and kiting in offshore conditions is something I'm not used to but definitly a great experience and great for photo ops.The local kiters are great, most of them are from Holland or the UK and are alot of fun. And of course agreed to watch out for me in the unfamiliar offshore conditions....
Day 3 and 4 we're smooth as butter did some exploring on the otherside of the island where it is very hot and very very dry, and I understand now why they say it only rains 8mm on average per year. Cause I'm sure that the east side of the island get little to nothing. Kiting is going really well, I guess since I can kite almost everyday I'm getting a consistant flow and it's becoming interesting. I'm relaxed more when I'm kiting which equals progression...Nat should be coming out next session to get some video and take some shots. This island is awesome so many nice people and in venturing over to the other side of the island we got to see the heart of the people that live here all year round, the colorful houses and wild goats and chickens. To kids walking home from school, it's so much better when you can see the true nature of a place and not just the tourist crap. Although the tourist crap is pretty cool here also

Aruba Trip Enjoying the Stay

Well after the 2 days of travelling we've made it to this Happy Island....The rental car is small but after getting all our gear to the condo the size is moot. Davven calls it a mini ca, well cause it's mini, it's smaller than a mini yet still has 4 doors which is crazy. Anywho the isalnd is of course beautiful. And things move in a predictable island speed which is very slow but its a happy and friendly slow, people chat with you which makes things take time as opposed to just incopetant slow like in North America. We decided to celebrate our arrival last night after a quick dip in th ocean to cool and clean off, by going out to dinner something we won't do to often cause we're here for a month and that would be finacial suicide...lol. Especially after the amazing brazilian steak house we went to...which was definately amazing and worth every penny we spent but i'm not sure I could justify the 172$USD bill we got at the end of the night...HOLY SHIT was what I wanted to say, but I smiled and handed over the visa card..lol.
We woke up to the sound of roosters, Nat went for a run(so many people run here so Nat is happy as f*&k), I got all my gear together and setup for tommorow then we went to Arashi Beach...which was spectacular crystal clear water, fish everywhere and coral, pelicans, sun and white sandy goodness. Davven freaked out a bit when we took him in the water but after mommy talked to him on the beach for a bit and calmed him down. He decided to try again with not much more succcess and freaked out again. But then out of no where a nice man came over towards us and dropped a piece of bread in the water in front of us and the fish swarmed around him life bees on honey, and Davven pretty much was gold from that point on in fact we couldn't get him out of the water after that. It's been great we're loving Aruba and enjoying the slow pace, we did some groceries and we're off to cook dinner we'll check back in soon.
Darren

ARUBA Trip Stage 1

So the house sitter is at the house the car is packed. Boarding passes are printed and we're checked in. So next is a small trip to burlington tommorow to jump on the plane for Detroit then on to Atlanta, for an overnight stay with a friend. We've cut down our 6 really big bags down to 4 bags. And Nat got some great sun dresses from a friend at work, so she had to remove some other stuff lol....The camera is charging and I'm getting ready to start shooting so things will get a bit more interesting tommorow...Alright we're off to bed...Gotta get up @5:30am...
Night ya'll
Darren

The Blog has Changed

Hey Everyone,

So my(Darren) blog has changed. My title at imagine has been revised for 2010 I'll have alot more responsibilities, and a few changes for 2010. I'll still be instructing here and there and will of course keep you upto date on whats happening there but I've decide to have this blog be more of a whats happening with me and the family. My thoughts, a few pics here and there maybe a video or two you know typical stuff...I'm actually procrastinating right now I should be packing for our trip, but as Nat says I'm addicted to my computer....

Anywho that's whats up...

Darren

September Sessions

So the crew has been busy, the last few classes are booking, the swells on the east coast have been firing, and the wind has been picking up, so the Imagine Kite Crew which consists of myself and Steve have been busting out to ride and learn new tricks. I'm working on a few 2010 protos that should be on the water in a week or two, so stay tuned for the spy photos. Nat(my wife) ran the Montreal Marathon in 3:59 on Sunday and I couldn't be more proud. My Mom and Dad, the boy and I spent the day on Sunday moving from spot to spot so we could cheer her on. I think we ran about a half-marathon ourselves, but it was so worth it to be there supporting her...Way to go Babe...

Darren

Oh Crap...it's Been That Long

So. it's been a long busy freaky weather, crazy busy summer...I haven't had time to go on a date with my wife never mind post on my blog...shheesh...Well here's my first post in a a very long time but I wanted to post a few pics maybe a few vids of the summers adventures in River Surf Classes...Here are a few names that stick out in my mind from the summers classes...

Najah, Eric Martin, Simon Cardinal, Catherine Simard..these were some earlybird class taker in May and Early June, people who didn't mind the cold...Mylene Dion, Stefano, Dominic...The Entire Amazing Godin Family(Olivier, Simon, Pierre, Julie) and who can forget Stephanie Bruneau, Mellisa Horvat, Mellisa Rattue, Caroline Samson(Miss Confident), Tim and Gordon from freaking far away Ontario, Karen Ho(my Private Lesson student that almost watched me drown...lol), Donovan(hope you stay at it), Ralph and Sarah. The Adelson Shopping Sisters, Venessa, Frederick, JF, Rod and Mike Waterstone(who never stopped trying)...I'm know there are more of you out there, but these are the names I could remember..there is however, two more names I wanted to mention. One that i want to mention because of the awesome smile on her face and amazing peronallity and joy that she brought to my life as a surf instructor...Samuelle Bergeron(see video) her wonderful and supportive parents(Marie-Claude and Hugo) signed her up for class making sure that I was the instructor and I had just as much fun teaching her as she had taking the course..It's great to see great parenting in this day and age, and it was awesome having such a fun young lady in my class that was always and I do mean ALWAYS smiling...The second name I want to single out touched me in a profound way, not because he is recovering from lukemia, not because he has only 20% lung capacity, not because he of all the people I taught had an actual excuse to say that river surfing was hard and give up...He touch me cause he F*&^ing tried harder than anyone I've ever taught, to catch the wave and surf and he did. Not only the first day but the second also... Jeff Clifford you absolutely made my summer. And I want to thank you for taking my class, the hardcore tattooed extreme sport guy that I think I am, was blown away by your determination, and humbled by the experience. I didn't know any of the details of why you were having trouble swimming back, or why you were breathing so hard, all I knew was that I was impressed by your lack of whining, I thought to myself " Here's a guy that's out of shape, huffing and puffing, but is not complaining or bitching about how hard it is, he's just going run after run, and giving it 100%. " After your Dad told me the details, the only opnion that I change was the one for myself...I'm so not hardcore compared to you, Rock on Jeff, the first pic is for you....