Photo Credit Colleen from A Madison Mom.
Anyone who follows me on social media saw firsthand the amazing time I had on our Jersey Love trip at the beginning of the month. I wrote about how incredible our sponsors from Caesars Entertainment were in treating us like gold in Atlantic City. But I didn’t mention much about our Belmar Day, which was sponsored by fine folks of D6 Sports.
Our day included a generous donation to the displaced families of Belmar, some delicious grub at DJais and some incredible time in the ocean with D6 trying out their Surf Skimmer and their Hang Ten longboards for some attempted surfing.
Belmar was one of the Jersey Shore towns affected by Super Storm Sandy and the home of one of our fearless event organizers. We’ve watched as she and her neighbors have had to rebuild, often from the ground-up, their homes and their community. The work has been slow and tough but the spirit of Belmar and its citizens is indomitable. So we were all thrilled to spend part of our trip giving some Jersey love to Belmar, and D6 was incredibly generous to lend their support as well.
#JerseyLove Trip Organizers Giving Our Donation to “Mayor Matt” of Belmar.
Beyond the obvious though, the day was a personal highlight. Though the rain threatened to cancel our beach day (oh the irony of a tropical storm landing the same afternoon as us), the troupers from D6 would not be deterred. We got to see the Surf Skimmer in action, which meant I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my kids about it. It’s a skim board with a handle and the cool D6 gripper technology, so kids can learn to skim a little more safely. Anything that post-pones the kamikaze years for my surf guys is ok with me!
Photo Courtesy of D6 Surf Skimmer.
After we watched the kids strut their stuff on the Surf Skimmer, we got a chance to suit up ourselves. I wish I could now regale you with tales of my surfing magic, but the truth is I resembled more of a beached whale than anything else. That said, the instructors were beyond patient, encouraging and more kind than they probably should have been. They never made me feel stupid or gnarly (see what I did there with my surf-speak?) for my failed attempts. In fact, I left the water feeling like a super-hero even though I never got past my knees on the board. (I told you-lame!)
See? SuperHeroes.
It was a fantastic day in Belmar, from beginning to end and thanks to the folks at D6, my kids will for sure be skimming this summer and I just may even attempt to surf again.
P.S. Looking for more parenting guidance and tips for self-care? Check out From Chaos to Calm a guided training to help you feel better in this tough season.
