Zac has always loved being in the sea, but this last year has been huge for him in terms of both surfing and also surf lifesaving.
No surprise then, that for his 10th birthday party he chose to go surfing with his mates.
This is the second birthday cake i have made in my life, so i had to prove that i did actually do it..
(well, actually, Steve's mum made the sponge, i just decorated it!) Can you tell that it's the sea and a beach? (Putsborough beach to be precise - check out the walnut rocks!)
Take note of the frothy white water....am thinking of adding my name to our wedding cake makers list...what do you think?
The waves were flat at Puts so we headed to good old Croyde Bay instead. Zac (and Liza) chose their best surfing mates to come along
and we couldn't have asked for better conditions.
For October, the weather was amazing and the sea still warm.
Lots of people were out and holiday-makers still around, so in many ways it still feels like the remnants of summer.
Loving the luminous pink wax. Zac, and his long-term friend Kieran, who has recently moved here, often go in together.
Luke was first up on the wave, showing the boys how its done.
He was riding his Dad's old board known as a 'big wave gun'...Luke's dad is a well known electrician around these parts so we will have lots of jokes now we have this ammo (ammo...get it?!)
As i watched from the beach it just looked idyllic out there.
Liza was riding a board we call 'The Pudding'. The girls were straight up...
Liza, 7 and Daisy 8, show the boys how its done..
Zac jumps up
and rides the wave
He was riding his Dad's 'Gulf-Stream fish' short-board, that Steve got from a number of friends for his 40th...the take-over didn't take long!
Luke was riding Steve's old 'mini-mal'
The anticipation of the next set.
Rez loving the ride on his Redwood 'grom short-board'.
Henry on a 'pop-out' board
and then dropping off and getting sea in the eye..not so good! I am relieved to say, despite appearances, Henry was ok..it was only Zac with an injury by the end.
Kieran rides in style on his 'fluid-juice' short-board, shaped in Cornwall.
Hughie prefers fishing to surfing, but you would never know!
Riding his 'Redwood Long-board' like a pro.
Almost a barrel there Hughie!
Zac was keen for me to put up more pics of him so here you go...
I think this was just before the accident of his board smacking him above his left eye..poor Zac.
Never one to let a small thing like that get in the way, after a bit of reassurance and mopping up, he went straight back in for more.
Although Steve was in the water with them, we were reassured by the presence of the life-guards.
I am sure they are great at their job; but Baywatch, they are not.
As the light started to change, we changed location and drove everyone over to Putsborough beach cafe.
There are not many cafe's in the world with a view like this.
Tony cooked up a wonderfully healthy tea made up mostly of nuggets, burgers and chips!
Then out came the cake. No Baker birthday is complete without a firework in there somewhere. Just a shame Steve chose to plonk it straight in the middle of my sea! Mind you with the Atlantic Array wind farm most likely on its way, it was probably a fairly accurate prediction of the future..
After tea they all formed their own games on the beach (i was pleased as they might have run off some of the stodge before the Mum's and Dad's arrived).
As we left the beach, the light changed again
and by the time we had got on the Pickwell road, this is the scene that greeted us.
A beautiful end to a beautiful day.
x