OCEANSIDE — After years without getting in the water, a group of local moms returned to the beach over the summer to jump back in the waves and feel like kids again.
The group started last year when Lauren Bennett convinced her friend, Cristi Turvey, to grab a boogie board and head to the waves. While both women grew up near the coast, neither had hopped on a boogie board in years since becoming mothers to young children.
“Once you get older, you kind of stop doing those things,” Turvey said.
That all changed in June when the two friends launched Boogie Moms, encouraging mothers of all varieties to meet up throughout the summer and go boogie boarding together. Nearly every week, the friends set up camp between Towers 12 and 14 at Oceanside Harbor Beach with an open invitation to local women.
Word quickly spread about Boogie Moms through Instagram, and as of September, the group has encouraged nearly 40 women to get back in the water, with up to 12 moms at each hangout. Despite the group’s name, women who want to join in on the fun don’t have to be moms to children.
“You can be a plant mom, a dog mom, a cat mom and still come and enjoy,” Turvey said.
On average, many women who have joined the group haven’t been in the water in over 15 years.
“You feel like you’re 10 again,” Bennett said.
While the group focuses on empowering the mom, the meetups are family-friendly, with kids and spouses often tagging along. When the moms are in the water, the dads are watching the kids back on shore.
According to the moms, there is more to boogie boarding than meets the eye. Being able to read the waves is essential to avoid any injuries.
“You don’t go straight; you go to the side,” Bennett noted.
Kirsten Underwood is excited to see her friends Turvey and Bennett getting back in the water and encouraging others to do the same.
“They’re doing something for them, which I know both of them don’t ever do,” she said.
Underwood would be in the water with her friends, but with a baby on the way, those plans will have to wait until next summer. When that time comes, she’ll be grabbing a boogie board too.
