Uh... as my friend Jon has said over and over... kite boarding is NOT easy and you don't just pick it up in a day (or 3 in my case).Well, Jon, I suddenly have a new appreciation for you kite folk. It's hard as heck!!!! This one picture where it looks like we're walking on water is our first official "how to stand on the board" lesson.
This next one is me putting on my "impact" vest -- you know what happens when you're water skiing and you hit the water.. it feels like concrete, so this vest helps to keep you getting the wind knocked outta ya...and also to keep me floating when I crash.So, back to kiting... You basically have to master one thing before even thinking about the next step. I got the whole flying a kite thing down. Got the whole body dragging thing down. Got the launching thing down... now I just need to learn how to get up on the board.
I tried to get up on the board last night, but I ate so much water it's not even funny. I'd get enough power from the kite to stand up for a split second and then would go flying forward and take a serious face plant. I'd try again and then come flat down on my butt. I got water in places I didn't even know was possible... and as much as I love Fiji water, I'm not sure I like it as an enema... holy crap. well, I guess not holy crap.. after an enema, no crap at all. hahaha. i crack myself up.
This morning's session our instructor had to take care of some business on the mainland, so we were on our own... I did surprisingly well without him. I launched my kite, got in the water, put my board on myself in the water and even managed to get up on the board for a good 15 feet. Only problem is that I didn't know what to do once I was up... and then I crashed again. My board went flying, my kite crashed and then the boat had to come rescue me because the kite started to deflate and my board drifted away from me.
This here is me helping Ian, a fellow newbie put his board on before attempting to stand up on the board.
Us newbies work as a team because trying to launch a kite without getting dragged like I did the other day and also grab your board and then put it on without accidentally launching yourself... well, it's challenging. 
More pictures to come later... they aren't uploading right at the moment.
