Goodies for the family

[kneecap]

So my entire family has gotten hooked on this, and my wife and oldest son have birthdays coming up.  Looking for a little advice.

First off, my wife is turning the big 4-0.  She has a long history of kayaking and biking and surfs a little bit.  She is very interested in a paddleboard but doesn't want to surf it (that may change in the future but we'll see).  She loves flatwater stuff and I could see her going out and exploring more than anything.  For her, I'm thinking about a plastic cuz she'll leave it on top of her van, run it up on rocks, stuff like that.  I could also see her on an inflatable.  I'm looking at an Imagine Wizard so she can kayak it too or throw a kid on it with her but could totally change my tune since it seems a bit heavy.  She'll also need a paddle to go with it, but I'm going to go lower budget for now and let her upgrade after she gets more of a sense of what she wants.  Any ideas?

Now to my soon-to-be-eight year-old son.  He's totally hooked on SUPing.  He has a 9' Costco surfboard that will be great for him for a bit, but needs his own paddle.  It needs to be adjustable since it seems like he'll grow 6" overnight when he hits a growth spurt.  He's about 4'2" and weighs about 70 lbs.  Any ideas and yes budget is a bit tight (just got back from a long family vacation!)

Thanks for the help!

[Blue Sloth]

I have a C4 iSUP that I love. 10' 6" and the kids do great on it. It can't be hurt by rocks, docks, paddles etc. since it's rubber, and the thing inflates to 15 psi and is very rigid. Great for flat water, and light chop, like on lakes that get boat traffic. Had a rough go of it on a very windy ocean today—I'm thinking wind is this beast's nemesis—but then had a delightful time paddling around with my 12 year old daughter (taking turns, one of us sitting) on the saltwater marsh later on in the evening. This thing is great on flat water, and my 7, 9, and 12 year old kids do great on it.

Since it's inflatable, it's imminently portable—fits in a backpack with pump—and I've hiked it out to the Catawba River near Charlotte to paddle, and I don't need a rack or a large vehicle to get around.