C'est
Alban!!! (1997-2007)
Born in Neuilly, near Paris, September 1989
Alban was born in a suburb of Paris not far from where his
mother and father, Pierre Brun, lived in Paris's 17th Arrondissement.
Here he is on the slopes in Tahoe in April 2007. It was warm,
the snow was melting almost visibly throughout the day, and he was having a good
time, even with the parents!
From day one, he was a born athlete.
Today he is the most skilled on our trampoline (see below), and for a while
raced
mountain bikes.
Arriving for the first time in
the USA in June 1997, Alban took to
Santa Cruz like a duck to water. He
took to water the same way! He
didn't speak a word of English at first, but made friends in no time at Happy
Valley School.
And he quickly became a star at
soccer. He had of course played in playgrounds in France before moving
over here, but never in the trained and organized manner of
youth
soccer in Santa Cruz.
Although he and Woody, his first coach, could not at first
understand each other's language, Alban put all his heart and effort into his
game and won over coach and teammates alike. Here he is
on the right, running after the ball, as ever, and wearing number 3.
The only problem is
that he gave
soccer a rest beginning in early 2004, and had not picked it up again in 2007.
Fall 2003 may have been his last
season of youth soccer. That hurts.
On the left his High School portrait, from Harbor in the fall of
2006. On this page
are photos which we like and those which he likes. Needless to say, this
clean-cut smile is one of ours! As is the one below, taken in the office at
home in 2005.
Below left, with
Charlie and Alex (hiding behind the chimney!)
on a misty Christmas Day 2005, trying out the remote control cars that the
little guys received for Christmas. This was taken on the deck at
home. Alban still spends a lot of time
with the little guys. And if you look carefully
you'll notice that his pants have that baggy barely hanging on at the hips look
look that his peers find so appealing. Perhaps not the parents!
Girls, don't panic! It's his sister!
It was Daphné's
high school graduation, and Alban cheered his
sister on, but without removing his hood, a few months before his 16th birthday.
They look pretty good together, don't they?
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Combing his hair in the door handle, in March
2001.
Gel is KEY!!
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Here he is in a photo that his maman is
fond of, one of the first photos she took with her new digital camera in
June 2002. |
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This was Alban's eighth birthday present, which was a
success! Ian was a bit of a flop at keeping it up and running,
but it sure was fun while it lasted.
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Here he is in September 2000 at the Natural Bridges Skate
Park in Santa Cruz, looking pretty cool on his board (which was
already so
important to him that he spent his own savings buying
it). In 2007, he still used his own money to buy skateboards.
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Here he is doing a flip, front or back we don't know,
at a swimming lake near La Grée
during the summer of 2004. He has a natural knack for
diving.
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Charlie took this one with a
throwaway camera in May of 2004. Alban has a video that he took of himself
trying to do some sort of double somersault on the trampoline. He filmed
several attempts, and then finally spiked it.
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Not to forget his inimitable room. If you look
carefully, you can see a desk!! Check it out!
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Again with younger children, this time with Maeve,
Faby and Jean's daughter, and
Alex, at Nick's house down by
the wharf, summer 2005.
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And you don't need to be told again that Alban is on a surf- and skateboard kick.
He got his first real surfboard for his 11th birthday (and at that price it had
better last him through the next decade!). Christmas 2007
brought him yet another skateboard (for those of you who have not been
introduced to this dangerous pastime, the boards break more frequently than
their riders' bones). Check out the kids' surfing stuff at surfing USA,
and a local Santa Cruz surf spot, Steamer Lane,
here.
He spends a lot of time fooling around.
And he particularly enjoys vacations,
whether at La Grée, in Florida,
or at Disneyland, and
special days. Of course, now he'd prefer Disneyland
with his friends, for which he needs to start earning money . . . ! (As you
might have guessed, the parents hold the pen here!)
But he does manage to visit Santa Cruz's very own
Boardwalk from time to time.
