The Family

| August 11, 2013

One last crop of vacation photos, and I saved these for last. We always try to take family portraits while we are all away, and tan, and happy. Here is the result of our photo session (thanks, Mark!) How lucky we are to have each other, we are truly blessed.

The kids were so excited because this year, Mark let them work his wireless camera remote. Each time they pushed the button, the camera and two strobes would fire which they thought was very impressive and therefore had to do it over, and over, and over again :). They were good about taking turns though, here you can see Maddox has the remote so he actually took this photo, great job Maddox!

Last night of fun

| August 11, 2013

Our last night in Sea Isle, we stopped at the rides so that Sam and Maddox could do one last fun thing. Sam wanted to ride the carousel, of course, and not surprisingly, she picked the cat. I thought her head was going to explode when she saw it!

Maddox and Sam rode the boats together…

…we took some silly pictures…

…and had ice cream and funnel cake.

Our last stop was at the marina to see all the boats. What a gorgeous sunset!

It was a great way to end a marvelous vacation!

Our last few beach days

| August 11, 2013

Our last few beach days were spent much as the first – having fun as a family. Sam was so happy to be with everyone, all in one place. Although, she did wish her Poppy was there too (as I was told many, many times). Here are some pics of the fun in the sun.

Sam and her Aunt Krista

We spent time down near the water watching the clams dig their way back into the sand after the water rushed out. Sam made “clam houses” on the beach for them to live in. (You can see one next to her foot). She was very worried about the poor clams….

Down at the jetty, exploring some more.

Mark helped Sam build some “fairy castles”…

Sam had a good time sneaking up on her unsuspecting Dad waiting on the beach for her in the mornings. She sprayed him pretty good with her spray bottle!

I think this is a really nice picture of Krista and Maddox. He is so full of energy, it is hard to get him to stand still long enough for a photo!

Sam and her Mom Mom and Grandmom, enjoying the sun.

Flying kites…

What a great time at the beach! Sea Isle, we will miss you!

Relaxing Night

| August 11, 2013

After our jaunt on the beach earlier that evening, we took a nice walk down the Promenade to relax. Here are some of my favorite family photos from that night.

It was a bit chilly, so Sam was modeling her new Stone Harbor jacket she got that morning. When Mark and Sam were in the store picking out a jacket, he showed her all the colors it came in – yellow, green, purple, and he purposely left the pink one for last, knowing she would like it best (pink is her second favorite color). When she saw the pink one, she said, in the cutest voice, “Ohhhh…I know which one I want!” and pointed right to pink. Our girl certainly has definite opinions about what she likes.

I wish for the life of me I knew what apparently serious issue we were discussing, but I have no idea. I have a feeling it was about her desire for ice cream. Again.

More pictures of my two favorite people in the world, holding hands, as they should be. I hope Sam is always this enamored of her Dad, even when she gets older. Mark is such a good dad, and he spends so much time with her. She had better appreciate how lucky she is!

My Perfect Day

| August 11, 2013

Wednesday was, by far, my very favorite day. It was a rainy day, and we didn’t have a beach day, not really. How could this be my favorite day then, you might ask, when we were on our beach vacation? Well, because we did wind up at the beach, eventually, in the evening, after dinner. And we didn’t have on our bathing suits, and there were no buckets or shovels, or even beach towels. Just us, a kite, and an amazing little girl who can find joy anytime, anywhere, as long as she is with the people she loves.

That morning and early afternoon we went to Stone Harbor to shop, since there isn’t a lot else to do in the rain. We had a really nice lunch, shopped, got soaked, but had a perfectly nice day. Later, Mark decided to take Sam to the beach to fly her kite. We all trekked along thinking we’d get some nice quiet time together and maybe a few photos of Mark and Sam flying kites together. I had no idea at the time it would turn out to be such a perfect night. This is going to turn out to be a huge post, one of my longer ones, but the memories captured in our photos are not ones I will soon, if ever forget, and I wanted to share.

The evening started out just as planned, going to fly kites.

Sam got tired of flying eventually and decided to move on to other things, like hugging Mommy…

…and making sand angels…

We started picking up shells and that’s when the real fun began. Sam just strolled right into the ocean, as calm as could be, waves crashing around her feet. Last year she was so scared of the ocean, and the undertow, and well, mostly everything, that it was shocking to me at how brave and how daring she had become. The utter joy on her face as she ran into the waves was the most beautiful sight. These are some of my favorite pictures of me and my girl because we look so happy, so free. We were soaking wet in our clothes, having had no intention of going in the ocean, and Sam was thrilled to do it. I have my wonderful husband to thank for capturing these precious memories for me. The pictures speak for themselves. I don’t really need to describe the fun we had, I don’t think.

Mark eventually joined the fun, and Sam was happy as a clam to get him soaking wet too.

We finally got Sam out of the ocean to explore the beach some more. Sam has been fascinated with the concept of shadows lately and there were plenty on the beach that night.

She just loves looking at her shadow…

…and how it moves…

…every way she moves!

Our family 🙂

My two loves…

After a while, we started collecting more shells. We had no bucket, but my pockets (all four of them) were bursting over with her collection. When I emptied them at the house later that night, the amount of shells, rocks and sand I took out must have weighed 10 pounds!

You can see my poor pockets bulging!

Sam had everyone on the hunt for her treasures, Grandmom was no exception.

Last stop was the lifeguard station. I don’t think Sam was too sure about being up high, and it was a bit windy up there!

I will never forget that amazing time on the beach. I hope it is a memory that Sam can hold onto as well, especially now that she is at that age when memories can be fleeting. Hopefully, this one will stick. I want her to remember the fun, and the love, and the joy we had that night. She truly makes my life complete, and days like this one, make all the hard days, and, yes, there are some hard ones, so worthwhile.