Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Beach Reflections 2009 (and a little more!)

Our week at the shore ended all too quickly...but the golden memories shall live on forever. We packed a lot into the week...lots of beach time (where Lia mastered her boogie board for the first time...and consequently asked for a snowboard for winter!), good seafood, a quick trip to the R*ainforest C*afe in Atlantic City and a day trip to a local children's amusement park. Lia was thrilled when her friend Hannah came for their very first sleepover. The girls were great...if not slightly overly excited! They closed down the beach (when high tide nearly swept away my beach bag!), munched on pizza for dinner, enjoyed an evening movie and went right to sleep. Almost. :-) We have blocked out the 10 pm call to Hannah's mom and the retrieval that almost occurred. I finally won Hannah over with a promise that she could help me crack the eggs for breakfast. She told me she was a "good cracker"...and frankly...she may be a better cracker than I am! We all survived (and kudos to Hannah's mom, who fielded such a teary call...and still trusted us enough to keep her girl through the night!)...and I think it was the highlight of Lia's trip!

We returned to a busy week here. Lia is taking Science and Art Fusion Camp this week and also started gymnastics for the first time. She has been asking me for awhile to take gymnastics so we enrolled her in a summer class to see how she likes it. She was awake and dressed in her leotard at 6:30 this morning. She was just one hoppy, happy little girl...and I think it's safe to say that we will be adding gymnastics to the fall schedule for Lia...and some anti-anxiety classes for me most likely. :-) Gosh they look so little climbing on that large, dangerous looking equipment!

We will be heading out at the end of the week for another week away with our parents. After ringing in the 4th, Lia is so excited to be attending Nature Camp with her cousins. It promises be a fun-filled, busy week...just the sort of dreamy days we fantasize about all winter long.

These are some random photos from the beach. If you click on any of them, it will take you to my flickr stream (my new obsession!), where you can see more photos.

Happy summer to you all!!! I hope you are having a good one!!

.joy.

Off Duty :-)

.wonder.

.untitled.

reflection of an angel

24 comments:

Courtney said...

Love the beautiful pictures! Have fun on your next trip!

day by day said...

Oh, I am so glad you had a nice time! Which part of the shore did you visit? We go to Ocean City each year and love it down there!

These are great pictures...I LOVE the reflection picture...that is just beautiful!!!

Kim said...

Love going down the shore...we'll be there in 2 weeks - yes I'm counting down =)

The photo of the reflection is utterly gorgeous!!!

Jboo said...

Beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing! You know I love the Jersey shore and miss it so much every single summer!! Why, oh why, do I live in this landlocked state?!! Have a great 4th!

Somebody at my house is taking gymnastics and loving it!

Janet

fleur de lis cottage said...

That was one busy trip...sounds like a great time!

Marla said...

What a fun trip, and I LOVE all the photos from it. Have a great week!

a Tonggu Momma said...

That last photo is stunning. I hope Lia has a blast flipping and tumbling her way through the month.

Jodee said...

I love, love, love your beach pictures!

Laura said...

Kate,

The pictures, as always, are absolutely gorgeous. Especially when you have Lia to shoot.

Laura

Eloise said...

It sounds like you had an idyllic time at the beach. I'm so happy for you!

Your pictures are absolutely AMAZING. What a marvelous eye you have (and your beautiful subject doesn't hurt either!).

Sue said...

Gorgeous!

Love the one of Lia that is the closeup. She is so photogenic.

Sue : )

Heather said...

Gorgeous pictures!!! Love them all and so happy Lia had such a great time.

Sounds like you have A LOT going on! Enjoy every moment!

Hannah just began gymnastics also...she was not so fond of me leaving the room;) But the jumping and leaping, well, that is just too cool!

Take care and safe travels
Love,
heather

Missy said...

Sounds like a dream vacation!!! I am a HUGE fan of your beach pics...well, all of your pics. These are just beyond beautiful. I am thrilled that Lia loves Gymnastics...fun times, mama :)

Casey said...

Sounds like you all are having such a nice time!! I just LOVE those photos. Lia is stunning!

Bridget said...

Sounds like a great beach vacation! Your pictures are great!!! Lia looks like she had a wonderful time! Sounds like a busy and fun filled summer for Lia - hope she enjoys gymnastics! Hope you had a fun fourth!

Shelly and Family said...

So loving the beach photos! We just returned from our trip to the beach as well and are so wondering "where did the time go to?" The summer for us semms to be flying by....

Donna said...

Incredible post processing! This looks like art you could hang on your wall!

Beautiful!!

Donna
Our Blog: Double Happiness!

Shawnstribe said...

oh what beautiful memories in this photos : )
Have a great summer
xxx
s

Steffie B. said...

Love these pictures Kate.....her close up needs to be framed! Spectacular! ;)

hugs,
Steffie

Eloise said...

Beautiful, beautiful pictures, Kate!

I have been on BOTH ends of those mid-sleepover calls. They are heart wrenching! But good for you for figuring out how to get through it. I bet Hannah was really proud of herself for making it the whole night!

Sandra said...

Gorgeous!

paige said...

oh my!!
i'm sorry but oceanside shots of little ones are the best.
these are gorgeous!!
i love what you've done with them,
but more importantly that gorgeous baby girl of yours...wow!!
sorry, i feel so out of touch.
glad to hear you're having a wonderful summer
xo

Chasing Dreams Photography said...

Kate I love all these pictures. You are doing such incredible work : ) I am loving your photography : )

Doug and Terrye said...

The pics are stunning! It sounds like you need a vacation to rest up from your vacation ;) Maybe a nice winter vacation in FL?

Terrye in FL