Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Beach fun.

The beach was a place of healing for me this summer. We threw out our summer bucket list and opted for endless beach days instead, and it was so good for the soul of our family. 

Everett exudes pure joy at the beach until he completely exhausts himself. That ecstatic look on this little three year old running through the waves is something I always want to remember. Cambria loves the water and the sand, too, and I want to remember her first summer exploring the simple joy of the texture of warm sand falling through her fingertips or the startling feeling of cold water splashing over her toes. 

I love how parenthood allows us to experience all of the same things we have explored, but in a new way through our kids. 

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Summer is long gone, but since I took a few months off of photo journaling, I am still going through some of our photographs from that season. Throughout the summer, I couldn’t find it within me to journal through writing, and I used my camera as a way to document our life when the words wouldn't come. Even when joy felt elusive, even when my smile felt forced, I pulled out the camera, and I am so glad I did. Part of me is grateful that I am behind and am only now looking back at some of the photographs from our summer time. It is nice to go through them with some distance between myself and these moments. I can appreciate them now, even if I couldn’t always feel joyful then. Even though it was a challenging summer for me personally, I still think it was a good season for our kids and our family. In hindsight, I can see so much joy, and I am grateful to be able to revisit these moments through photographs. 

I am in a good place now, a place where even on the hard days of parenting, I am able to find and focus on the joy, and I am grateful for that. 

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