10 pictures of 4 reasons I couldn’t relax on the beach

Well it was close, but this post came out on top (yesterday’s vote)…tomorrow is the photo tips!

Before we left I had visions of sitting on the beach with a book and a cold drink….relaxing. In fact I bartered with Chris. For every hour he spent surfing I would get an equal amount of time completely alone on a beach. Not a kid in sight. It didn’t happen. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time at the beach. We dug in the sand. We threw sand. We buried eachother in sand. We chased waves. We swam. We played. We did not relax (with exception to FireCracker).

My oldest and youngest have NO FEAR. The middle two like to wander. Being at the beach with a 1, 2, 4 & 6 year old is loads of fun, but not relaxing. The picture below makes me laugh every time I see it. Chris took it one day without me knowing. I look like I am about to kill someone. I certainly don’t look like I am kicking it back on the beach with a book. This picture pretty much sums up my role in Hawaii RESCUE. I can’t count how many times I grabbed FireCracker when she run into the water and let waves crash over her.

Here are 10 pictures of my kids on the beach – the 4 reasons I was more in Rescue mode than Relax mode.

Granted there are none of FireCracker underwater because it is a little too hard to rescue her and photograph it at the same time.

I didn’t get to read a book, but I did get to watch my son relish the joy of sand everywhere. Awesome.

I didn’t bathe in the sun, but I am still finding sand in her hair at bathtime. Perfect.

I didn’t lay on a towel oceanside, but I watched his confidence around the water grow each day. Priceless.

I didn’t spend hours daydreaming, but I did watch dreams I didn’t know I had come true. Incredible.

My toes didn’t casually play in the sand, but I did build some pretty amazing sand piles with a two year old. Cherished.

I didn’t fall asleep to the sound of ocean waves, but I watched my daughter fearlessly follow her daddy. Beautiful.

There were no moments of quietness, but my 4 year old did a lot of rock and roll. Funny.

See ya mom – I’m off to explore, again. Proud.

I thought I wanted to be alone on the beach. I was wrong. I would have missed so much while I was reading that book and relaxing.

They were all going all different directions most of the time. I still long to get a few moments alone on a beach with a good book (I’d even settle for a short magazine). I figure one day my beach memories will include relaxation and I will probably get bored and want more action. So I didn’t get to kick it back and soak in the beauty surrounding me. I did get to cover every inch of my body in sand and soak in the beauty of my kids in God’s glorious creation. It was awesome…