Long Beach Island Vacation with My Beach Girl

Our visits to the beach each summer are full of relaxing, reading, soaking up the sun and just enjoying family time without the world’s intrusion.  We don’t watch TV or listen to the radio (aside from occasional classical music).  We still check our phones but that is minimal too.  Our vacations are for the most part, unplugged and I love it.

So what do we do with all of that time?  Lots of talking and connecting.  Lots of games of doubles solitaire.  And I always have my camera out.

Last year, I was determined to do some photos of my daughter, my beach girl.  I picked up a long and flowy white dress and we walked over to the beach around sunset. It was magical!  I loved the images of my girl and she loved getting her dress wet in the waves!

We were both excited to do this again.

Same dress, Same beach.

My beach girl insisted on wearing the same dress.  It still fits but a little tighter and a little shorter.  Yep, she’s growing.  Still, there is something classic, almost timeless about a girl in a white dress on the beach.  Still beautiful.

Why do I love the images of my beach girl?

Well, of course, I think my daughter is beautiful and I’m almost desperate to stop time and soak all of the moments in because they’re passing by so fast.  I can’t even fully express all that I think as I watch her transform from my goofy little peanut into this poised young lady.

And yet there is something more of value to these images.

My daughter isn’t camera-shy.  She isn’t afraid to make a silly face or strike a goofy pose.  Her favorite images are the ones where she’s wearing her glasses because they’re more “her.”  She’s fearless.  She’s confident.  confident

That has been what I wanted for her.  From the moment I looked at her sweet face, I wanted her to not question her value or worth but to be confident in who she is as well as how she looks.

Yes, it’s not perfect. She has her moments of doubt as most of them do, especially at this age but they are brief and quickly forgotten.

And that’s why I do this.