A Day at the Beach...

Scott walking the beach looking for sharks teeth

Peyton saying "cheese" for the camera

Brittany buried in the sand

Me, sitting in my chair

The baby girl with her daddy

Destyni, Peyton and Alexis

Playing in the sand

It is not often that we all get to go to the beach together. When the kids were younger it was a bit easier to find time to go as a family. But now that they are older, and they have their own set of friends, it seems a little more difficult to get everyone in one place and spend time together. They seem to always be running here, there, and everywhere. So family time is hard to come by lately.....

I do believe this was our first beach trip of the summer. Peyton was a year older and could enjoy the sand & the waves. She has such a personality. Her first response when I took her shoes off was "Yuck, its dirty", but once I showed her she could play in it, she seemed to absolutely love digging holes, filling her buckets, and burying her sister. When it came time to go in the water, she was all for it, until the water stated to touch her feet and then she became hesitant. Wrapping her little arms around her Daddy's legs so he would protect her. She really enjoyed walking with him while he looked for Sharks teeth. It was fun to watch another one of our children get into the tradition of looking for them with Scott. I can never find them, but all of our kid have liked to walk with him and look.

Brittany has always love to create....she brought a friend with us on this day, and once again, she played in the sand more than she swam. I sat in the chair thinking about how fast she is growing up in so many areas of her life. But as I sat and watched her, I realized that there is still a part of her that likes to just be a kid. I sat there and almost teared up, watching as my oldest and my youngest play together on the beach, knowing that it was just yesterday that Brittany was that 2 year old hanging on to her daddy for safety, just yesterday that the sand and the waves were a new experience for her. How simple things were in her life back then, and now she is a teenager with new feelings, and new experiences....I think it might be just as scary for me to start to let go and let her grow up as it will be for her to walk through it.

My prayer is that she will still enjoy her childhood past times, and not try to grow up to quickly, but enjoy every step of it along the way. That she will continue to trust us with her safety (both physically and emotionally), and that God would hold on to her, lead her and keep her safe as we walk through these years. And that he would give me the grace and wisdom to walk beside her........