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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.
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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.
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I didn’t get to read a book, but I did get to watch my son relish the joy of sand everywhere. Awesome.
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I didn’t bathe in the sun, but I am still finding sand in her hair at bathtime. Perfect.
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I didn’t lay on a towel oceanside, but I watched his confidence around the water grow each day. Priceless.
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I didn’t spend hours daydreaming, but I did watch dreams I didn’t know I had come true. Incredible.
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My toes didn’t casually play in the sand, but I did build some pretty amazing sand piles with a two year old. Cherished.
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I didn’t fall asleep to the sound of ocean waves, but I watched my daughter fearlessly follow her daddy. Beautiful.
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There were no moments of quietness, but my 4 year old did a lot of rock and roll. Funny.
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See ya mom – I’m off to explore, again. Proud.
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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.
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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…
Amy - Looks like you guys had so much fun!! These memories will last all of you a life time, where as you probably would have forgotten the name of that book after a couple of weeks. Great post and I love the shot of you ” I look like I am about to kill someone.” LOL!!
Shannon - Love it! And you know, I have learned that vacations with littles are only vacations for THEM! We are always ON as parents, but you gave them the best thing ever. A Mama and Daddy who love them and memories to cherish for the rest of their lives! Very lovely!
stephanie - Love all those pictures and the incredible memories you made…and do I recognize Ke’e beach in one of those pictures?
Jaimie - Incredible! I am so so jealous- I could really use a beach vacation right now, even if it was with my 2 year old!
Alba - water+sand+kids = fun&watch, no relax possible. fantastic pics as always
RachelC - Sounds perfect.
Orkanda - I really love your posts because I am a mother of four so I have a huge affinity with all your words. Through your eyes I see motherhood in a different perspective…In your place I would have just stayed in a bad mood because I could not relax … but you make me see everything I would lose if I had relaxed…And I was not even on the beach..Thanks for sharing all of this with me… By the way, I love your DYI projects !! Love.
Sadie - Beautiful. Your outlook on life never fails to amaze me. I love your blog and you are an awesome mother! Thanks for sharing! I am really looking forward to the next few posts!
amy - oh, wow. looks gorgeous and beautiful and stressful and fun.
i watched dreams i didn’t know i had come true…i love that so much, ashley. perfect.
Jill - I love your photos. Thank you for sharing your vision and love of your family and life!
Angela Carter - you are an incredible mom! i long to take my 2 to Hawaii…someday!
Shea - Great outlook! I know how you feel and I only have two littles. And you look like a young Swoosie Kurtz in that photo.
LauraC - First time commenter, long time lurker because I love your photos!
I live in North Carolina and we had been DREAMING of the beach trip where we would actually get to relax. My twin boys turned four this year and we did a week at the beach this year. We spent an insane amount of time just sitting on the beach, reading books, drinking margaritas and watching the boys swim and surf.
The keys were they can swim now and they are finally at the age where they will play together.
It was still only a couple of hours a day relaxing but it was more than enough to recharge us to spend the rest of the time building sand castles and body surfing and picking up sea shells.
Sarah - what great memories. i miss hawaii so much.
Yanet - Just when I think your photographs can’t get any better, you post these!!! Beaches make the best backdrop ever, don’t they?!
marcy - Yup! That first picture cracks me up! LOL
amanda torres - Your words are so true. We so want to relax, but not at the cost of missing anything our kids do. I think I’ll just wish for our next vacation to be one where my almost 4 and 2 year old sit next to me quietly and ‘read’ their books while I do mine. Yep, not gonna happen. I’ll keep dreaming and just enjoy the moment then.
Lindsay - I love this post. Your pictures are awesome. Thank you for sharing!
megan - Love this. What a great picture of your calling. And an excellent example of contentment. Thanks.
Susanne - Isn’t it nice when we don’t get what we want but instead get what we need.
Kara - ha my husband and I were just talking last night about how vacations with kids are SO different than vacations before kids!
Heather - so beautiful. the photos AND the words!
BriBedell - I was very blessed and was able to go to Hawaii a little over three years ago. While there I married my husband and expirienced some of the most beautiful things it had to offer! Your pictures make me miss it real bad LOL
Your children are beautiful and I love how fearless you are about raising them! I have two and often forget to relax..enjoy there tiny faces and run-on sentences 🙂
Natalie - Beautiful indeed! Photos are great (as always). What lens did you use for them?
giozi - Ashley the first one is like and Charlie’s Angels ad 🙂
Your chubby is to eat 😀
Your big boy, nex year to Australia to a competition 🙂
Jessica - ah yes family vacations. not to be confused with vacationing as a couple. LOL
looks like you had a great time. and you’re more brave than I! although I do have over double the amount of kids that you do. 🙂
Dacia - I think this is now my favorite post of yours. Although your son with the baby goat (if I remember correctly, it was a goat?) is pretty up there. It made me cry, just like this one nearly did. The pictures are beautiful, as usual, but your captions are so refreshing. Your outlook on everything is so admirable!!! It would’ve been really easy for a Mom of 4 to whine about not having a relaxing time on the beach in Hawaii- but you truly appreciate your family. *tear*
Kate @ Songs Kate Sang - Oh, these are great pictures!
Shanalea - First of all, I am so jealous that you have not only lived in Hawaii, but have vacationed there as well. I can also empathize with your desire to be on a beach with a book and a drink basking in the aloneness and glory of the moment. I have come to realize much like you though, this season in my life is not about being alone, but about investing the future, my four boys. I want them to see mom connected with them, playing with them, and enjoying the moments of togetherness. So again it can be frustrating to not get a moment of relaxing, but you know you will someday. 🙂
lifeologia - Fantastic shots and what memories to watch your kids enjoying themselves in this beautiful place… it is priceless & incredible 😉
Cheers!
Krista Lund - this is such a sweet post. dh is planning my birthday dinner and asked his parents to watch our girls so we could go alone, but the more we thought about it, the more we wanted the girls with us 🙂
Susan - i love your blog. your pictures of your trip are priceless
Kirra Sue - Awesome, awesome perspective.
Amy - The photo of you is FIERCE! I love it! I don’t think I could have done this trip with my ONE child. You’re awesome.
Jodi - Amazing! The whole trip (no relaxation or not) sounds heavenly! I am glad you had such a great time.
Vanessa - I love your perspective and writing on life. Thanks for sharing.
Laurie J - welcome back, Ashley! I’ve enjoyed your guest posts, but I enjoy yours more! Love the pic of the boys playing together in the ocean. You can’t ask for more as a mom, can you?
Laurie J - welcome back, Ashley! I’ve missed your posts….the guest ones were good, though 🙂
Leanne - sounds like a lot of fun to me, even just chasing the kids around. nice and warm, no?
chantelle - ha! I try tomake bargains with my hubby like that all the time but I too can never make myself stay at home or miss the action! (we’re Mommy suckers!)
Leah - hahahaha at the summersault in the sand. I hope the rest of the vaca was alittle more relaxing.
tara pollard pakosta - this is the way to look at life!
I found that the more time I took away
from my kids, the more I wanted it!
when I took the time to actually just enjoy
my girls, now I never have the craving to leave at all!
perfect!
tara
Julie A. - Awesome post Ashley! Thanks for such an up lifting view of motherhood when we mostly hear about how unrewarding motherhood is. Moments away are nice but the time together is what we’ll cherish.
mandi - YES! I love this!
I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in mommy-hood. How some like to brag about what horrible moms they are. We need more moms saying how they love being with their kids.
The best advice I was ever given, from a mom of 10, was “just enjoy your kids”. If we are in a moment that I’m feeling stressed I know we need to stop and just enjoy each other.
Kim@Living with Little People - Fun with these little gems has to be better than a book. The fourth photo down of Firecracker belongs in a tourism ad. Its just perfect. I can’t wait for the photo tips tomorrow.
christina larsen - It still looks like fun, even though you didn’t get to fully relax.
Ashley Smith - Your face in the top picture absolutely cracks me up. You look like the mean Mom at WalMart. Which is funny because it is so not you ;). Looks like so much fun and exercise, glad you had a great trip!
Betsy - Ok, I’m new…only been reading since your diy doily table runner was featured somewhere. Yall lived in Hawaii? What?! When?! why?!
Jenny B. - Beautiful… words and pictures! I love digital scrapbooking, and this post could so easily transfer to a big ‘ol scrapbook layout – or a little photo book. Awesome! 🙂 And I love your attitude about your non-relaxation.
Aubrey - With four of my own (17 months, 3, 4, and 6), I discovered some of the same things this summer. When I would have loved to read, my time was filled with my children’s constant desire to do or need something. But I wouldn’t have traded it for anything! The beach is definitely the cheapest and most fun time we have had as a family of six. LML.
Dinah - What wonderful pictures! I think that this is one of my favorite posts on your blog, as it gives a great mix of both technical advice as well as great tips on things like composition, cropping and just managing young children in photos! I have never heard the rule “don’t crop at the joints” — awesome tip! I would also love to hear more about how to photograph the sky, ocean, etc. during the different times of day (how to make the sky read “white” on purpose when photographing something where you want the subject to stand out, and other times how to photograph it to capture the gorgeous blues, clouds, etc.) This is exactly why I’m looking forward to a possible online photography course in the future!:)
Christy - I love your attitude. As a mom, it’s hard to make that adjustment sometime, but in the end everyone is happier. Love.
Brittany - I especially loved how you added a word at the end of your title that tied in with it. Really great pictures!!!!!