My camera............

................I love my camera............I will never have even a smidgen of the talent that my father does................But I love taking pictures nonetheless.

However, for the past week things have been different. As Kaitlynn completed her first year of kindergarten there was the end of year performance. I was so excited about it. But the more I talked to Kaitlynn about it she kept telling me she doesn't get to get up and talk. I didn't understand it at first.

The four kindergarten classes total about 80 students and only twenty had speaking parts, five from each class. Kaitlynn always wants to do well and thought because she did not have a speaking part she did not do well. We assured her we wanted to hear her sing even if she didn't have a speaking part. As we walked into the gym, I realized I left my camera at home. We only live a half a mile from the school. But I did not want to go back and get it.

I wanted to watch the performance with my own eyes instead of through the camera lens.

It was wonderful. We stood in the back and waved to her and blew her kisses. She sang really loud and we could hear her from the back. She loves to sing. Although it is a memory I will never have a picture of I will remember standing in the back of the room, watching her face light up when she found us and blowing her lots of kisses.

Even though I was really mad at myself I had too many other things to do to worry about it for very long. I had to finish laundry and get us packed to leave for Newport News, VA. Phil's nephew Bayley was graduating from college. We have a special place for Bayley as he spent part of a summer with us one year.

It was somewhere between 5 - 6 hours to get there. Two hours into the trip there I realized I forgot my camera. I was really mad then. Twice in three days what was wrong with me. This is where the moping thing would come in. I could have let it ruin the trip and just be mad about it or spend money on a disposable of some kind. I did none of those.

Two hours after we arrived we were sitting in the hotel and I asked Phil what were we going to do. He said he was waiting for Jackie. All of the sudden I said, "No we aren't, we are going to pack up the kids and find a beach."

Phil looked at me as if I had two heads. I reminded him his sister was busy we would see her later lets take the kids to the beach. I found a free map. He asked how do you know where the beach is. I simply told him I don't lets go find one.

As we pulled into the beach parking I was regretting not having my camera, once again.

I didn't regret it for long.

When my feet hit the sand it was if timed stopped. I could tell you that the vibrant orange-blacked-eyed susan's were breath-taking as they lined flower beds between the sidewalk and the sand. I watched the waves crash up against the pier and rocks. I remember the feeling of the air through my hair as I buried my feet in the sand. I watched Kaitlynn, Jackson and Madelynn try and jump the waves and make instant friends with other kids in the water. I watched Madelynn run through the sand with pure joy beaming from her face.

This pure bliss only lasted about 90 minutes and I don't have a single picture of it. But I saw it with my own two eyes instead of through my camera lens. My kids will remember walking the pier with Mommy instead of having to stand there while she gets one picture of everyone smiling. They will also remember just being able to play instead of having to look at Mommy so she could get just one more picture.

Don't get me wrong I love my camera and taking pictures and I am sure there are many that take much better pictures than I. But for a brief few days I was just able to enjoy life and watch my children sing, play in the ocean, laugh, walk on the beach and just have fun without a care in the world.

Wishing the trip could have been longer, we had fun anyway and many treasured memories buried away forever.

TTFN~