We went to Southern California last week for fall break. Needless to say, it didn't feel much like fall there. We go to the beach often considering how far it from us. I love the ocean so much. I lived right here for the first 5 years or so of my life. The beach was literally my front yard. I spent a lot of time in the ocean every summer of my life as a kid. Even after we moved away, my mom made sure we spent some time there every summer. I would spend hours just bobbing in the waves and diving under them. This past trip was a big one for my oldest girl. She got the courage to go out in the big waves past her knees. She got to experience that freeing yet humbling feeling that comes from being out in the huge and vast ocean. She was giddy and kept telling me how fun it was and wondered why she had been so scared before. It was a full circle moment for me to be able to be out there and experience this with her...and I love that I was able to have my camera with me. This month I give you "what her first time out in the big California surf looks like".
And true to form, the powerful ocean flexed it's muscles for her. A big wave tumbled her to the bottom and she got a battle scar on her cheek to prove it. She was a bit self conscious of it but I kept telling her how cool it was to have proof she did something brave (and that it would go away).
Now head on over to see what El Hogan's adventurous world looks like this month....