Surfer Girl

"Enjoy Life One Wave At A Time"


Well, we returned from Cape Cod last weekend and reality smacked us in the face.
This is our last week before school starts and the "to do" list was endless, but we are officially ready now.
All uniforms and clothes have been purchased and laundered and all of the supplies are labeled and neatly packed in backpacks.
On Tuesday morning, all of the kids will head back to school..... three different schools, so back to the crazy morning routine!

Unfortunately I have had zero time to play with my photos.
I have not even looked at them since we left the beach.
It was certainly fun having time to edit each morning before we went to the beach.
Those that follow me on facebook were getting daily sneak previews of some of our adventures.
This was a series I shared on facebook, but wanted to have it documented here as well.

Pat's Dad bought the girls boogie boards and they were hooked (no pun intended) the minute they strapped them onto their wrists.
Reagan would not leave the water. She wanted to paddle around on that board all day, every day!
I snapped these one afternoon in the bright sun.
I love the way the water glistened in the light.
A few of you have asked questions about how I shot on the beach during the day in harsh light.
Most of the time I shot a little underexposed so I did not lose the details of the water and then I brought back the exposure in my post processing. If you have any other questions, I am happy to answer!

I am posting early again this week, so feel free to link up when ready.
There are just a few more days of summer and I am going for a quick trip to visit one of my BFF's who happens to live in Texas.
Bet you can't guess who?

Next week after I return home, I will post photos of the other surfer girl :)
She met some friends on the beach that day and they were all boogie boarding together.
In other news... Sarah's cast was removed this week!
After 5 weeks, she is cast-free.... just in time for school.

Have a wonderful weekend and a Happy Labor Day!
I will continue with the beach photos next week:)

Teenie Weenie Polka Dot Bikinis

We have been enjoying our beach week immensely.
The girls are in heaven.... they could play in the water all day long.
Each day when we tell them it is time to pack up to go back to the house, they give us the frowny faces.


The highlights of the day have been boogie boarding at low tide, building sand castles, and looking for hermit crabs.


Oh yes, and we cannot forget about the ice cream man who rings the bell no less than 4 times a day.
I think Sarah's lips are going to be permanently stained red from all of the "Cherry Chillers" she has consumed.

We have a few more days here on the Cape and we plan to make the most of them.
Posting a little early, so if you are ready to link up for Favorite Photo Friday, feel free!

I have taken a LOT of photos this trip.....
You are going to be tired of seeing these bathing beauties on the beach by the time I am done posting everything.
(apologizing in advance)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Beach Bliss

We arrived yesterday and went straight to the beach to enjoy a beautiful day of sun, sand, and water!

It looks like it is going to be a gorgeous week here on Cape Cod.... perfect weather!
Getting ready for day number two, but thought I would give you a little glimpse into our first day and some of the beauty that surrounds us.

~Have a Super Sunday Everyone~

Worth Every Moment of the Wait

"Life is not measure by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away"


Today is our 3 year referral anniversary. It was the day we first saw this beautiful face!
In some ways it feels like it was so long ago, but in others, it feels like yesterday. I remember that day so vividly.
We knew we were getting the call as news had arrived from our friends in Europe very early that morning.
We had been waiting over 4 years for this day and we were more than ready to see our daughter.
When we opened our email to see the precious face of Chen Wen Yi, it was truly love at first sight.
All of the pain and frustration that we endured during the wait instantly washed away and was replaced by pure joy.

Over the last 3 years, our baby girl has done a lot of growing up.
The "baby' in her has noticeably disappeared, but glimpses of those early days still remain.
Like the furrowed brow and her beloved two fingers:)

I never get tired of sharing her story....
I found myself in a situation the other day where someone asked me about her adoption.
As I stood there talking, I could feel myself reliving every single moment.
We are blessed beyond measure by this little girl and we can't imagine life without her.
She is the perfect mix of Sugar and Spice and everything Nice:)

We will celebrate this special day and then bright and early tomorrow morning we are heading to the beach!
The excitement level is through the roof!!
I will try to post while we are away, but I will definitely be documenting our trip on Instagram,
so you might want to follow along there for the daily does of Cape Cod fun.
Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Referral Day to all of our friends that share this anniversary with us!

The Hot Pink Cast

"Chance made us sisters, hearts made us friends" ~ Author Unknown



"A sister is a gift of the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life" ~ Isadora James



Sarah is doing surprisingly well with her cast!
I really thought it was going to be much more of a struggle for her without the use of her right arm, but she has taken it all in stride and has quickly adapted to using her left hand. Getting dressed is probably the most difficult, it is a little tricky getting clothes over that arm, but we have managed. Good thing it is summer and not winter.

She has received some extra attention and spoiling since that cast went on her arm, so of course she is eating that up as well.
If you look closely at her feet, you will see she was treated to her very first pedicure complete with hand painted fancy flowers:)

We returned to the Pediatric Orthopedist last week and he gave us some wonderful news.
The bones are healing nicely and nothing has shifted out of place.
Next Thursday we will be going back to see them and they are gong to remove the large cast and replace it with a smaller one that is below the elbow. That means she will gain some mobility back in her arm and the cast will be so much less cumbersome.
The timing could not be more perfect as we will be leaving for the beach just two days later:)
We also found out that she will be "cast free" before the start of school.

We "blinged" out her cast the day after it was put on and she has collected quite a few signatures from family and friends!
Sarah is very proud of that cast and a little excited that we get to "start over" with a new one next week.
There will be plenty of space for our family on the Cape to sign it.... we have already packed the sharpies and I guess I better purchase some more "blingles" to give it that "Sarah style".

I am posting a little bit early this week, so if you are ready to link up for Favorite Photo Friday, feel free!
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.... 9 days and counting until our family hits the beach!
I am just a "little" excited:)

Let's Give it a "Twirl"

"There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million." ~Walt Streightiff


"If we all could see the world through the eyes of a chile, we would see the magic in everything." ~Chee Vai Tang



It has been another interesting week around here.
Last Thursday afternoon, I received a call from my Mom that Sarah fell off the monkey bars at the playground and they were pretty sure she broke her wrist. I flew over and we went straight to the emergency room where we found out that, yes indeed, she broke her wrist.
It was a clean break, but she broke both bones, the radius and ulna.
The wrist was too swollen to cast that night, so they wrapped and immobilized it until we saw the pediatric orthopedist the next day.
On Friday, Sarah was put in a hot pink waterproof cast that goes up to almost her armpit.
It was a rough weekend for our girl and she spent most of it in bed.
The pain only lasted the first few days, but she seems to be doing much much better now.
We all signed it and added some bling. Her cast is now bedazzled:)
I posted some photos on Instagram and Facebook, so you can see them there.
Now that she is feeling more like herself, I hope to get a few fun photos so we can document it here as well.

Reagan was a little out of sorts through all of this.
She couldn't understand why Sarah could not play and do all of the things they normally do together.
She was definitely missing her buddy and best friend.
We took a ride together to run some of the normal weekend errands and we stopped at the 2 Hip Chics studio space to drop off some of our new props. They are for an upcoming shoot, but Reags decided to give them a whirl.... I mean twirl:)