Oceanic Shenanigans.

September 3, 2013

Late in the afternoon on Labor Day, we took ourselves off to the ocean.  (This is Jeanette’s Pier in Nags Head.)

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We grabbed some Kentucky Fried Chicken on the way, sat on a bench and gazed upon the ocean while we ate. I can think of worse ways to spend a Monday afternoon.

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Although my little photographer’s heart was sad that the available light was the next thing to horrible, I made do with what little light I had. 

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Of course, having a lovely subject to shoot did help a little. (Don’t you love her blouse? I got it at Goodwill for $3.)

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But then?

All at once, my blissful photographing of various versions of pink and flowered loveliness evaporated when my two ocean-going, chicken-eating, fun-loving cohorts decided that it would be a fabulous idea to run together down the beach in dramatic slow motion while fervently humming the famous jogging-along-the-beach theme from that great movie, Chariots of Fire.

Here they are, in all their humorously meandering, athletic-ish, sea side flailings.

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And just so that you can truly appreciate their efforts, here are a couple single shots.

It truly does help if you hum “Chariots of Fire” to yourself while gazing at these photos.

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Or maybe not.

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Can you tell she’s having a good time?

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When the thrill and drama of reenacting the movie scene was over, I asked the two of them to stand together so that I could get a formal daddy/daughter picture.

That went really, really well. As you can tell.

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After Steve and Sarah had made their merry way through their line up of shenanigans, they tried to walk off like they were all done with their Father/Daughter posing duties. However, I sternly herded them back together so that I could successfully capture a “real” shot.

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Things went fine for a minute . . .

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until Steve felt compelled to pull on Sarah’s earring.

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 Sigh.

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Finally. Eventually. At long last, I got them to both stand still and look somewhat normalish.

Such a joy to get to capture love with one click of a camera.

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And here’s one more shot of my little grown up girl.

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After all the eating, running, humming, and picture-taking were over, we were heading back to the car when we spotted some trash that had been left under the pilings–only ten feet away from the garbage cans. 

That is one of our great pet peeves in life—people who litter.  As Nathan once commented,  “People who litter obviously had mamas who cleaned up after them too much.”  So true.

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The trash got stowed safely in its place and we were ready to go.

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When we got back home, I looked through the pictures I had taken and noticed a photo of Sarah that was inadvertently similar to one I had taken of her almost two years ago. 

I thought it would be fun to put the two pictures into a collage: she’s sixteen years old on the left and eighteen years old on the right. 

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 I am looking forward to many more years of taking pictures of Sarah in this spot—pictures of her with her daddy, pictures of her with her husband, and eventually pictures of her with gorgeous, gurgling grand babies in her arms.

Lovely girl. Lovely spot. Lovely dreams for the future.

Lovely, lovely day.

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24 comments so far.

24 responses to “Oceanic Shenanigans.”

  1. LeeAnne says:

    Yay! I finally got here without the site becoming unresponsive. So, with that said, a very happy belated birthday wish to Sarah!!
    I love these pictures Becky. It looks like they are having so much fun. There is just one problem. You are NEVER in the pictures. Some day Sarah and Nathan are going to be looking back at old photos, long after you are gone, and wondering where you are. Hand that camera over sometimes!! 🙂

    • Becky says:

      LeeAnne,

      Well, on that particular photo day, I was wearing a ball cap with very little make up (it was my day off) and I didn’t want to cause any alarm amongst my readers! 🙂 I’ll have to get some photos of me posted soon. Thanks for the good reminder.

  2. Lovely pictures. They made me smile,
    Has Sarah dyed her hair recently? It looks like she has got lighter hair during the part two years? Or it is just a lot of sunshine? 🙂

    • Becky says:

      Trine,

      No, she hasn’t dyed her hair. I’m not sure why it looked so dark in that 16-year old picture; I guess maybe the lighting. Her hair is still kind of medium-ish brown. Glad the pictures made you smile!

  3. Mrs. Pam says:

    always something fun happening with those two!

  4. pam adams says:

    I always love looking at your pictures Mrs. Becky…Pastor Steve is such a hoot at times….I bet you hardly ever have a dull moment at your house….So glad to see ya’ll are doing well…

  5. Lesley says:

    What a wonderful, fun day…beautiful pictures Becky! My fav is the one with Steve’s hand over Sarah’s face; he is a clown 🙂

    • Becky says:

      Lesley,

      Yes, he seemed to be in a particularly teasing sort of mood that day. I never have to wonder where Nathan got the teasing side of his personality! (Hint: it wasn’t from me.) 🙂

  6. dmantik says:

    That was such a nice post.

  7. Kim Waggoner says:

    Lol! Love it. Now I can’t get the COF theme song out of my head. Thanks for that!! 🙂

  8. becky m says:

    awesome photos and when i read about the litter i was reminded of when i was in chicago visiting the boys grandparents, me and dad went to take the bus to pick up our new van. i was eating a banana and when i finished, i threw it in the garbage and it just so happened garbage guys were happened to be driving near by and they started clapping for me. i was like uumm ok, all i did was throw out my trash…Joe goes yeah that doesnt happen to often here, and then i noticed all the litter. Kind of sad when you get applause for throwing something little out.

    • Becky says:

      Becky,

      Wow–I bet you’d never been applauded for putting a banana peel in the garbage since then! Nice to know your efforts were appreciated; wish more people would follow your example.

  9. Kristi says:

    Love the photos!

  10. Nancy Irving says:

    I actually hummed the song as well. The pictures are wonderful, Thank You for giving me a smile today

  11. beckylp says:

    Becky – Love this post. The antics of Steve & Sarah had me laughing out loud. What an awesome father/daughter relationship they have. Love the 2 year comparsion photo. Have a great day. Becky

    • Becky says:

      Becky,

      “Antics” is a good word for what Sarah and Steve are usually up to. They’re the performers–I am the appreciative audience!

  12. Mary H says:

    Okay, seriously, I was humming Chariots of Fire before I even read that was the musical theme to their beach “running”. Sarah is so beautiful and what is even better is the beauty of her and her dad and the fun and love they share. Too many don’t know how that feels. Bravo on cleaning up after some thoughtless person. Litter is a pet peeve of mine also. And you also know about me and the sea! I could not think of a better way to spend a day. Hope Randy continues to recover and is strong and healthy again soon.

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