Alexa

I taste the salt in the air as strands of my wavy blonde hair whip my face in the wind.  One hand holds onto my dad's and the other struggles to carry an inflatable ball + sun screen + my pink Barbie towel as I cross the long stretch of rail road tracks.  I see the waves crashing up ahead.  "Let's go!" I exclaim as I try to bolt from the protection of my dad.  "Ashley just wait," he responds as he tugs me back to his side.  I sort of hop as I walk, eager to be up front.  My mom, with both of my brothers in tow, yells back at us, "I see a good spot ahead!"

When we finally lay our towels down, the sun screen smearing ritual instantly begins.  Being extra cautious, my mom double layers on the SPF 30 to all of our freckled cheeks.  Looking like a little tribal warrior, I run as quickly as my small five year old legs can carry me, trying to catch up to my brothers heading for the ocean.  We dive into the cold, rolling waves and wash up on the shore, laughing.  My eyes sting and my teeth are gritty with sand.  I feel a fresh scratch burning on my knee.  Probably from a broken shell.

It is a wonderful day at the beach.

Elise and her ridiculously cute little girl, Alexa recently were out here in BC, visiting family.  Being from Alberta, this was Alexa's first time at the ocean.  With a big grin, a rad (and I mean RAD) head of curls and an adventurous spirit to go with it all, she was fearless.

PS.  I apologize for the wacked out alignment/spacing of the images in this post.  Blogspot 1, Ashley 0.