A Pleasant Looking Distraction That Outfit Is

It was Thursday, February 12th and we were headed through Cape Canaveral, FL on our way to Cocoa Beach.  Earlier that morning should've held much promise.  We were set to view the space shuttle launch!  Sophia and I meticulously planned.  We read numerous books on astronauts and outer space, we packed 2 pairs of binoculars and my child knew all about gravity.

 Much to our disappointment, the shuttle launch was delayed. 

 I was really looking forward to experiencing that overwhelming patriotic feeling that consumes me when placed in such situations.  That combined with my unyielding attraction to astronauts...oh, and fighter pilots.  

Yes, Jason understands his competition.

I gave myself a moment to reflect on the lost experience and immediately turned my attention to more pressing matters.

"Sophia, sweetie....I really need you to focus when we get to the beach. Just 3 minutes of smiles and then we can get into your swim suit and play!"

Dressed in a delicate, white and pink flowing gown she knew well of my grand scale plans for an oceanfront photo shoot.

The original intent was to hire a FL photographer to meet us at Cocoa Beach and do a professional layout, but once I realized that Sophia's "hoopla" of a skirt wasn't getting anywhere near our luggage I had to kill that dream.  Carrying it on wasn't an option.  I was traveling alone with the two girls and I couldn't bear the added responsibility of ensuring the skirt's save arrival.

These elaborate bottoms have a name you know....petty skirts.  

All was working out to my advantage.  Juliet had fallen asleep as we arrived so my Mother -in-Law could sit in the car with her while Sophia and I got down to business.

Entering the beach area we immediately saw a group of men battling their affliction for nicotine.  It instantly brought me back to my childhood days of picking the white paper out of my sand bucket.  I will never grasp how people can fill their bodies with this carcinogen and then dispose of it in the pristine sand.  The ocean is one of God's amazing wonders and engaging in unhealthy activities there seems a bit off.

We left the gentleman to their obvious weaknesses and danced down to the water.

Seeing the sprawling Atlantic ocean with its gentle waves......waves creating a snow white foam that nipped ever so gently at our toes.... left me awestruck.  Completely taken.

I found myself jogging slowly through the shallow water, light wind blowing my hair, thin white cover-up rustling behind me.  The hot pink petty skirt wasn't the only casualty.  My ultra feminine beach hat collection was tucked comfortably away in Dallas as well.  Quite the accessory that would've made at this particular juncture.

An over sized hat and of course, the professional photographer in tow.

Yes, we were "that" family on the crowded beach.  Obviously overdressed and a bit too excited to be there.  Just wait beach patrons---what you don't know is that a smaller size petty skirt does fit into the luggage--- and Juliet was about to make her appearance.

Look closely at these pictures.  Brush aside the wildly distracting boutique outfits.  See my daughter's eyes.

I captured exactly what I was looking for that afternoon....

The unstructured exploration of childhood.