We’ve been here before. In fact every summer for the past eight years. Returning to the same place every year creates traditions, favorites and must-dos.
My must-do is a surrey bike ride along the beach, on the boardwalk, winding our way through nearby neighborhoods and dreaming of our future beach home.
This is our second year vacationing in Kiawah Island. We return because there are many things we love…
The calm, warm waters
My words are not profound, every photographer, perhaps every Mother feels this way: we take photos to capture the moment so that we can remember. Experiences are fleeting and as our lives continue to fill with more fantastic and ordinary moments everything becomes a jumble, a blur, and it is hard to recall what you had for breakfast much less how you felt as you watched your kid playing on the beach. Everyone loves a nice portrait, everyone smiling, posed and looking at the camera. But it’s the unplanned shot, the little moments, that take me back to that place in an instant. I take photos to fill in the blanks, retell the story and to travel through time.
Our recent family vacation to Kiawah Island, South Carolina was a beautiful trip. Less than a month has passed but those subsequent three weeks, filled with work, swim team, camps and thunderstorms, have taken me far away. So I rely on my photos; these are some of my favorites that take me right back.
Yes, I over-shop for Penny. To reconcile this I take photos to capture these outfits. So with adorable cover-up and sunglasses on we hit the beach in the morning before the bright sun looms and the kids get distracted. Always my unwilling model, she posed facing away from me because that was the way the breeze was blowing. In a brief moment I got her to look at me and snapped. She looks like she is smiling but she’s actually on the verge of complaining that her hair is in her face.
Ten years ago I knew you were my one and only, the love of my life and so we vowed to each other forever. We celebrated with friends and family, sun and sand. Today, ten years later, you are so much more. You are the reason my children laugh, the unwavering post always marking the way home, the foundation on which I build my dreams, the reason to my madness, and the constant, gentle force that keeps us within hands reach. Today we celebrate the road we’ve paved and the road that lies ahead…with sun and sand.
Penny has inherited my tastes, my propensity for cavities and my love of art (I can only hope). She has also inherited a lifelong friendship. She will meet many people and she will make many friends over the upcoming years but to know what a lifelong friendship should look like, should feel like is the best gift I can give my daughter.
Predictability and repeat-ability are not stuff of boredom but rather of comfort. Predictable results when drinking wine: conversation flows, laughs come easily and kids frolic and play. Predictable results when hanging with good friends: conversation flows, laughs come easily and kids frolic and play. Who wouldn’t want to repeat that?
While we’ve been enjoying some pretty awesome weather and family time the real purpose of the trip is to celebrate Aric’s 40th birthday.
Beautiful house in Sonoma big enough for 11 adults and 6 kids: check
As if our children didn’t prove themselves on the flight we put them to the test with a full day of wine tasting. Our second stop was Alpha Omega, a favorite of ours from our Napa trip last July. With the patio to ourselves we enjoyed a leisurely tasting with lunch. 
Our Valentine’s Day could not be more perfect, starting our day with a sky full of sun and a beautiful drive to Domaine Carneros.
A prison on an island, what could be more intriguing for a six year old? Especially after a cub scout sponsored visit to a local police station where all Lucas could ask was “Where is the jail?” To add to the mystery, Alcatraz was veiled in fog on this particular Thursday morning.
Our Everyday 