In Oregon, we lived an hour from the coast.  Any time we were free and it was semi-nice out we’d head out to the beach.  It was rare to catch a warm day on the Oregon coast.  We’d often leave a 90 degree day in Beaverton, get out of the car at Seaside, and have to put on our fleece sweatshirts and pants.  It was so beautiful that it didn’t matter.  We’d visit Haystack

Rock in Cannon Beach, or play on the swings in Seaside, or just walk for miles.

There was one year, where we had a couple warm trips in May, very early in the season.  Normally, the trips were all of us as a family, but a few times the little one and I went out just us.  This one warm day, she was at the fearless age of two, and just wanted to charge into the ocean.  I had to keep our towels set way back, so I’d have enough distance to catch her if she started to take off.  Thankfully, Seaside is a very wide beach.

It’s odd to me, living so far from the beach now, in the DC suburbs.  In Seattle, we were far from the ocean but still had Puget Sound beaches to hold us over.  I’ve managed a couple beach trips to NJ though already, and look forward to checking out Virginia Beach and Ocean City!

I photographed this family this morning, while they ran around and played in a beautiful local park together. It was great fun and I think we got lots of great moments captured. While I’m preparing the images for the couple’s private gallery, I’m posting this sneak peak.