When we were in Virginia Beach a while back visiting Meg and Sam, we went to Dam Neck beach one night after dinner for a quick stroll.

I’ve been meaning to blog about it ever since because I wanted to share these photos with y’all. And I’m sure those of you who are experiencing cold weather and gloomy skies and having to wear sweaters under your coats and scarves really want to look at beach photos. Right, Aunt B?

Sometimes it’s really ridiculous how beautiful the ocean is. This was one of those times. There was a storm coming, so the sky was a weird, gorgeous color. We almost couldn’t tell where the sky ended and the water began.

This beach visit was the beginning of the end of Annalie’s fear of ocean waves, I think. She didn’t go in the water at all, but she was excited to be on the beach, and she went closer to the water—of her own free will—than she had in over a year.

Sam, however, was still a bit wary of the waves. He was happier staying way up on the dry sand, where no water would come near him, thank you very much.

He enjoyed giving his mom a sand facial, too. I don’t remember exactly the series of events that led up to this photo. I think Sam just forgot he had sand all over his hands, or didn’t realize it was a problem, and patted Meg on the cheeks. It was pretty funny.

It was also funny how I could NOT get Annalie to stand still in a photo. She agreed to pose with Sam for me readily enough, but then she couldn’t stop herself from dancing around, or kicking, or jumping.

But this photo is actually quite awesome, so I don’t mind that she couldn’t stand still. I don’t really like overly-formal photos that much anyway. Later I always look back at the group shots where someone is laughing with their eyes closed and mouth open, or where two people in the back row are looking at each other instead of the camera, or where one kid in the front is sticking his tongue out, and like those better than the ones where everyone is perfectly posed with semi-sincere smiles on their faces. The photos with a bit of life in them are always my favorites in the end, even I don’t always remember that when I’m behind the camera. Photos like these are a good reminder. And they work beautifully as a memento of an hour spent on the beach with friends, marveling at the strange, stormy beauty of the sea and sky.

p.s. Ten points to the first person to correctly identify the source of the post title!