kanoodle

Home is where our heart is and this sweet little beach retreat holds a special place in one mom’s heart.  As a teenager, Joyce spent her summers living at the beach and working.  Her mom lived at the beach, in this same spot, for 45 years.  Today her son Chris (who you may recognize from his K a R a T e  blog of senior portraits) works at Dumsers while the family spends their summers ‘down the ocean’ around their work schedules.

Joyce’s mom and dad have both passed away, sadly making Joyce the last one in her family line.  In a sense though, Joyce is surrounded by family in this quaint little development in OC.   Some of the residents have watched Joyce grow up from her teen-aged years to now a mom with teenagers of her own. 

After Joyce’s mom passed away, the Farkas family removed the trailer and replaced it with a beautiful home filled with impeccable décor.   The home is full of warmth and is just a little bit of paradise for their family.  Joyce and Steve visit often, even during the off season, rushing their kids off the school bus to head ‘down the ocean hon.’  When they walk through the door they feel the weight of the world begin to melt away and their ‘ahhhhh’ moment of refreshment begins.   

As we walked through the community to head to the beach many of the residents were eating dinner outside, relaxing and enjoying each other’s company.  It almost felt like stepping back into simpler, slower paced times or like I was on the set of The Truman Show!  I just wanted to have a seat and share a glass of wine!  The close-knit bond within the community was apparent and it was easy to see why the Farkas family is so pulled to their beach home, even during the winter. 

G O R G E O U S !!!!

It’s been Joyce’s dream for a long time to get family portraits on the beach.  So, after viewing Chris’s senior portrait session, Steve asked “so I have a question for you—will you travel?”  That was the start of making Joyce’s dream a reality. 

 Sprite, Holly and Windsor minded their manners perfectly through our whole session!  Joyce even gave them baths the day of the session so they’d be at the top of their game!

Often times behind the lens I get to see the little details of life that go unnoticed because they pass so quickly.  Anyone with children knows how brothers and sisters can drive each other crazy at times.  Shannon and Chris have a typical brother/sister dynamic where they crack each other up/drive each other crazy through most of their day.  As moms it’s easy to see that between our kids. 

What’s not so easy to see is little moments like this, where big brother reaches out to steady little sister and make sure she’s safe climbing up the chair.  Shannon knows, ‘Chris has my back through this life’.  This is just one of those small moments that stuck with me from this session.  It’s easy to miss because it’s so fast and quiet…. but then that’s typical of most sincere acts of devotion. 

Shannon was dying to be able to fly off this life guard chair too but hip injuries in karate prevented her from being able to do the flying kicks.  You can see how she feels about this—luv this priceless moment because in life, this is just how we feel sometimes!  

So Shannon and Chris made plans for Shannon to be in the spotlight role for their karate demonstration of a flip and monkey roll.   Chris obliged his little sister and even helped remind her of training they’d received in this.  She had a lot of fun with this (especially after being forced into the spectator role for Chris’s flying kicks!) and Chris… well…. he took it like a man and graciously gave his little sister her moment to shine! 

Grandmom and Grandpop joined us for a few minutes of the session. Grandpop was cool as a cucumber when it came time for posing with his sweetheart!  Grandmom was so sweet, I wanted to scoop her up and take her home with me!  She told me about her wedding photos taken 49 years earlier!  I think it’s a safe bet that may the last photograph she has kissing her groom!  Happy to help them break that run!

Joyce and Steve just celebrated 18 years of marriage and they still crack each other up!  Shannon and Chris are grossed out by their parents ‘kanoodling’ a word none of us were quite sure how to spell when Chris went to Google it!  I told the kids, ‘it may be embarrassing but it’s way better than if they fought all the time!’

Steve and Joyce met when Joyce would cut Steve’s hair.  She said, ‘he would say ‘oh can you take a little more off here…oh and how about here…oh a little more on this side…’  I studied them both for a second  and then said, ‘you know he was just doing that to be able to spend more time with you, right!?’  Then I watched the dawning of that realization on Joyce’s face!  Steve grinned and said, ‘shhh, don’t give away all my secrets!’ P R I C E L E S S!

I’ve been creating more painted effect portraits for some of my sessions lately.  Some photos lend themselves better than others.  I get pretty excited about these creations, probably because I’ve been a lover of impressionist art for so many years.  This particular session lent itself so well and I L O V E the idea of creating art from daily life…. everyone should see the art their life is creating!  

Thanks so much for the invite to tube off your boat with my boys next summer!  Can’t wait!! Here’s to a lifetime of summertime memories for your family!