Waves of Fun

The part of the Outer Banks where we vacation is a trio of little towns on Hatteras Island. One of them is about to get a lot of attention with the release of the movie "Nights in Rodanthe." One of the other towns is called Waves. For Austin there could be no better name for a place that he enjoys spending time, as playing in the waves is one of his favorite things.

It is not that the waves are anything spectacular.

In fact, most days they are fairly calm.

But, Austin has an odd relationship with the waves. He sees them as friends that are playing with him. I swear this is true! He talks to the waves and giggles uncontrollably as they chase him up the shoreline.

Big or small, he enjoys them all. But, it hasn't always been this way.


There were a few days this year that the waves were actually quite intimidating. Though that only seemed to spur Austin on. He was fascinated by their height and was surprised a few times by their power.

Because he is practically fearless when it comes to the water, we had to keep a firm grip on him during those days. The pull of the waves was really strong and almost knocked him off his feet on more than one occasion.

I had to use my 300mm lens and sit way back to keep from getting water on the camera. As you can see in the picture above, the sand is wet way up near where I was. Every once in awhile a huge wave would come and surprise everyone with it strength. We moved our chairs back several times that day.

Once the waves had beat against the shoreline for awhile, the erosion of the sand created a nice little bleacher for the boys to watch the show the sea was putting on.

It was a great time whether in the "bleacher" seat or back where I was.

Having grown up in Florida, there is something so deeply peaceful and soothing to me about the sound of the waves. I could sit and watch them all day long. In fact, I often found myself just watching the waves instead of reading a book (that is if I was not needing to keep my eyes on children).
Mark was so good about letting me have a little time to myself each day so that I really felt like I got a vacation. (Sometimes he was able to join me which was nice too!) I often retreated to the beach to let myself, and all the stresses surrounding me, drown in the sound of those amazing waves. What a blessing it was to have those moments!