Beach Girl

Elaina's first trip to the beach! We've taken Elaina to Cape Cod for a long weekend with friends. It's Elaina's first time in sand, first time in the ocean, and she's loving it.

As her foster mom said, "Si-Yeon's not afraid of anything!" She ran all around in the sand, falling, rolling around, getting back up laughing. (Elaina—not her foster mom, though I don't know, maybe she does that too.) Elaina is much more outgoing than her parents and wasted no time in introducing herself to another couple with a little girl.

She ran to the ocean and I had to hold her back...sort of—you can't really hold a little girl back from her first encounter with the ocean, no matter how cold and uninviting the water might be to your own sensibilities.

Here, Daddy's trying to stay dry, but Elaina was having none of it. I was in the water (the cold, cold water) in no time. Really.

I know, you can't see my feet, but I swear they're in the water here. (I have proof for anyone who really needs it.)

Actually, the water's a lot less cold when you have a little girl with you. Part of it's the chasing's getting your blood flowing, but another, unexpected part is that her excitement and enthusiasm are infectious. You just can't help but enjoy the water—even when you really dislike water. There's something about chasing her around and keeping her from throwing herself recklessly into the surf that's energy-producing, even joy-producing.

Elaina's swimsuit model shot.

This wasn't a pose or Elaina taking a break. While it may look like she's lying on the beach, relaxing, this is Elaina after running, tumbling headlong into the sand, and finding the whole experience funny. I don't think that's how swimsuit models really do it, but it seems to work for her.

Another model shot.

The hand on the hip and the bent knee make it look like she's posing for the camera...but this is Elaina we're talking about—she's in mid-run, hitching up her swimsuit. See, when you have the whole story, modeling is a lot less glamorous that it looks from a few still shots.

Tumbles into the sand are not without consequence. For much of our time at the beach yesterday, Elaina had sand all over her face...and in her mouth, and in her nose.... Even after rinsing off, I was still finding sand in her ears.

Smiling and telling Dad how much fun this is.

Eating sand isn't always as glamorous as it appears here, though. I'm not posting the sand-spitting pictures. You'll just have to take my word for it.

And the number one most common view of Elaina—running across the sand.