Our family took a trip to Florida this summer. We were lucky enough to rent a beautiful three story house that was across the street from the beach. It had it’s own pool, too, which actually got much more use than the actual ocean (relatively clean pool water trumps sand and salt apparently). It had been a long time since we’d gotten out of the state of Missouri, so it was a much needed break from the norm. I love being able to read and write on the beach, with the warm wind whipping my hair and the lapping ocean waves licking my feet. I’ve always found that change of scenery does wonders for sparking the creative spirit in all of us. If we stay in one place too long, we bore ourselves and numb our minds. We prevent ourselves from seeing the world we’re meant to be out seeing. And of all places, the beach seems to give me some of the best creative juices (and are only rivaled by mountains). I guess what I’m beginning to understand is that Missouri is actually a terrible place for creativity. But the good thing about that is that you are forced to go out and make your own creativity. Which can be very rewarding.

Buy anyway. These images were born of themselves and needed no extra creativity. I try not to take too many cliche beach vacation shots. Here are some moments from our time in Florida that I feel encapsulate the experience we had.