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April 2024

The Stork and the Beanstalk

A Mother's Journal

A photo journal comprised of my thoughts on motherhood and other life happenings, as well
as some of professional work as a photographer. Southern California is home.

Tag: Dana Point Harbor

Childhood Unplugged

by Ashley filed under Childhood Unplugged

The Childhood Unplugged group posts once a month and most months I I have something to share without putting much thought or intention into it being for Childhood Unplugged; we unplug naturally and often, if you will. But this month was a different story and with all of our comings and goings as of late, I realized that we had not been out much… away a lot, yes, but not out… not taking in local nature…

Traveling is two sided in that sense; on one hand, it’s nice to explore new (or even already known) places and on the other hand, waiting for you to return is a long laundry list (pun intended) of things to catch up on. And that’s where we’ve been — trying to stay afloat the piles of dirty laundry, the overflowing trash bins, and the list of things around town we need to do… like register Hooper for transitional kindergarten, which brings with it it’s own scavenger list of ‘to-dos’.

So I shot this month’s Childhood Unplugged post with intent and, for me, last minute. We went down to the harbor and let the kids run and climb and toughen their bare feet.

The boys made quick friends with another little boy and together the three of them explored, had sword fights (of the urination variety), and ran as free as the breeze. We talked with the boy’s father who shared the loss of his wife (she died during childbirth) and it dawned on me that going out and talking to strangers is a lost art. People are so stuck in their own worlds. And yet we all have such important and interesting and captivating stories to tell. All of us.

I won’t be waiting until the end of next month like I did this go-around.

Please join me in supporting the other photographers participating in the Childhood Unplugged movement by clicking here to see all our submissions. You can also follow us on instagram (@childhoodunplugged) and be sure to use #childhoodunplugged for a chance to be featured on our Instagram feed. Please also tag your photos with #cu_mothers and #cu_fathers, as I’ll be taking the feed the weeks of Mother’s and Father’s day.

Whale watching

by Ashley filed under Bits + Pieces

My mom and I took the boys whale watching over at Dana Point Harbor the other week. My mom had been before and warned me that it can get cold out at sea, so we bundled up. The trip reminded me that you have to live life a bit before you can determine what’s a special treat and what’s an everyday occurrence. I tried my best to point out the breaching whales but it might as well have been a bird landing on a fence. Both boys showed a bit more interest when we we were surrounded by literally hundreds upon hundreds of dolphins. You could see them rising in and out of the water and the water was clear enough to see them swimming underneath, just to the side of the boat. I went with my purpose being for the boys to have fun and experience something different, but I walked away talking non-stop about them dolphins (said with a southern accent). By far one of the coolest things I’ve seen. I didn’t bring any snacks and tantrums hit full swing when I brought Van down to the snack shack only to learn that they don’t take credit cards. I thought the guy would hand over the damn chex mix out of pure sympathy, but – lo and behold – he did not. We’ll definitely go again; not so much for them, but for me. And I’ll bring snacks. And maybe a couple extra bucks for a beer.