Yearly Archives: 2019

Surf Camp| Personal

It’s been a long time friends and so much has happened! The biggest news is that we packed up the house in Florida and moved back to our home town of Virginia Beach! We moved right at the beginning of summer so we’ve been able to just enjoy the pool, and family and friends and most of all having the beach right back in our backyard again!

It’s been a busy summer so far: Linc has been in lots of camps but recently we just finished up one that has to be ALL of our favorite of the summer: SURF CAMP!

I’m not sure if ya’ll remember: but it wasn’t too long ago that my little fish..hmm scratch that SHARK of a swimmer (mr. breath holds and scary dare devil shark in the water) would not go anywhere NEAR the ocean. I’m not sure whether it was the sound of the crashing waves he didn’t like, or maybe the loss of control in the water with the current?! Who knows! All I know is that it wasn’t until the end of last summer when we were visiting my mom here that Linc decided the ocean was OK, and that was a huge victory.

So image our surprise when we were talking about a few camps for the summer like soccer and all sports when Linc mentioned he wanted to sign up for surf camp! I was super excited and all about that so we went right online (in Florida because we were still there) and registered him right away with my old crew 17th street!

Ya’ll: Let me just tell you: IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!

We initially signed up for the 3 day session because we weren’t even sure if Linc was going to like it. Goodness knows if Linc isn’t “in” to something, there is no amount of forcing or pleading him to do it. Turns out, we ended up extending our camp for the whole week! These instructors and this camp… they are phenomenal and here’s why:

  • The instructors are FUN but also patient and kind! Every kiddo in our session was able to surf a wave and the waves were BIG our session! I mean, I was a little scared, but they were fantastic!
  • They take lots of breaks and even have games in between surfing sessions (capture the flag, duck duck goose, giants, wizards and elves.. I think, I was confused on that last game… I’m old I know)
  • They take extra time with the small ones like my kiddo AND with anyone that might be timid or afraid. There is no pushing or any expectations. It’s all about fun and stepping outside your comfort zone!
  • Every morning there was a circle where the campers learned about water safety, surfing etiquette and general ocean knowledge. Linc learned about rip tides, how to protect his head when he wipes out, how to read the tides and the waves and much more!
  • The campers form really fun friendships! Linc met a little buddy and already has playdates scheduled. They also stuck together and really encouraged one another throughout the week. Without Claire, I’m not sure Linc would have gone after as many waves as he did!
  • The instructors are aware of every single camper and are totally organized, safe and productive!
  • At the end of the week there was a pizza party, slideshow of images that the parents could download, goodie bags and Billabong pro’s for the campers to meet and sign posters!

I could continue on and on but honestly the week was just FUN and it was amazing to see everyone grow and get braver and bolder as the week went on. And yep I was totally the creeper parent that went almost every day WITH my gear and took extra pictures of my kid! Hey… I’m not embarrassed about it! As long as Linc keeps asking me to show up, I’m gonna be there!

I have a TON of pictures from the week, but for now I’ll just share our home video…please excuse the go pro video clips. I didn’t edit them, I just strung them together!

Thank you Billabong and 17th Street Surf Camp! We will see ya next summer!

And if you are looking for a surf camp… check them out! Maybe we can hit up a session together! 😉

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  • August 1, 2019 - 3:18 am

    David Cole - Great review. The young man in the video teaching your son is my son. Travis loves the ocean and sharing it with others.ReplyCancel

    • August 2, 2019 - 1:37 pm

      brooketuckerphoto@gmail.com - Oh my goodness, he was the BEST! We are so thankful for him. My son adores him and talks about him all the time. If it weren’t for him and Eliza I don’t think our son would have gone back after the first day. As it was, he extended through the rest of the week. I have to tell you, you raised a wonderful, very responsible and incredible young man! We truly are so grateful for him!ReplyCancel

Together with Tuckers: Our Spring break Disney Cruise!

Good Morning Friends and Happy Friday!!!

This morning I wanted to share a little something that I’ve been working on for the past few days and something that has been a long time coming for me.

It’s no secret photography and blogging have taken a back seat for a little while.  I do that from time to time and those that know me well, get this.  It’s been a little more than lately.  As I said in my last post, 2019 so far has been a beast of a year and the end of 2018 (well the latter part of 2018 was gearing up to lend itself that way too) and photography was just something that needed to slow down a bit.

The other part, to be honest:  was needing to find something that sparked joy in me again!  Something that encouraged me to learn something new and challenged me in a way that excited me like it once had!

Towards the end of 2018 and so far in 2019 my NEED has been to be mom!  I have needed to be there, 100% for my family and in doing so I learned that my passion was reignited in capturing moments and memories for my own family.  I had been so focused for so long on building and preserving the legacies and stories of other families, that looking back… I had done a good job of preserving ours; but not GREAT!

And I wanted ours to be GREAT… I wanted ours to be just as beautiful and wonderful and full of REAL and RAW and LIFE as I had done for so many others.

So this has been my heart and it has sparked a great joy in me.  It has pushed me to learn new skills, new mediums and embrace truly living in the moment by putting it all down.  It’s lit a fire.

It’s helped me realize when it’s OK to capture the moment, and when it’s important to walk away and BE in the moment!

So here’s our first captured video!  I’ve made many for families that have been with me over the years; but this is our very first family video!  And our first youtube channel in case you want to follow along as I attempt to capture our stories along the way… we have so many family members spread all over and to be fair Linc just wants to be on youtube, so we created the channel to keep us connected.  We created it to keep us connected when we are apart as a family and connected to our family members.  We also created it as a family journal so that one day we can see all the joy we had even in the smallest of moments that to us right now might seem small and ordinary but later on we realize were the ones that were truly magical!

 

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disney castaway cay, Disney Dream Cruise

It’s been such a long while since I’ve written a blog!  Life has a way of happening and catching up;  making time fly so fast that before you realize it the days have turned into months!

2019 has been a strange year for us so far:  it’s taken us on a journey that has proven our strength, tested us in ways we weren’t quite prepared for and challenged us in ways that have shown us things about ourselves that we can all be pretty dang proud of and also some things we need to work on… and it’s only the end of March!

At the beginning of each new year, I always choose a word.  In previous years my words have been strength for when Tuck deployed, and boy did that year show me what true strength meant.  It wasn’t always strong in the sense of being calm or collected or even being tough.  I learned that year that true strength comes in being able to be vulnerable when you need to be and asking for help at times and knowing the right times to be tough and the right times to be soft!

Other years my words have been grace, patience, and last year was perhaps my favorite one:  Unconditional Love!

This year, I debated and researched my word for a very long time.  I thought for a while that I might keep unconditional love.  It was a great challenge for me and reminded me that everyone (and I mean everyone) deserves to be heard and no matter what their circumstance, attitude or demeanor is they are  just looking for acceptance and love.  It kept me grounded as a mom and humbled as wife.  It was also extremely hard if I’m being honest but I grew more in that one year than I have in a long time.

As I researched though and really poured over what I wanted to focus on this year, I kept coming back to one single word in each of my writings:  something that came paired with unconditional love and was more of an action.

That word was NURTURE!  

I wanted to be able to completely nurture my family in a way that gave them a life giving home.  A place where they could always feel accepted and loved unconditionally no matter what was happening in the outside world.  I didn’t need it to be a physical home (although that would be nice)… I wanted it to be a feeling that they could carry with them, inside themselves but also within our family and especially within me as their mom.

I wanted to be able to provide this not only for my family but for all those that I loved!  And unconditional love, which I had begun working on in 2018 as my word, fit so well with this lofty goal!

So January 2019 I began this work.

And here it is… the end of March 2019 and I have to say, with complete honesty but no judgement, ya’ll I have done a POOR job! 😉

I can laugh about it because that’s just life right!  It throws you curve balls. It rises up to MEET you with challenges and test you.

I can imagine in my mind the universe saying “Ok Brooke, you want to nurture your family so they ALWAYS feel accepted and love unconditionally.  You want to provide for them unconditionally and shelter them so that the big bad world could rise up with all it’s might and yet they feel warm and fuzzy and can breathe easy as soon as they step foot at your doorstep.  Let’s start doing this!  HERE YOU GO MY FRIEND>>> Challenge ON!”  Let’s start preparing you… right now~!

Ya’ll, there’s nothing like trial by fire.  In fact, that’s how I learn best but I have to say, I haven’t been learning.  I’ve been RESISTING! 

I wish I could go into detail about all the ways the universe has granted me the opportunity to start learning and really working towards this goal of mine (because in truth that’s what it has been doing) but that would be too long of a blog.

Instead… I just want to tell you how I’ve SHIFTED my perspective from THIS SUCKS (which is where I was, a resentful, miserable mess) to where I am now.

And it all has to do with that picture of me above ^

My little Linc took that image and I’m more grateful to him for it than I could ever tell him.  That one single moment of me right there… that is the most JOYOUS, the most FREE and RELAXED and full of LIGHT and HAPPINESS that I have been since 2019 started.  And it all just happened that Linc caught it by chance!

We took a Disney Cruise for spring break and it was on their island on Castway Cay where we had packed the day filled with excursions that I think I finally let myself go and just had fun in the moment!  It didn’t matter that the water was FREEZING.  It didn’t matter that Linc was overly exhausted from staying up too late and the kids club the night before or that the 1 thing I really wanted him to do and had prepared him for, he was too scared to do.  It didn’t even matter that all that I had planned in my head turned out to be totally different… it was better actually.  All that mattered was that we were all together (FINALLY) and somehow, I LET GO!

I was just IN THE MOMENT.  I was enjoying being mom.  I was enjoying playing with my kiddo without any expectations of him or me!  There was only that second right then.  No agenda’s.  No must have shots that I needed to get.  My camera was tucked away safely in the bag on the chair with Tuck.  I had the go pro… but it didn’t matter what it captured because whatever we were doing was exactly perfect and where we needed to be.

I wasn’t trying to control anything:  not the moment, not Linc, not myself, not the agenda or the day.  I was just breathing and playing and enjoying!

So here’s what I’ve learned:

  • 2019:  You are already a beast!  It’s only been 3 months and you’ve taught me a lot so far.
  • I might have taken on too much with my word this year!  It’s a great word and a great goal.  I’m not letting it go, but it might be more of a life goal rather than a yearly word.
  • My expectations might be too high right now for everyone, but especially myself!  It’s great to have standards but it can be harmful if you are always beating yourself up because you set expectations that are ridiculous and unrealistic!
  • NEW WORD:  BE!  Be in the moment.  Be present.  No expectations, just be inside it.

If you follow me on instagram, I posted a quote yesterday:

” He said there are only two days in the year that nothing can be done.  One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly LIVE.”

Who else is with me in wanting to just live, love, be and do today!

Let’s make the most of it!

 

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