Here Sharky, Sharky, Sharky Sharky.......

I. hate. Sharks.

I know hate is a strong word, but I do. I hate them. There are many things on this earth that are annoying, but I can find a reason for them to be here. A purpose to their existence. Bees are annoying, but they help to pollinate flowers and make honey, which is really yummy. See, they have a purpose. The only purpose I can find for sharks is to keep the surfer population under control..and to strike fear in the hearts of all those that are sensible enough to be scared of them.

There is no point in leaving me a comment trying to convince me of a sharks purpose or trying to explain to me that God created all animals for a reason. I won't believe you. I hate sharks.

Yesterday, my family went to the beach. The beach we go to is small. It is never very crowded. There are lifeguards on duty. It is a nice beach.

In the past, we have seen lots of different sea critters. We have seen crabs and clams. We have seen sea slugs and sting rays. There have been tiny fish and BIG fish and star fish and all sorts of fish. We have even seen dolphins swimming just off shore a few times.

Well, yesterday, my worst nightmare came true.

We had been walking along the edge of the water and came to this point where the seaweed was pretty scarce and the water was REALLY clear and decently shallow. I told Jason he should take the little ones out into the water and walk around to see what they could see. My husband was about 30 feet out in the water. He had Evan (my 3 yr old) and Kyle (my 5 year old) with him. My daughter Mikaily (8 yr old) was about halfway out to him. I was on the sand (where anyone with a brain stays), watching Alaina play with the shells. I heard Jason yell....
"HEY! There's a shark!" and he took a couple of quick steps forward.
"HAHA! Very funny!" I said back to him. Knowing full well that he was pulling my leg because I am petrified of sharks.
"No, I'm serious." he said, looking up at me.
I could tell by the look on his face he was serious.
"Well get out of the water. NOW!" I yelled back at him.
Kyle listened. So did Kaily. The two of them came running towards me as fast as they could through the water, yelling "SHARK!!!!!!" I told them to hush, as not to induce panic.
"It's tiny. It's only about this big." He said as he held up his two pointer fingers, about ten inches apart. At that point, Kyle turned around and headed back out. My heart started racing. If there was a shark out there, I didn't want my children in the water...no matter how tiny it was. A ten inch shark could bite off Kyle's toe. Then, that would attract a bigger shark, that would swoop in out of no where and swallow him whole, before we had a chance to do anything about it! I told Kyle and Evan to come to me. They didn't listen. I watched them, wading around in the water that was chest high on them. they were staring down into the water and taking a step this way...then that way...then back again. It was obvious they could see it and were following it around.

Some other guy and his wife came along. He apparently knew a lot about sharks and had heard Jason say he saw one. So, what does a strange man who knows a lot about sharks do when he comes across one on the beach. Well, he herds it up to the shore and then.....picks it up, of course! That's right, I said he picked it up.

So, yesterday at the beach, not only did my children SEE a shark.....they TOUCHED a shark's belly. Seriously creepy. My heart still thumps when I think about it. I was visibly shaking. I don't care how tiny it is. It still has teeth. Tiny, SHARP teeth that could easily slice through flesh if it really wanted to.

A small crowd gathered. The guy let the kids look and touch it until he could tell the baby shark had had enough and he tossed it back out into the water. I looked it up online today. It was a bonnethead shark...a member of the hammerhead family. ICK!!! Makes me nauseous just thinking about it. No wonder I avoid going to the beach! And OF COURSE it would be the one time I forgot to take my camera with me......so here is one I found on google images....


So then today my day didn't get any better. I was straining the noodles for dinner and I looked outside on the lanai and found this:

Geesh!! This was not nearly as scary to me as the baby shark was, though.

Then this evening, Laney's polka dots decided to make a comeback. I am guessing it's just another viral rash, since that is what they told us it was last time. Although, both times now she has also been on antibiotics, so I am slightly worried that she might be having a reaction to the antibiotic. Who knows?? (notice her left eye? It's all swollen from where the infection is now coming out through her eye....ewwww!!)



The spots haven't broken her spirit, though. This is her, "I am cute and I totally know it" face.

Now, I am going to bed and not waking up for at least 3 days.....ok, well at least 3 hours. *sigh*