So I missed posting yesterday… due to the excitement and it was just a very long day. We had a great morning, took our time and made it down to the beach (our first trip for the day). We searched for shells, yes, more shells, mainly because the water was still kind of dirty from the storm. I remember how crystal clear it was Sunday before the storm and even today it is still far from being that clear. So on to the excitement that I mentioned.
Caroline and I were walking on the shore, about 40 or so yards down the beach from Staci and Campbell. We were near our little sand stroller that we use to cart things back and forth to the beach. Staci and Campbell had decided to walk out to the sandbar to take a look there for some larger shells that may have made it that far without breaking. They had been out there for a few minutes while Caroline and I played. All of a sudden I heard Staci yell out for me. I turned to see her backing up off of the sandbar holding Campbell and trying to reach backwards to swim back across to the beach. I knew instantly that she had seen a shark. Before I knew it, I had thrown a spray can of sunscreen down on the beach and had sprinted towards them. As I approached, I glanced out at the water to see two small fins headed down the sandbar away from them. I slowed to take a closer glance up the beach to scan for any other fins, as I made my way into the water. I could tell Staci was quite shaken up. I asked if she had been bitten and she responded with ‘no’ as she gasped for air. The section between the beach and the sandbar was a stretch of water about 20+ yards and was probably near shoulder depth at times, so she had to drag Campbell on top of her while she swam across that section. We ran on up out of the water as she continued to catch her breath. We glanced back at the water, but never saw anything other than dolphins further out from the sandbar. Staci walked up the beach to tell someone who was out in the water, that we had seen a shark, but he really was not all that interested. Shock! If it had been me, and the water being as dark as it was, I would have been out of the water. Not this guy. He proceeded back into the water. We remained out of the water for that trip and made our way back towards the pool for a few moments before heading in for lunch. It was off to nap time for the girls after we wrapped up lunch. I rested for about an hour and then took a bike ride for an hour.
Once I returned, the girls were up and ready to play. Being as early as it was, I fixed the girls and I some ice-cream and we sat and watched ‘Finding Nemo’ for a while. Afterwards, the girls were ready for another trip to the beach, so we loaded up the stroller again and headed down. We spent a couple of hours out (Staci found a few more shells to add to the collection ) before heading back in for dinner (after 8:00 by the time we made it inside). We had some leftover spaghetti that was just marvelous, followed by a round of desert of course. We watched some TV and then Campbell and I headed back to the beach to do some crabbing. Campbell loves it. We both had a flash light in one hand and a net in the other. We were determined to find crabs this time around. We had been out one or two times already this week with no luck. Within a few moments of stepping onto the beach, Campbell spotted a crab that was smaller than an inch in diameter and was running trying to catch it with her hands. It somehow managed to escape into the darkness. We made our way down to the water and spotted a larger one, which we caught instantly. In June, when we were here, we had a lot of luck just walking in the edge of the water and spotting them very closeby. Since the water is so dirty, we ended up having to shine the light down the beach and scan for movement. When we would spot something, we would both sprint down the beach (hoping not to step on a broken shell or a crab that we had not spotted 
). We caught several on our way down the beach and then made it to a spot where water was being trapped and being washed out up the beach (so there was a section of water that flowed kind of like a small creek). I figured at the other end where it went back into the ocean, we would find crab. Sure enough, we caught four in that section alone and would have caught more if we had more time. In all, we caught 9 crabs, missed one that kept evading us and made it back home around 11:15. We both crashed pretty hard… slept on the top part of the downstairs bunk beds that Campbell has been begging us to let her sleep in since we came back in June. I woke up feeling like someone had hit me with a bat. No one reminded me that it only has one layer of mattress (very small one I might add) with no springs, etc. It also creaked very loudly, but we had a good time. Anyway, got to run, I hear ‘little one’ downstairs. Time to go play!!!
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