Seriously.... am I related to the Griswolds????

After what was a most soul soothing, laugh out loud (too loud at times) sort of long lunch date with a few of my loveliest friends last weekend, the call came through to jump back into the front seat of reeeeeeeeality and join my family and another at the beach for good old fish and chips watching the sun go down. Yes, I know, its a hard life!

Now, imagine the atmosphere.  Small, quiet little waves breaking consistently on the shore.  The distant sounds of frolicking children having the time of their lives.  Little Ollie practicing his walking with a cheerful chuckle.  ALL OF MY BOYS GETTING ALONG (!!!!!).........




bliss....

spot the dinghy...

'Time for dinner' we thought so the men went to pick it up annnnnnnnnnnnnnd thennnnnnnn......... ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!!

The wind picked up and the blow up dinghy that my boys were on took flight - literally!  Thankfully none of them were in it but my least confident swimmer was left to be in charge of it so as he began to panic and chase it, the wind just kept forcing it further out into the sea.  I started yelling out to my oldest boy to go after it, not quite realising just how fast it was moving and to his credit, he focused more on his brother who was beside himself and beginning to travel out too far.  In they came.  As the dinghy became a spec on the horizon, a lady on a kayak charged past and threw herself into the water and took off in its direction.  I had no idea who she was or where she had come from!

I looked behind me at the Surf Lifesaving Club and saw that there was a bit of a gathering of people forming on the balcony so approached them to find out if anyone had known the mystery kayak lady.  It turned out that no one knew who she was but that a Life saver was going to head out to save the little girl who was in the dinghy...... YEP, the story was that a little girl was in the dinghy being drifted out to sea..  As this was sinking in, the Life Saver bolted past me and took off, following the mystery kayak lady who was chasing the EMPTY dinghy that had mistaken itself for a kite!

causing a scene..

I said to a lady 'there is no little girl'.  She looked very confused and didn't quite believe me.  I said, 'we have 7 boys between us and there was no little girl... the dinghy is empty'. 'Oh,' she said 'Oh well, Im sure someone will catch it for you'.  As I turned to walk back to the waters edge, I could here conversations... 'I hope the little girl is OK', 'Did you hear theres a little girl in there..' 'Little girl.... blah blah blah'. I was mortified!

I just stood, hopeless, watching the mystery kayak lady disappear into the very far distance, the Life Saver disappear after her and the bloody dinghy flapping around as if it was making fun of them!! All this fuss and there was no little girl, which of course I was grateful for.... but still mortified all the same!!

A buzz was beginning to travel along the beach about the terrible  series of events unfolding and as I stood almost wishing a wave would sweep me up and take me away, I kept trying to diminish the vicious rumour of the little girl in danger..... word sure travels fast!!!!  The general reaction was one of confusion when people learned that there was no little girl..., no one could understand what all the fuss was for.  I, although pleased that our blow up dinghy would be returned safely, also thought the fuss was unnecessary.... and rather dangerous!

Thankfully, eventually, all parties began their long paddle back to shore, with said dinghy.  I made sure that the boys were all lined up to shower the accidental heroes with absolute praise and gratitude upon their arrival.

I sashayed up to the mystery kayak lady after thanking the life saver over and over and over again... Im sure he thought I was a complete nut!! The poor woman was a shattered mess! She was exhausted.  I said thank you but beyond that I was not sure how I could repay her for going to all that trouble for a blow up dinghy.  She would not tell me her name and no one knew who she was.  After overwhelming her with my gratitude I let her be.  You know when you can tell that a person isn't too social and would much rather be left alone, well, that was her.  Or maybe she was just too exhausted to show any emotion... Justified!

Once the commotion died down, the men arrived back with fish and chips and we all sat and re told our story of unbelievable proportion (whilst chowing down on crunchy, sand ridden chips..).  We giggled at the embarrassment and fuss and recognised our gratitude for having such helpful, caring people around us....... 

....... and what of the dinghy.........., well its been deflated and we promise that we will only use it on days where there is not a breath of wind! Im sure the Life Saver and the Mystery Kayak Lady would be very happy to hear that... and the little girl of course!    

A calming end to an eventful day xx