Ok so you all think I have this irrational fear of sharks. Well let me tell you something. They are out there in the very water you swim in (unless it's a lake or pool) and just because you don't see the fin doesn't mean they aren't crusing right past your sunscreened ass.

This time, on this trip, we actually got to see the sharks up close and personal. No, not at an aquarium, they were right there in the surf with us. Feeding right next to where my kids were frolicking in the surf. Yes, that's right HOLY SHIT.

For those of you who are doing the - uh, Amy, it was a dolphin, porpoise, or some other swimming mammal. You need to know this - I live with a mini Jaq Cousteau. He knows all about our great atlantic ocean, even has a guide to sea shells which I think qualifies him as a dork. But when it comes time for animal identification, I defer to him.

Here's how it went down. I'm sitting with good friend talking about work, family, decompressing, at the very edge of the water while our daughters exfoilate us with a sand scrub. We would periodically look at the hubbys with our wonder boys to make sure the hubbys were a)watching them b)making sure the boys didn't fight over who got the Rocket Power surfboard. We both hear the Dad's say - out of the water now, and half carry/half drag our boys to the sand. I of course, pop up and immediately begin looking out to sea for "The Fin" - yes in my head I heard the theme from Jaws, but hey I've always been dramatic. My husband, points and says there - and right in front of us - where the waves break in - right where my child and his best friend had been standing, a beige fin with a black tip rises out of the water and cuts through the surf. AUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHH. I will have you note, at this point my hubby said, "This is so Cool".

Being a GREAT Mom, I don't panic, I don't run and pick up all of our stuff and say - back to the pool, I just camly, look and point and show my son how you can see them turning to get into the shallow water to catch the fish (note - the water was mid-calf on me) and that you could tell it was a black tip because daddy said so, AND the black tip on it's fin. Inside I was freaked, but I was determined not to teach the kids to be afraid. Since we were on a beach with no life guard, it was up to us to decide how long to stay out of the water. We could see them swimming up the coast, and we walked up to the next group - told them about it - and people just passed the word up the beach. To be fair, the sharks were follwing a school of fish, and yeah they have to eat, so I didn't feel like they were stakling us.

Fast forward an hour later and the boys are back in the water, the girls are playing in the surf, and I am standing knee deep in the ocean pretending to look calm and relaxed. Oh yeah, just hanging out, whoo hooo, this is great. In reality, i was a mom on alert. In one hand I had a digging shovel which I figured i could use to beat them off, and i would casually look and turn, look and turn.

This happened the second day we were there. We went to the beach 5 more times. Didn't see the shark again. We are planning to go back in September. If you find yourself at the Atlantic Seashore, and you see a women, standing mid-calf in the ocean with a sand shovel in her hand trying to look casual, come by, say hi.

Oh, One last thing - I scretly fear that maybe these blogs have some sort of power and beause I wrote about sharks they showed up in real life. I'll have to write about winning the lottery......