If you’ve never been to the Delaware sandbars, let me paint the picture. The sun was shining, there was a nice breeze, and the water was absolutely perfect.

A few days before our trip, my brother-in-law, who I lovingly call Uncle Bill, had broken his toe. So naturally, he decided the best therapy was spending the day standing in cool salt water. Believe it or not, it actually worked. Once he got in the water, his foot wasn’t bothering him at all.

So there we were, standing in the bay with a couple of cold beers, enjoying the day. We even met a veteran who stopped to chat for a while. Before long we were talking about our dogs, and of course I had to tell him about my “man-eating” dog… okay, bunny-eating dog. He’d probably like everyone to think he’s a fierce hunter, but really he’s just hoping a bunny doesn’t outrun him.

It was one of those perfect summer afternoons where time just seemed to stand still.

Well… Until I stepped on a horseshoe crab.

Now, I like to think I’m a bit of a tomboy. But apparently, all that toughness disappears the second something touches my foot. I let out a scream that probably echoed across the entire bay. Poor horseshoe crab was probably more scared of me than I was of him!

Uncle Bill laughed so hard I thought he was going to need help getting back to the boat.

Once I realized what had happened, I couldn’t help but laugh at myself too. I probably looked absolutely ridiculous. After everyone recovered from my Oscar-worthy performance, we went right back to enjoying the day.

Eventually we decided it was time to head back to the boat. As we started walking through the water, I suddenly felt what I swore was a bee sting on my leg. Now, I know what a bee sting feels like. We have honey bees, and every once in a while they remind me that they don’t appreciate me borrowing their honey.

I looked around and didn’t see anything, so I figured maybe it was all in my head.

A few more steps… OUCH! This one hurt even worse.

Before I could even figure out what was happening, I heard Uncle Bill behind me.

“I just got stung!”

Well… now I knew I wasn’t imagining things.

There we were… One of us limping because of a broken toe. The other limping because of a jellyfish sting.

Just a few minutes earlier I was screaming over a harmless horseshoe crab, and now we were both hobbling through the bay trying to get back to the boat.

Aren’t we a pair? I’m pretty sure anyone watching us thought we’d just survived some epic ocean battle instead of enjoying a peaceful afternoon at the sandbar.

We finally made it back to the dock, two tired, limping beach bums trying to pretend we were tougher than we really were.

Then someone reminded me of the old saying… “You’re supposed to pee on a jellyfish sting.”

Well… I wasn’t about to ask anybody else to do it, so I figured I’d take matters into my own hands. Let’s just say things didn’t exactly go as planned.

I missed!

All I managed to accomplish was giving myself a water shoe full of pee.

So now I had a jellyfish sting…

…and a shoe full of pee.

At that point, all I could do was laugh.

Needless to say, I don’t recommend that treatment.

The horseshoe crab scared me half to death.

The jellyfish got both of us.

Uncle Bill still had his broken toe.

And somehow… It ended up being one of my favorite memories of the summer.

I’ve learned that life isn’t always about the days that go perfectly. Sometimes it’s about the unexpected moments that leave you laughing until your sides hurt and give you a story you’ll tell for years.

And for the record…

Jellyfish are still not our friends.