The Great Jellyfish Debacle

Scary, Evil Jellyfish

The jellyfish I've seen in person tend to look like large globs of clear snot ... or phlegm, if you prefer.  I've been fortunate to avoid encounters with them, but my children weren't so lucky today. If you've ever watched the show FRIENDS, you're going to understand that, despite my sadness over my children being stung, my favorite episode was playing on a loop in my head.  Maybe you know the episode - The One With the Jellyfish.

Remember when Joey was tired from digging the huge hole?

As my children innocently swam in the ocean, they: (and here's where the story varies depending on the parties involved)

A:  were viciously attacked

B: inadvertently brushed up against

... a couple of jellyfish.  Who knows, considering it happened consecutively and not simultaneously, this could've been the same rogue jellyfish.  No one else on the beach appeared to be writhing in agony or running in circles as though someone had lit their bathing suits on fire.  So just like Monica from FRIENDS, they "got stung, got stung bad". <--- insert dramatic flair 

The caption is hilarious, but in the interest of not offending
anyone, let's just say Monica told off the jellyfish. 

No, we did not pee on our children.  I'm sorry, but EW.  First of all, there's debate as to the effect of peeing on a jellyfish sting, and on the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama is not the place I intend to test the theory and validity of such a practice.  Secondly, I have a shy bladder, so forget peeing on anyone. With the sympathy and devotion that only parents can muster we told them to get back in the water so it would feel better.  #parentsoftheyear  

Before you get all judgy, neither child was horrifically maimed, and these were minor stings in comparison to other things they've endured. Caleb proceeded to kick the waves as they broke on the shore, and Katlyn ran back and forth from the edge of the water to relay about 2,345.73 times that it "really hurt", but she was acting preteen dramatic enough to ensure her health was quite firmly intact.

So far, Gulf Shores 2015 is proving to be a very interesting trip.  Between Hurricane Davis and the Great Jellyfish Debacle, I dare say we'll have stories to tell for a few years.  Like any stellar parent, I told them they had to pause their painful prancing long enough for me to take a picture:

I can't help but wonder what tomorrow will bring.  I might need some new hashtags soon because #beachbums2015 and #maythegulfbewithyou seem entirely too tame right now!

On a completely unrelated note,
Caleb named this seagull Steve.  He then decided all of the seagulls should be called Steve.  The only thing I think of when I see them is the moment in Finding Nemo when all the seagulls say, "Mine.  Mine.  Mine Mine."