A Day (and a heartstopping moment) at the Beach

Last week Tuesday I took the kids to the beach. Ninety-five percent of the day was a total blast. The other 5% was pure horror for a mom! Before I go on, let me say that Ellie is fine. She didn't drown or even come close, but here's the story:

So there were lots of us at the beach. My mom, the four young cousins of mine that she had camping with her, my brother-in-law Nathan and my niece Regan, Regan's 2 cousins, plus our friends Andrew and Ruth and their three kids. Needless to say, it was busy. Lunch time rolled around and I decided to feed Josh his lunch first while Ellie played by the side of the water with the other kids. I asked my mom to keep an eye on her which was no problem...she didn't appear to be going anywhere. About five minutes into Joshua's lunch I hear my mom call up to me (where I'm sitting in the shade) "Do you know where Ellie is?" Of course, I'm not worried at first. There are so many kids around that she's probably just blended into the crowd somehow. Well, we start scanning the beach, and can't see her anywhere. So I call to Nathan and Andrew and ask them to look, too. My cousins are also looking. Ellie is nowhere. By this time my heart is beginning to pound and three things keep circulating through my brain: "Did someone take her? Is she under the water? Is this the worst day of my life?" After what was probably only a minute of looking (which felt like an eternity) I suddenly see this little brown-haired head floating face-down in the water. I completely lost it. "MOM!" I said, instantly crying. "She's floating! She's floating!" (I guess you don't really think about whether what you're saying actually makes sense when you think your child is dead.) My mom took three big steps towards the water before realizing that it wasn't Ellie (it was some little kid floating that way for fun). "That's not her!" she said, and I instantly felt foolish, but totally relieved. But now I'm thinking she's kidnapped. I can't even explain how nauseous I felt, though I'm sure some of you who've gone through this would understand completely. Suddenly one of my cousins calls from the other side of the beach, "She's on the playground!!" I make a beeline for the playground, and there she is, happy as a lark in her too-big pink shades and white sun hat, having a great old time...all by herself. Maybe I should have, but at the time I didn't make much of an effort to explain to her what she'd done wrong. There were too many people around who were 'sort of' taking care of her for her to feel obligated to tell any of them where she was going. Plus I was so INSANELY relieved and grateful that she was alive that all I could do was hug her and try to stop my limbs from shaking. And watch her like a hawk for the rest of the day. :)
I didn't post about this last week, because even now (over a week later) I get all worked up just thinking about it. Incidents like this one sure make you do a reality check...and put little things in perspective. All I can say is thank you Lord for our two healthy, wonderful, crazy little kids.