Lionfish.

The Dearmans came down from Key Largo to go lobstering with us today.

We tried the bridge, too rough.

So we ended up on the gulf side.

The mom's ditched.

No one saw that one coming.

Not.

 Twelve lobsters and one lionfish later

[Lionfish are not native to Florida and are allowed to be killed on spot, 

Uncle Bill caught one to grill and eat later – how a highly poisonous fish is edible – beats me]

 Out of nowhere we got pulled over.

I looked over [randomly] and saw a police boat, 

lights on coming towards us like a bullet.

 They tied us up, came on board, and checked out our lobsters. 

“This one’s too small.” 

Crap. 

Eight hearts dropped. 

“Who’s your measurer?”

Dun.Dun.Dun.Busted. 

“Aleksi.” 

The lobster was just barely too small,

but quick thinking dad blamed Aleksi for measuring incorrectly, 

knowing that the police wouldn’t be too harsh on her. 

And thank goodness they weren’t.

We may have escaped a very expensive ticket because they showed her how to correctly measure,

threw the lobster out, and then left.

Relief. 

We came home, ate lunch, 

and those of us who were too exhausted to go back [aka all the kiddos] stayed home.

 Let’s see, this part of the evening is a blur.

Dad, Bill and Bill Sr. all came back with a full load of lobsters. 

We were out helping them clean the boat, etc. when our neighbor across the canal yelled,

“Oi! Your dogs in the water!”

I turned my head and instinctively jumped in the water to poor drowning Bentley’s rescue.

Struggling to stay afloat, there he was – head bobbing out of the water, gasping for breath.

No one even heard him fall/jump into the water. 

Poor dog, can't swim - just sinks.  

Not the first time he’s almost died this trip.

[Aleksi fed him a few grapes, which if you didn’t know are highly toxic to pups]

On the bright side, we caught our lobster limit today.