My son and I happened to stumble upon a shell shield that had been put into place just a few days earlier, as a part of the Maximo Park Living Shoreline Project.

According to the city of St. Pete’s website this project in coordination with Tampa Bay Watch, “intends to create a robust living shoreline, strategically positioned to mitigate erosion, protect cultural artifacts, restore coastal habitats, and enhance water quality in the area.”

Trying to explain this to my almost 3-year-old backfired. I should not have said it’s a playground for crabby crabs and baby sharks. He became inconsolable as he wanted to play on the playground built for crabby crabs and baby sharks.

The tantrum didn’t last long. He pooped himself about 2 minutes later and got distracted... by the flies. Really big flies. I’ll stop the story there.

These are pictures of my oldest before he pooped. Notice, NO FLIES.