Lisinda Bruynius, her husband Rudy, their two-year-old daughter McKayla and her two brothers, Damian, 6, and 10-year-old Tyrone, were enjoying a family getaway in Newquay, near Cornwall in England, on August 19 last year.
The family of five, originally from Surrey, were fishing on the rocks near the ocean after a local recommended the spot. The weather conditions began to rapidly change with the waves increasing in size by about two metres in a matter of minutes.
An inquest this week has heard how the fun family day out quickly turned to tragedy, The Sun reports.
"We had been there about 30 minutes and the boys seemed happy. We were all having a nice time and had no concerns," Lisinda, who was too upset to attend the inquest in person, recalled in a statement.
"Within five minutes the water had risen to about 6ft. I told the boys to go higher on the rocks. I recall saying, 'This is not normal'."
No sooner had Damian and Tyrone climbed to safety than a giant wave washed Lisinda, Rudy and McKayla - who was still strapped into her stroller - off the rocks.