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Hi Patty,
Your best option, I think, is to wipe this painting out and start again on this canvas. You could re-grid the reference (in a different color), too, so that the grid is parallel to the horizon line. and the composition is shifted to the left.
The color looks pretty accurate to me. Personally I would try not to change too many factors, since this can make you crazy. So leaving the color as is can simplify things. If you squint, most of the water is actually closer to sand color (yellow ochre, raw umber light). On the right, in the shallow water, a reflection is just beginning, where the sand color turns slightly bluer, or pale greenish-blue. The underside of the wave on the left is also sand colored. Nothing in your imagination is as valuable as the colors in the reference. It really isn't a bad reference except for the lack of detail in the child's face.
To answer your question about how to treat the very dark shadow behind the children: On the left in the sand is the color of the sand in shadow. The color is the accurate sand-in-shadow color that extends behind the kids. The color of their reflections will be the color of their clothing or skin tinged with the color of this shadow.
Try not to get anxious.
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