Local Flavor!

Eric's friend, Josh, is at our house this week during the day. The boys are having a great time being boys....mostly they have either been fishing or in the pool. Either way, I try to keep them outside as much as possible! This morning, they went down to the water first thing. Below is the treasure that they caught! A soft shell...and a huge male at that! He was a full 8" across from tip to tip! If you don't know much about soft shells, they are very hard to find. When a blue crab molts (loses its shell) every so often (usually around the full moon) he has a new "soft" shell underneath. He is not in this stage for very long, for it hardens quickly, within hours. However they are very vulnerable (as you can imagine) while their shells are soft. They cannot use their pincers and move very slowly if at all. Usually they bury themselves in the soft mud to hide until they harden. So to find one soft and catch it is rare. Once you get it out of the water, you must immediately wrap it in a moist paper towel and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook it. This keeps the shell soft and keeps the crab alive in a dormant state. Again, you need to cook it rather soon for best flavor and to keep it from dying.

So, we prepared it and cooked it for lunch. Preparing involves essentially lifting the shell to remove the gills and cutting out the face with a knife. Then you heat some butter in a heavy pan, and fry it on both sides till the legs are crispy and it has turned a nice shade of red. A little salt and pepper and Old Bay are all that is necessary to flavor it.

The end product is a delicacy not for the faint of heart or stomach! Out of my family, only myself and Leah will eat it. My mom loves them as well. And for our newcomer, Josh, he ate a leg and a bit of the body! Very brave young man! In case you are wondering, you eat the whole thing at this point...shell and all! It is crunchy on the outside and meaty and delicious on the inside. I hope you are not grossed out at this point...but if you are, don't feel badly, that just means more for me!!!

Fun in the pool...

It has been a very hot August. Either the kids have been downstairs in the basement where it is the coolest, or in the pool. I always forget to take the camera out there with me, but every once in awhile I remember! I'm not sure where Eric was during these pictures????

I am just amazed at what a difference it makes in their swimming ability (especially when little like Leah) when they can get in a pool and swim every day. She is a fish!

I am done teaching swim lessons for the summer, and school starts next week for us, so they have one more week of this! I'm sure we'll find room for time in the pool once school starts, but it's just never quite the same.

Week of Girl

This past week the boys have spent the mornings taking a class at our local community college. Eric took a comic drawing class and Bay took Little Einsteins. Very fun for them, they have been looking forward to it all summer. Since the boys were off doing something special, Leah and I thought it would be fun to have some mother/daughter time each morning doing something special as well together. I originally planned to post each day summarizing our special outing, but it didn't work out that way. Instead, I'll give a bit of it now and bit more later once I get some pictures off of my mom's camera!

Week of Girl- Day 1 (part 1)

Tea Party at Granni's house

Leah picked out a cookie recipe (shortbread hearts filled with chocolate cream) and we made them that morning.

The table was set...mints, strawberries, cookies, and tea with sugar cubes and my Great Aunt's Chocolate Set. Girly fun...and a great start to the week!

Week of Girl-Day 2

Nail Salon

We went to the nail salon where mommy got a pedicure, while Leah got her fingernails and toenails painted..pink for the fingers, purple for the toes. When she was done and I wasn't, the lady offered to paint some flowers on Leah's nails if she wanted. What a silly question! So she got little jewels on her thumbs and flowers on the rest of her nails. Leah was so serious about the whole thing, and I wish I had brought the camera.

Week of Girl-Day 3

Movie Morning

We picked out a movie at the store and stayed home on the third day because I wasn't feeling too well (battling a sore throat). Care Bears...it was fun and relaxing. Not too often I actually sit down and watch a movie with the kids, so she enjoyed just having me cuddle up with her during the movie!

Week of Girl-Day 4 and 5

Coming Soon

Another successful night at the Fireman's Carnival!

We had a wonderful evening at the local fireman's carnival again this year. We actually spent more time there than we ever have. I think we were there from 7-10 pm! Eric rode the same ride over and over again...at least 6 times in a row!

Granni, despite her fear of this ride, rode the ferris wheel with Leah. Daddy said noone could get him to go on it, but later in the evening he was convinced to go with me and Leah!
Gramps and Bay on the Ferris Wheel

Eric on the scrambler. He rode all of the rides with his arms crossed in front of him like this. I think we have officially entered the "pre-teen" years. He tries to act so grown-up, but he can't fool us :)

Leah, wearing her party dress, was a brave little girl. She wanted to ride all by herself. Here she is on the pony cart ride.

And Bay, rode as many times with Eric as possible. At first, the tilt-a-whirl line was short, so they went many times in a row to begin with. No cotton candy or ice-cream till all of the rides are done!