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!

Compost Love

Our silly puppy has found the compost pile. It is her favorite place to run to when she is let outside to play. She typically comes back with a cob of corn, or watermelon. Of course, she eats anything she can fit her little jaws around. I'm not sure if other puppies are quite so indiscriminate in what they eat, but she seems to have no problem eating ANYTHING.

What is so funny is that she thinks she is doing something sneaky and she carefully guards her prize. She won't let any of us near her with her goodies! I had to zoom in with the camera on her tonight to capture these pictures of her. Very funny!

What'cha got, Elsa?
Grrrr, stay away from my watermelon!

You're getting too close for my comfort. I'm taking this elsewhere.

I'm ready to grab it and run as soon as you take another step closer to me.

Swim Team
The kids have been having a great time on the Elks Swim Team this summer. Bay is really doing well...he is doing more swimming and less playing in the water, which is pretty monumental for him! Eric has moved up to the second practice, which is a big deal to him since now he swims with the older age group. Leah is not doing swim team yet, but she sure is a fish in the water. She plays in the baby pool during practice, but is swimming all around our pool at home in the afternoons.
Below are a couple of pictures of the kids doing their swim thing!

Eric, close-up

Bay and his buddy, Joey

Eric just finishing his backstroke race

Bay doing backstroke.

Bay, lined up for a race. Love the enthusiasm!

Take your mark, Eric!

Summer Fun

Our summer has been full of lots of activities. I don't want to make a long post, and it's been a while since I posted due to the busyness that summer brings to our house, but I will give a few snippets.

Dennis' sister Karen, and her husband, David, came to visit for a few days. We enjoyed their company, and the kids did too. David (who we haven't ever really gotten to know) was great to have around...the kids loved him and he and Eric even went out canoeing one afternoon. Karen got to spend lots of time with her mom, which was the main purpose of the visit :)

We celebrated the Fourth of July with just our family this year. We were considering a last minute weekend sailing trip, but couldn't quite pull it off. After a great cookout of slow-roasted ribs and fresh corn on the cob, we did our own little fireworks before going out on the boat to see the big fireworks. Dennis surprised us all this year by letting Eric set off some fireworks! Below is a picture of Eric with the blow torch. Of course, Dennis had to scare his pants off by making a big "Bang!" sound the first time Eric went to touch the fuse with the torch! Eric did a great job and was responsible and safe. Above is a picture of us watching Eric. Granni was sitting down with Bay and Leah, and Elsa, always vying for attention, had to get on her lap as well. Silly dog ;)

Eric recently had a 1/2 birthday party in our pool. He had delayed a party this year in hopes of being able to have a pool party this summer. The first one was rained out, but we rescheduled and the boys had a blast. There were just 5 boys, but I filled their time with pool games, diving contests, relays, an obstacle course, water balloon races, and more, and the time flew by. It was a good thing too! Ten year olds sure do get into trouble rather quickly if left to themselves for more than a few minutes!!!!