Got Crabs!

This week on vacation we spent a lot of our free time crabbing. We used traps and crabbing lines, which are simply a weight with a hook, for the bait, tied to the line. We found rotten, raw chicken and dead fish to work the best. The crabs were most active when the tide was starting to coming in. The water was also the clearest then so it was easy to spot them. The other thing we learned the hard way was that you can drowned a crab. If we store them in too much water over night they we die. We did this twice before figuring it out. In total we caught 15 to 20 crabs and had a wonderful dinner on Thursday night. Next time we need to vacation with people who like seafood. There was way too much for the couple of us who ate them. We have a lot of leftovers to try to freeze. In addition to crabs, we also harvested clams, oysters and whelks (a conch sized looking snail). We have the whelks in the fridge to eat tonight. Bon appetit!

Fun in the Sun

Monday and Tuesday we mostly hung out at the beach house. We rented a kayak for the week and we have spent many hours touring the intercoastal waterway behind our place. The kids continue to spend a lot of time in the water and playing in the sand. Yesterday all the boys and Em

ma spent the morning geocaching around the area. It was a lot of fun.

Vacation Memories

Jamey found an amazing deal for us on Pawleys Island in South Carolina. This was the second time we have been here in 4 years. We are sharing the house with her cousin's family. Above is a photo of the house we rented (2nd from right) from this morning just before sunrise. Today, Easter, we had a laid back day. A nice morning, including an Easter egg hunt and breakfast. We spent all afternoon on the beach. The older 3 got way too much sun. We had a good dinner and the kids enjoyed playing in the sand again. I got to hunt for clams after dinner. I found 8 and the stopped looking because I was certain I was the only one who would try them.

RISEN

Easter Morning- Pawleys Island, South Carolina

First Famliy Vacation ...

Well it is true, we are going on our first full-fledged family vacation since we had Grace. Sure, we do travel; however, we are always able to convince someone to watch one or more of our kiddos. But this weekend we are heading to Pawleys Island, SC will all the kids and Jamey's cousin's family. I can't wait. I just hope we all fit in our minivan. We will see... We rented a house on the beach just down from the house we stayed in four years ago. I can't wait.

Skiing in Snowshoe, WV

Imagination Station

Sunday I took the kids to Imagination Station in Toledo. It was similar to COSI, with many of the old attractions. It had a few new ones that were were a lot of fun for the kids and I. The Cartoon Network section was one of our favorites. It allowed you to create videos, animations, etc... They also had a 180 degree camera that allowed you to try to recreate Matrix like action poses. There is a new energy exhibit, sponsored by First Solar and BP Energy, scheduled to open this spring. I wish we would have waited for that. All in all a fun afternoon that was cheaper and more educational than a movie.