A night away, part two--CRABBING!

After enjoying an evening at the coast, we met up with our friends Dave and Linda. Months earlier we were at a Girls Camp fundraiser for the Young Women(girls ages 12-18 in our church)and our bid won a day of crabbing! We have been looking forward to this ever since! WITH GOOD REASON! We were crabbing for Dungeness Crab, truly some of the tastiest sea creatures on earth!


What a day we had! I guess I had beter start at the beginning...

Friday night we met up with our friends and drove over to the bay where we would be starting our adventure. It was fun hearing of past trips they have taken as they have been doing this for some time and are quite the experts! We said good night with the reminder that we would need to be in the hotel parking lot at 5:45 AM! Yep, you read that right--we are talking before the sun would be up! We took our foul-weather gear and bid them adieu.

Night time update: No kids came in and woke us up! Glorious!!
Early morning update: 5:30AM comes pretty early!

We snapped a shot of our outfits before heading out to the parking lot.

Then the Big Guy Lowe couldn't help but take another quick picture...can you tell we were excited for this adventure to begin??

Just in case you were wondering if I was serious about it still being dark, this is a picture of Linda at the launch. Can you see her? No! That's because it's still DARK!! We were on the water by 6AM!

Thoughts of all the crab we would be eating kept us going...ahhhh crab cocktails...

Once we were in the boat, Dave and Linda began showing us all the things that go into a day of crabbing. The first lesson began in baiting the traps. Nothing but the best for today--we had turkey legs and salmon heads! That would lure me somewhere--not! Then we even made things yummier for the crabs by slathering some truly foul smelling petrolium type product on the bait. We were assured that the crabs would be going crazy for it. I agreed that they must be crazy, but was willing to do whatever was needed to get those crabs into the traps!

Once the traps were baited, it was time to get them out in the water!! YAHOO!!

Dave and Linda were awesome the entire day! They let the Big Guy Lowe and I do as much as we were able. We didn't always do it right the first time, or even the second, but we did okay!

Once the traps were in the water, we let them sit about 30 minutes until we went back and began checking for crabs...(Here crabbie crabbie!)

It was so exciting. Linda said that pulling up the traps was like Christmas, and she was right! We were so excited as we pulled up trap after trap. Unfortunately, we can only keep male crab that measure big enough. There were times when our traps only contained female crab or little guys, but then there were other times when our traps came up with keepers and we were all cheering!

Those crabs were no match for us! I look like quite a pro holding that crab, don't I? This is more like how I felt touching/holding those squirmy, pinching crustaceans!

But we were thrilled as "keepers" kept finding their way into our traps!

Now the picture that really told the (my) story! Look at the size of that crab in my left hand--HUGE!!!

Now, don't anyone get the wrong idea here--I had a great time. I was SO excited that we were crabbing and I loved seeing the traps come up with keepers. I just found out that I was pretty wimpy when it came to grabbing them out of the traps. I couldn't believe how jumpy I was, and if the truth be told, I might have even made those girly-squeals (how embarrasing!). It was all great though, and just gave the Big Guy Lowe more opportunity to grab crab. Maybe someday I will get as good as our friends at reaching in and handling those creatures, but I like to think that I provided some comic relief during the trip when I did try. I can't help but laugh now!

Dave took a few minutes to tease a crab for the sake of our boys. I was taking a movie as he showed us how to check the crab for density of meat in their legs. It just so happens that they seem to hate that. It was fascinating watching them though.

Overall, the day was great! We learned so much about crabbing from people that really know their stuff, we spent the day on the water which is always wonderful, we ended up getting over 30 crab--we were told it was the high for the day, and most of all, we got to know Dave and Linda better which was wonderful.

At the end of the day, we were tired!

I think the Big Guy Lowe could have kept going as long as Dave and Linda wanted to keep throwing the traps, but the time had come to call it a day.

After dropping Linda and I off at the dock to take the crab to get boiled, Dave and Scott waited for a spot at the launch.

Joe, the owner of the little store on shore, has a cooker out back used to boil crab as soon as you get off the boat--we're all about safe eating here!

Once they were finished boiling, they were put into a cold water bath and then we packed them in ice for the drive home. What a day!

Today you could pick us out of the congregation at church by the sunburned faces we had. Dave and Linda got some sun too...or maybe it was just the glow from having such a great day crabbing! Either way, the crab tastes great and our memories are priceless.

A night away--part one, the beach

We had been planning on this trip for quite a while. It was just going to be overnight, but we hadn't had time away from our boys for so long that it almost didn't feel real. Friday came, we busily completed tasks on our "to do" lists. Grammy HB came over, we were still getting things finished, and then it was time to leave. We love our boys so much, but before we loved them, we were only in love with eachother.

I love the Big Guy Lowe so much. With all of his work and church responsibilities that take much of his time, I have come to treasure time that we have together. I was so excited to spend time with him this weekend!

We started out for the coast, Newport was our first goal. Rain was in the forcast, but soon blew over and sun followed. We played in Newport for awhile, enjoying a crab cocktail and clam chowder at the Fish Peddler's Market.

Then we scoped out some places that we will look forward to coming back to with the boys. Then we continued south to Waldport. It was such a beautiful evening that we couldn't help but take lots of pictures.

We found a beach that seemed pretty desolate. It was kind of sad in a way because there were so many beach houses empty and for sale. After walking around for awhile we found a cute house and used their ocean-facing deck to take a self-timer picture.

Then we just walked and talked.

And walked and talked some more.

Looking at these pictures make me happy. Precious time together.

I'm still so in love with this guy...

No need for explanation

(found this at strawberrypearl.com)

lol

Sleepover at Grammy's

Today was a big day.



Our two older boys get to have a sleepover at Grammy's house!!

Our oldest has loved these special times with Grammy and Grandpa HB in the past. This special time has always been filled with craft projects, games, often cousins and exciting times only experienced with Grammy! Recently our middle son became aware that he was missing out on this and began asking if he could have a sleepover too. I wasn't sure if he was old enough to spend the night away from his own bed and me tucking him in. In his three year old vocabulary, he let me know he was. Then when our oldest son excitedly asked if he and his younger brother could have a sleepover--I couldn't help but be excited too! This was something that they could do as brothers and to make it even better they would be able to have this wonderful time with my parents. My heart was excited for this rite of passage!

They could barely wait until it was time for me to take them over! The Big Guy Lowe and I were excited for their fun time to be had--even though it was strange for us just having one boy at home. (I do think our youngest enjoyed it though--until the next day when he kept looking around for them!)

Today when my mom brought them home, they excitedly tried to explain all the things they had done and wanted to show me all the new treasures they were bringing home. It makes me smile as I type this now. I hope my boys will always know how much they are loved. It brings a joy that is hard for me to describe when I see my boys love their grandparents so much.

Thank you mom and dad. I will always love you and be ever grateful for all you have and continue to do for me and my family. *smile*

Snake creek

Will there never be an end of new creeks to explore? Let's hope not! As long as we have our blanket to sit on, a container to inspect what's been caught, and treats to keep hunger at bay, we can't wait to meet out next creek-filled adventure!

As is often the case, we headed out on this new adventure with our fellow explorers the Crunchers. They bring great support, enthusiasm, talent and treats! But before getting to the water, we needed to sample the local blackberries to gather strength.

This creek is much smaller than our regular stomping grounds, but don't let size fool you...there was much to catch in these shallow waters!

Our oldest son was back in his element! What an amazing 6 year old--I love him so much! As soon as we arrive he starts looking for all things that crawl, swim, jump or slither...and he finds them too! He especially loves having young grasshoppers to share his skills with!

After catching a few crawdads (alas, one tried to get away but did not go too far), a frog,


a fish and a few mosquito bites it was time to leave our new creek.

Until we spotted one more unsuspecting fish.

With that last fish captured all other creatures were released. I could almost hear a sigh of relief from our observation container as it was dumped back into the creek! I love spending these days with my boys! I am so glad I get to be their mom!

Bring on Soccer!

This is the first year that our oldest son is playing in a soccer league. He is so excited--he is on the same team as many of his best friends! His first practice was Tuesday. After taking some time to figure things out and getting some pointers from his coach he loved it!



We're excited to cheer him on as he plays for the next 10 weeks! Go Snakes!

Remember these?

Just a little nostalgia with this post. After making our 3 year old's birthday cake we had some left over frosting. How is it that I had never made these for my boys before? My mom was a professional cake decorator and we had frosting coming out of the gazoo--but add some graham crackers and it's a simple and great treat! My boys thought so at least!