LJ came in our room around 7:00 and we told him to go back to bed until he heard PJ cry - which happened about 10 minutes later...and LJ promply returned. RJ and I tried to lay in bed a few minutes longer by letting the kids play in bed while we gave them various things to play with. One such thing was the Maglight flashlight - which PJ brougt down on the right side of my cheek bone...this got me out of bed and I promply put a package of frozen corn on my eye in an attempt to keep the swelling down. It is a little swollen, but not too bruised.
Today was the day we were going to catch a load of crabs! We got ready to go rather early - by 7:45 we were out the door and headed to the State Park (the entrance is about 1000 yards down the road from our house) as we'd read on the Internet that the crabbing was pretty good there. We paid our entrance fee and asked if we should try the bay or the ocean. The cashier said the bay side was the best - you could actually see the crabs, so we looked for a place to work our magic. We didn't want to have to walk through reeds or grass - we didn't want to have to worry about alligators or other critters sneaking up on use. We finally found a decent place - you could walk out pretty far and could see the bottom the whole way...we, of course, kept our shoes on. LJ loved being able to walk in the calm water and PJ loved being in the back pack - even though he was clearly tired for his nap.
RJ tied our chicken necks to our string and we cast our crab-catcher...and waited. Jfer and I often thought we had a bite, but it was just a mess of minnows chopping our chicken to shreds. We did this for about 30 minutes without a single crab. This was really disappointing - I went crabbing when I was about 13 and we caught crab after crab after crab, so what was up with this? When I went crabbing as a youngster we were on a pier and crabbing in deeper water - so maybe that was the problem. Whatever the problem, no one else out there as having any luck either...we packed up and headed home for the morning naps.
During naptime, RJ, LJ and I headed to the beach. It was close to high tide and the water was murky due to the dredging they are doing for a major "beach restoration" effort, so we were leary of getting in the water. LJ must have sensed that it didn't look right because he did not want to get in the water. We came home, changed clothes and headed to the fire station to pick up our sandwiches...this time we were successful! We arrived home to find PJ and Jfer awake and we all ate lunch. LJ was clearly tired and needing a nap, so I went upstairs with him to ensure napping (plus, this allowed me a nap too!). We slept for about 2 hours and when we woke up, PJ was down for his nap, RJ was on the computer and Jfer was laying on the porch. RJ decided to take a nap and LJ and I went outside to clean up the shells we collected the day before. We sorted them into big, medium, small, and broken and LJ decided which shells he wanted to give to who.
PJ woke up and we woke up RJ and all headed back to the state park (since we'd already paid our entrance fee for the day) to play on that beach. The state park beach is beautiful and was really not crowded at all, but more crowded than our "regular" beach. Jfer and I boogie-boarded and then RJ boogie-boarded. RJ and LJ made a sand castle and I walked with PJ as he collected shells. It was funny to see him pick up one and show it to me, then carry it around for a while until he found a different one he wanted. Then he'd throw down the one he had and carry the new one around for a while. We buried RJ in the sand and then Jfer - they seemed to like it!? After about an hour and a half, we showered off, changed LJ's clothes, but PJ rode home in the buff.
Once home, the adults showered and RJ cooked pork chops on the grill while Jfer and I fed the kids PB&J. As we were finishing eating, PJ kept climbing up the stairs and waving, which I took to mean he was ready for bed. As an aside - we were kind of worried about the stairs with PJ, but he figured them out really quickly. They have carpet and he crawls up them no problem. Coming down, he turns around and slides down - feet first - on his tummy. So funny to see! We put PJ to bed, then got LJ into bed and Jfer suggested that RJ and I go to the beach to watch the sunset. So, we did - but we didn't really want to get all sandy, so we sat at the top of the steps on the "private" pier. This was right by the current work they are doing to restore the beach, so we watch that - 3 bulldozers pushing sand up. A person staying at the house on the beach - with an entrance to the private boardwalk - came to ask if we wanted him to take a picture...so, he did and we chatted with him for a while. He is friends with the owner of the house - which he says was the first house built on the cape...in 1984. He told us about the restoration project and how the houses on the beach and the houses on the first row back are the only houses being taxed to pay for the project. They are, of course, not happy about that as the whole cape benefits, but only a few are paying. Plus, the general consensus seems to be that the project is a futile one. He pointed to the dunes around the house and said that used to be flat sand after a hurricane in the 90s, but "mother nature" replaced the dunes over time. The whole project is fascinating - they have pipes that go into the ocean and a big ship sits off shore and dredges the bottom of the ocean and shoots sand through those pipes up on the shore. Then, the bulldozers push the sand around.
When we got home from our chat, we watched a couple of episode of an apparent Iron Chef America marathon on the Food Network and, once again, did not get to bed until 11:00.
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