Most of the boats selling crab were docked next to each other and we would have felt bad buying all 20 crab from one guy. We visited 4 different boats and quickly filled our buckets. Jessie giggled sweetly at all the fisherman telling jokes and she loved watching them wrestle with the big feisty crab. We asked for the best, heavy crab with big claws, and they all obliged.
Jess carried half her weight in crab. She had to stop every 20 paces, but she refused to give up her job. She earned her meal!
Little Syd was hilarious. The last month we have seen a change in her personality. By change I mean she has got an attitude! At 10 months old she knows exactly what she wants and will let you know if she doesn't get it. We took a load of crab to the car and were on our way back for more when we stopped to watch some birds on the water. I wheeled the stroller around to leave and she had an arched-back, red-faced, scream-her-lungs out tantrum. I picked her up so she could see better and we found this little friend. Sydney would have taken Sir Seagull home with her if she could. She stared at him on the railing and pointed at him like he was the next best thing since warm milk. He was nice enough to not fly away and we were really this close to him- no zoom on the camera lens. After that, every bird she saw she would wiggle in my arms, point and say "Aahh?" We'll keep working on "bird."
This girl is fearless about weird things. That crab is live! Sure, they've been out of the water for 6 hours but they are feisty when handled. Jess had no problem picking up a crab and freaking out her little brothers. I've seen crab almost take off a pinky and crush through a fingernail so I was mildly nervous.In the picture above, that's as close as Toby would get to a crab. Even though he didn't say it, I think they remind him too much of spiders which he has become more paranoid about. Now that I mention it, I'm not sure why crabs don't give me the willies because spiders sure do. Toby was excited to try the crab this year, but he didn't really like it.
Logan didn't want to touch the things or go near them either. He kept asking to see them move. I set one down and........nothing. A few bubbles out of his mouth was all Logan got to see. He finally got brave and threw a claw that came off into the boiling pot. He threw his arms up in victory and that was the last of his crab experience.
Lauren caught a good moment where Dan was showing Jessie the yellow mustard stuff inside the crab. I learned that it is fat and many people like to eat. I will never be doing so because I also learned that toxins from the crab's environment are stored in that fat. They are scavengers after all. PSA- don't eat that jelly-like yellow stuff inside crabs!!! Nasty!
Drawn garlic butter and lemon, homemade cocktail sauce, salads, rice & french bread were all a perfect compliment to our delectable, sweet crab. Dan and I were the last to eat because we kept getting stopped to cook more crab and clean them. It was so worth it though. We topped the night off with Marie Calendar's pies. The best!! 
Grammy Evie loves those babies. This is my Syd (left) and my friend's baby Izzy. By the end of the night Sydney was covered in dirt. Mom and Dad are over the half-way mark (I think) with their big house remodel, so there was concrete floor in the extension that Syd loved exploring. We all had a fabulous time and Mom and Dad got to test run their nice big addition off the kitchen. It was plenty of space!
My Dear Mr. Bennett. He ate some bad mexican food the day before and was not feeling his best. He doesn't even like crab, but every year he pays for it, cooks it, cleans it, and tolerates my excitement for our annual crab feast. It really was a fun night to get both sides of the family together for good food, games, and catching up. You better believe we talked about how much Ken & Cassie's family would have loved the day! We're hoping you guys can come do the crab and beach experience with us again soon!
Note to self: Don't leave all the laundry to do on one day. It's way too much to cram into 24 hours and things get wrinkled, stepped on, or thrown on the floor before they are put away. This isn't even all of it.........
