CATCHING UP

I haven't posted in a while because we were busy with Grandma & Grandpa Charles when they came to visit last weekend. But before I post about that, I wanted to do a little catching up on what little Mr. Grey has been up to in the last month of his first year.

Well, as all little people seem to be preoccupied with, Grey LOVES the toilet. Marc went to use the bathroom one day and found a little surprise.

He has also discovered to joys of unrolling the Toilet Paper.

His next great passion is climbing our spiral staircase. Here he is being encouraged by his big brother.

Yesterday, I came around the corner and found him all the way up on the fifth step. He is definitely quite the climber... just like his brother.

Today I positioned the gate in front of the stairs and attached it using zip-ties. The velcro that we used for Luke at this stage just won't do.

COMPARISON

Just a Comparison of my Two Handsome Men

Both at 11 Months Old

CRAWFISH BOIL

On our way home from Bass Pro Shop, we stopped at Capt. Jacks, which is a seafood shack about twenty minutes from the house. Their sign out front read... "Live Crawfish". Marc entered the shack returning 15 minutes later smelling like seafood and wearing a HUGE smile. He was so excited he could hardly tell me what he found out. He was as happy as when the Saints won the SuperBowl. Capt. Jacks offers Live Crawfish and Crabs... SCORE. Now Marc has the opportunity to enjoy some of his favorite seafood like he did growing up back home in New Orleans. He can have Boiled rather than Steamed, which is how it's prepared here on the Mid-Atlantic Coast.

So the plan for Sunday was to have his first (since living in VA since '98 because he couldn't get Live Seafood before now) CRAWFISH BOIL. He headed off to Capt. Jacks after lunch to fetch our guests for dinner, or rather... our guests WERE dinner.

When he got home, he filled a metal tub with water and dumped in 10lbs of Live Crawfish.

Then he set about getting the pot to boil.

We came home from New Orleans last month with 6 Large Jars of the Main Ingredient (other than the actual Seafood) to a Delicious Seafood Boil...

Can't forget all the fixins'...

Once the Crab Boil was in the water, the air was permeated with a wonderful smell... Marc was in heaven. He said it brought back great memories.

While awaiting their final bath, the Crawfish swam around in the metal tub. One seem pretty persistent about pleading his case for freedom.

Luke came outside after his nap, and was fascinated with what he found in the metal tub.

He didn't really like it when Marc placed one of the Crawfish on the ground. I think he was afraid he was going to be attacked by this wee warrior.

Then Grey got up from his nap and joined the party.

I think Luke is telling Grey to be sure to not put his hand near the water.

They both enjoyed just watching the Crawfish.

Then... it was time for our guests to enter the boiling water.

After a quick boil and short soak... they become a brilliant red-orange color.

Dinner is served.

We invited Jim Usas over to join us in our feast. He had never had boiled Crawfish before now, and was soon a big fan. I even picked my own... Marc was so proud. He'll make a CoonAss out of me yet.

Boiled versus Steamed... When Seafood is Boiled, the Seasonings and Flavor is absorbed into the Meat, making it tasty and moist. When Seafood is Steamed, the Seasoning is added after the fact, so the Meat is dry and tougher. According to my husband, people here on the East Coast just don't know what they're doing when they Steam everything. They are totally missing out on the total Yumminess of when Seafood is Boiled.

We plan to have at least one Crawfish or Crab Boil a month this summer.

FAMILY FUN DAY

Our Family Fun Day started yesterday after lunch. We decided to take a little trip to Bass Pro Shop, and figured the boys could nap on the way, which they did. That store is way overwhelming, but a lot of fun. As we were leaving, Luke wanted to try-out one of the ATV's.

When we got home, we packed a little picnic and headed down to Marc's favorite fishing spot.

I thought Luke might be afraid of the water after his little mishap the other night... but no. He was right back down there at the water's edge... though not quite as close.

After one particular fish was caught, Marc put in the bucket - Big Mistake. Grey took that as a signal that this was now his own personal water toy. He continually made a bee line for the bucket, no matter how many times I took him away. Eventually, we had to throw the fish back.

Luke's attention span for fishing comes in short bursts, so he busies himself with other activities.

Here he is helping the beavers with wood collection

Grey on the other hand... well he just sits around (not really, he is into everything) and looks so darn CUTE!!

Eventually Luke wanders back and joins Marc on the bank. On this particular night, Luke out-fished Marc... well lets just say, Luke's pole out-fished Marc's Pole.

Father, Son & Fish... what could be better than that?

SUPERMAN

Luke LOVES to jump off things. So I suggested we put all the pillows on the floor to cushion his landings. I'm positive that was a big mistake.

If and when a broken bone happens... I will be fully to blame.

A LITTLE FATHER & SON FISHING "EXPEDITION"

Per Grandpa Charles' request, I went and bought Luke a fishing rod today. We were fortunate enough to find a Disney "Cars" rod... Luke was very excited. This evening, Marc took Luke down to the lake to try it out to make sure it works and will be ready for when Grandpa comes to visit in three weeks.

Marc set it all up and went about the task of showing Luke the proper technique.

He pretty much understood what he was supposed to do, but he would rather point the pole downward and put it in the water.

To help Luke out, Marc set up a rod rest. Luke's making sure it's sitting properly.

Within minutes, Luke had a bite.

Marc helped him reel it in.

He was so excited!! He just kept saying "Weedah, Weedah, Weedah!!" That's his word for fish by the way.

They let that one go, and set the line for the next one.

Luke got the hang of it pretty quick, and like everyone (or at least his mother), enjoyed reeling in the line most of all.

While they fished and Grey sat on a blanket eating grass, I took pictures of the incredible Multi-Level Beaver Dam that is located right next to the said fishing hole.

It's hard to see the underwater level, but it's quite massive.

The above water structure is just as impressive. These beavers sure do live in style.

AND THEN....

KERPLUNK!!!

&

SPLASH!!!!

THE FISHING "EXPEDITION" IS CUT SHORT....

LUKE HAS FALLEN IN THE LAKE

I didn't get a photo of the actual event or the immediate aftermath, but apparently he tripped over the little Stump mentioned in the photo above.

I did however capture this...

He was completely wet, and a little chilly... thank heaven for his brother's blanket, but other than that we was no worse for wear.

Grandpa, we promise when you fish with him, he'll wear his life jacket (we bought that today also... just didn't have it on at this particular time). But regardless, the life jacket wouldn't have protected him for the Evil Stump.

EASTER 2010

This year, Easter started for us on Good Friday. This is the first year that we've colored Easter Eggs - I figured Luke was now old enough to somewhat grasp the concept. So I gathered everything we needed and set it all up outside on the patio table.

The boys are now ready to get started.

Luke "dipped" right in.

After the eggs dried, he really enjoyed embellishing them with stickers.

I told him to hold his egg up and say "Cheese"... this is what I got.

Of course, Grey was too little to participate, but the 8 Easter Eggs that Luke and I colored turned out pretty good.

Here's a little video of the egg coloring...

Early Sunday morning, the Easter Bunny visited our house and left Easter Baskets for the boys. The Easter Bunny must also have a Cricut, because look at those adorable personalized tags he made for each basket

After the boy's diapers were changed, we led them out to the living room to see what the Easter Bunny had left them. They were very intrigued.

I showed Luke that the Easter Eggs we had colored, were no longer in the bowl on the dining room table, and told him that the Easter Bunny had hidden them around the living room, and that he and Grey needed to look for them. Luke immediately starting hunting.

Grey even found one

Here is Grey with a blue lip... he tried to eat one of the eggs.

The Easter Egg hunt was a big hit. Hopefully next year, we'll have more than 8 eggs to look for.

After the hunt it was time to get ready for church. The boys got decked out in all their Easter Sunday Best.

This is our little country church - Good Hope Baptist Church.

This is the view from our church's parking lot.

After we got home from church and had some lunch, we loaded up and headed down to the beach. We were pretty much the only ones there, and we didn't stay very long. Without a canopy, it was a little hot.

In the little time that we were there, Grey preoccupied himself with trying to eat ice-cubes.

Luke headed straight for the water.

He was briefly distracted by some wildlife...

but mostly he played in this little puddle.

After the beach, we saw some friends over at the basketball court so we headed over to say hi. Luke was able to take up a game of basketball with the Tinsman's nephews, and made a few assisted jump shots.

After that, we took a golf-cart ride and ended up over at our friends the Usas'. The boys enjoyed playing on their deck. Grey was amused with the "Bee Swatter".

Bonnie took Luke out and showed him their garden. She showed him the little area that is going to be for just him and Grey to come over and plant whatever they want.

Luke also enjoyed following their cat Jinx, around. Not so sure what Jinx thought of that.

We ended the day by watching "The Sound of Music". Marc showed Luke how he used to watch it with his Mom when he was a kid.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.