Fourth of July Weekend!

I hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend - I know that we did! Rob got Friday off, so we headed to Bridge City after lunch. We played a lot of games that day as well as enjoy some good quality family time. We didn't stay up too late because the next morning we were going to get up early because we were going to go crabbing!!

I was super excited because I've never been crabbing.. Ok, I've been once when it was about 40 degrees outside, and the crabs were nowhere to be found! So, we woke up and headed down to the water. As soon as we got there I was pretty excited because there were crabs just sitting on the shore area sunning! We got everything ready by loading up our chicken bait for them. My father in law Sam was able to walk down to the shore, and pick up crabs just by putting his net in the water! He caught quite a few by that method. Peggy, my mother in law, was sitting on the dock with a couple strings with bait on them, and seemed to be catching crabs pretty well. Rob was helping net the crabs, but also attempting to catch some fish. Nothing seemed to be biting, but we did see quite a few fish making some splashes in the water. My sister in law, Kelly started out at a different place than the rest of us to try her luck there, came back with a couple crabs, and then we were all trying to catch the crabs off the dock. After a little bit, I decided to give crabbing a try, and boy was I glad I did because apparently my method of getting the crabs was brilliant! I stood on the deck and lowered my string and chicken leg into the water - just enough to barely see the top of it in the water. So, it wasn't on the bottom where the crabs were probably hanging out, they actually had to swim up and get the meat. And boy did they! I caught one crab after another! It was awesome! :) And then of course, everyone was trying to follow my method of "fishing for crabs" and it worked pretty well for Peggy. So, after about a two hours it was time to pack up since we had a bucket and a half full of crabs!

The only negative things about the crabbing that day were these: First of all, there was a bee that would NOT leave me alone. It was a big honey bee - which Rob continually said it would not hurt me.. but it kept flying right in my face. Thankfully I had Rob and Sam on my side trying to kill it everytime it came by. After Sam through a towel at it, it only came around a few times and then left us alone. Thank GOODNESS. It was really annoying. The second thing was that Rob got pinched pretty bad by the first crab we caught. It was right on his fingernail and skin, and it started to bleed. Poor guy :( But, even with those negative things, I still had a great time and would totally go again (and I hope we do!!)

The rest of the day involved moving some stuff for Grandpa, celebrating the 4th by eating hot dogs for lunch, and hamburgers for dinner. There were lots of people over for dinner, and once it was dark enough outside we went and shot off the fireworks we had bought earlier that day. I was excited because Rob and I tried to pick out some fun ones for the boys. I had found some champagne poppers -- where you pull the sting and then a little confetti strings pop out, and they were a hit for the little boys! We had a lot of fun and I loved the sparklers the most as usual. Rob thought it would be awesome if he continued his tradition from last year of lighting ten sparklers at once. It's actually pretty amazing, but I wouldn't recommend doing it - there is a slight risk of losing a hand. Once the sparklers are lit, they only last about 5 seconds and there's a big light. Pretty cool!

On Sunday we counted the crabs -- 88 total! They had been cleaned Saturday and on Sunday we cut them in half and seasoned them. I did try some and it wasn't too bad. But, it seemed like a little too much work for such a small piece of crab. Overall, it was a really fun weekend, and Rob and I enjoyed getting to spend time with the family!

Here's a few pictures from the weekend - others can be found in our photo album!

Here's the awesomeness of 10 sparklers.. I'm surprised I had time to this picture!

Christine with a crab!! Yay!!

Rob holding a crab -- Sam asked me to hold it just like that.. yeah right!!