Random Fun

Here's some fun stuff we've been photographing around our house this week:

Campbell and Helene play really well together most of the time. They were actually wrestling in this laundry basket, but they stopped to smile for the camera. I have them trained.

Helene loves to help pick vegetables from the garden. The squash plants are nearing the end of their season. Thank goodness; I've had my fill. But someone (Christy, was it you?) sent me a recipe for butterscotch zucchini muffins, which I made yesterday for the first time. YUMMY! Thanks for that recipe! I'm definitely doing that one again soon.
Look what Helene found under those giant squash leaves. How did we miss this one?!?!
I left the ironing board out after ironing my Tae Kwon Do top this morning. Tobie decided it was a good place for a nap.
This was a beautiful sunrise earlier this week. The moon is still visible at the top of the picture. (I believe you can click on any picture in my blog to see a larger version.)
I am proud of my brave and adventurous kids. Helene ran up to me last week saying, "Mommy, I caught a snake! I'm going to name her Grassa or Snaka and make a habitat for her."

Crawdads, Part 2

Well, some of you asked what we did with the crayfish we caught. John made them into chili! Here's what they looked like right after he boiled them (just like little lobsters!).


And that's the chili. It was pretty good. Pair it with a salad from our garden, and we could just about live off the land here! :)

Scouting

John did some scouting as a boy. My dad, grandfather and brother are all Eagle Scouts. So scouting has been a big part of our family for a long time. I am so excited that Campbell is getting involved now! Tonight is his first Cub Scout den meeting. He and John just left to attend the meeting together. Doesn't he (don't they both) look handsome?! (I just realized it's time to get Campbell's glasses adjusted - they're obviously crooked in the second picture. But other than that . . . you've gotta love a man in uniform!)

Crawdads

Do you call them crayfish? crawdads? mudbugs? Anybody know another name for them? Whatever you call them, we've been catching them! When we first moved in to this neighborhood and walked around the then almost-empty irrigation pond, we noticed lots of dead crayfish shells lying in the mud. Since then, we've thought it would be fun to catch some. We finally got around to trying. First, John put bacon on his fishing hook and tried it that way. He said they grabbed on and starting eating the bait, but would let go before he could get them up. So John did some research and found out how to build a trap. It has funnels leading in to each end of the cylinder, so they crawl in to eat, but they can't figure out how to get back out. Apparently, crawdads aren't very smart. Here are pictures of our mudbuggin' adventures (click on them to see larger versions):

The Trap

3 Crawdads Caught
I don't think they like having their picture taken! It was a little scary to see them all coming towards me with snapping claws as I snapped this shot.
John showed the kids how to hold them, . . .
and warned them to avoid the big claws . . .
Helene is proud of herself for not being too girly-girly.

Unfortunately, she chose the most flexible crawdad!