Crabbing Adventures

Before I get into our crabbing trip, I’ve gotten some inquiries into my camera situation. I did buy a new camera – and I’m quite sick over it. I hate that I had to buy a new one. I went to an actual camera store and the guy spent some time trying to figure out the Kodak. No luck – we think it has to do with the ISO settings, but since mine has always been on auto, I can’t very well fix that. And I was told it was very very bad that it overheated. I had already figured that one out. So…I shopped and had looked at reviews, etc. I ended up getting a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4. It’s beautiful and small (compact camera size) with a 10x zoom. I will not get anything with lower than a 10x zoom. It is 8.1 megapixels and I love it. So far so good (although my Kodak worked for a few months, so who knows…). The best part is it was on SALE and they had a special and I got a free printer. This was a bonus since my printer has been broken. Working precariously with plastic pieces broken off and just sitting there waiting to fall off and stop working permanently. I’m pretty psyched. Now I only hope this camera keeps working!

Enough about cameras – on to the good stuff. The girls were so excited Saturday night to go crabbing they could not fall asleep. It was cute, but frustrating since we had to wake them up at 4am Sunday morning. As a kid, we used to be on the water by 5am, but the place we found to go to doesn’t open until 5:30 (although they told me 6 on the phone). The girls were typical getting up. Alysa was a joy and popped up immediately jumping out of bed all smiles. Kayla is more like me and rolled over hoping I would go away.

Kayla was the oh-so-cautious child on the boat at first. She didn’t like the sound of the motor (too loud) and was nervous on the water and wanted to go home. (*sigh*). She also would not touch the lines to check for crabs. Alysa couldn’t have been more into it. She was pulling up lines and traps (well trying – they’re heavy for her). She was leaning over the side of the boat looking for crabs and had to help all of us check for our crabs. Of course, after a while the roles reversed. Kayla got comfortable and helped with the lines and was into it. Alysa got tired (she still had a lingering cold which made it worse) and was the crankiest child. She was miserable which makes other miserable. She actually fell asleep on me which she hasn’t done since she was 7 months old. It was very sweet – oh how I miss those days. But…being a crabbing boat with nothing to lean against makes for a very uncomfortable Mommy.

It was a very successful first trip and we were on the boat for 5 hours – not too shabby for a 2 ½ and 4 year old. We got more than a couple dozen crabs. We could have had twice that if we kept the babies – boy can they get annoying.

I broke down and actually let Kayla try some crab. She has never had shell fish and even though her allergist has told me she can have them, I wasn’t sure. But…I let her have a bite and all went well. Of course I can’t let my guard down yet because it’s technically her first exposure, but we’re one step closer to knowing if she can eat shell fish. She wasn’t too thrilled with it, but that just meant more for me J, my Dad and me.

Enough of my chatter and onto some pictures!

Alysa excited and wide awake at 4am!


Kayla wanting me to go away!


On the dock


On the boat


Kayla


Sunset


Alysa pulling in a line


Kayla pulling in a line


Kayla relaxing


Alysa sleeping


Kayla getting bored


Here is a video of them pulling lines in. I apologize for the sideways shot. I forgot I don't know how to flip the videos when I took them.