Tuesday in Emerald Isle

Years ago, when I was younger and I'd go with my family to Bethany Beach, we'd all get up early and be on the beach by 8:30. I'm not sure how that happened, but I remember that we were all out there without any dawdling or fussing, and then we'd stay out until a late lunchtime, have a rest until 3, and then head back out for the late afternoon.

Now, it seems like it's all we can do to get everyone out of bed by 8 and be on the beach by 10. I know how that happens...we stay up too late, sleep in too long, nurse our coffee too long, and spend a very long time making sure everyone gets enough sunscreen applied. Today we must have gotten out there sooner since 2 of our offspring now sport pink faces!



The kids all enjoyed the water again today. Katherine was out there jumping waves all by herself, and Will joined her in David's arms. Caroline and Morgan are old pros in the ocean and kept close to Katherine. Later Will dug holes and chased the birds, wondering all the while why he couldn't catch them and take them home.

Morgan's reading Angela's Ashes for school - already doing assignments. Caroline has been catching up on 26 weeks of Sunday comics, Katherine has been playing checkers with her Grandmama off and on for 7 hours, and Will has been alternating between figuring out the shark puzzle and putting the Uno cards in numerical order.

David and I made dinner tonight - a delicious and super easy shrimp recipe (see below), plus fruit salad (note: balls not chunks), fettuccine alfredo for the kids, and green beans. For dessert, the oft desired root beer and orange crush floats.

Shrimp with Lemon and Garlic:

1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled
1 T grapeseed or olive oil
2 T fresh lemon juice
3 T butter
2 T scallions, green part only
1 T chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
freshly milled black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss shrimp with oil and lemon juice. Melt the butter in a baking pan in the oven and add the shrimp, scallions, garlic, and soy sauce. Bake for 3 - 5 minutes, or until just firm. Baste and season with black pepper. Serve immediately.

from The New Legal Sea Foods Cookbook by Roger Berkowitz and Jane Doerfer


After dinner, we went for a walk on the beach collecting shells and watching the kids play in the surf. We cut our walk short as a result of the pesky mosquitoes biting our legs.


Katherine and Granddaddy took his computer apart several times tonight. I think they finally got it working, but couldn't get it hooked up to the Internet. It's a pretty scary sight to see a 9-year-old and her Granddaddy taking a screwdriver to the back of the laptop! At least Will didn't see them. Then nothing would be safe. I remember my older brother taking radios (and other much larger things) apart when we were young and not always getting them back together. What's a screw or two?

Big News at our house tonight! Katherine is no longer Snaggletooth! She finally lost that tooth - it had only been loose for 6 months!

Now for Scrabble! David and I played and boy was it a torturous game. He challenged just about every word I put down. Geez. Can you say lack of trust?! I beat him, and it's really all his fault since his second word was FIG, using an I already on the board. He kind of stunted the game with that one!

Tomorrow. Another day and another game!