Winding Down!

The sailing programs are over but the fun continues! This was our last full week with the kids. Unfortunately, Rose wasn't feeling well so she spent the week with her Mommy and Daddy. Claire and Madi began the fall soccer season with several practices so they left on Tuesday.  Despite the fact that we didn't have the full compliment of campers, we had lots of fun. Here's the summary:

All-Nighter!

On Monday, the kids (at this point only Rose wasn't here) wanted to do another all-nighter. We had fun playing games. Josh was the big winner! He complied the best average scores and won first prize. After the games ended (around 0200 hours) Anna Marie and I hit the sack. The kids turned their attention to MineCraft, this summer's hit game. A quick 0500 check showed that they were all awake and playing!

At about 0730, we were up, but most of the gang was sprawled out in the living room fast asleep. Josh was still up and playing the xBox. He crashed shortly after we arose.

Crashed - after the all-nighter!

Greenhead Fly Traps!

The boys worked diligently  on the greenhead fly trap project. We plan to build four traps. Over the past couple of weeks, the materials have been cut and painted. This week, the boys finished two of the traps. They were deployed over the weekend. We're anxiously waiting to see how successful they are in capturing the biting flies.

Crabbing and Clamming!

Crabbing continues... and it is as slow as ever. The daily catch is small as are the crabs themselves. Most are 5" point-to-point. On a good day, we might catch four or five keepers.

By Tuesday evening, all the girls were gone. However the boys were still hanging with us. On Friday, we readied the motorboat and launched it at the Parkertown ramp. It took about 15 minutes to reach a shallow spot where I could show them the finer points of clamming. Along the way, I continued giving the boys lessons in boat operation. They first got a taste of steering several weeks ago. Now, they're learning how to accelerate, slow down,  idle in neutral and go in reverse. They both did everything well and without hesitation. 

When we reached the clamming grounds, we hopped out of the boat. The boys were hesitant, unsure of the bottom conditions and apprehensive over what they would feel with their bare feet. We walked around for a short time while I explained the finer points of treading for clams. It didn't take too long to find one! 

We were in about 18 inches of water. I told them to step on the clam so they could get an idea of what they were supposed to feel. After they got the idea, we harvested that one and set out to find more. They were excited to see who would find the first one. No more than Josh announce that he felt one than Geoffrey made the same announcement. They both dipped their hands into the water and pulled out two big clams. Within seconds, Geoffrey fished out another one. In about 20 minutes, we had 14 chowder clams. 

We hopped in the boat to look for other clamming grounds where we might find some smaller clams. We were unsuccessful in find any smaller ones and time was getting short. We had to motor to Stewart's Root Beer Stand where we met Granny for lunch.

After lunch, we went back out to find more clams. We only had an hour before we had to get home. 

The boys had great fun and want to go clamming again. We're hoping to get out next week so we can catch more clams and crabs. The annual King Crab celebration is just around the corner and this year the menu will be an old fashioned Barnegat Bay Clam Bake!

Heading back to the clamming grounds after a lunch break