390 lbs., Mother's Day and Other Things and Not In That Order

It's that time of year, again.  Time to order meat. 

Meat, you ask?  Yes, meat.

We purchase our beef from a small grocery store in Delaware.  Why? 

Well, since our family is growing (not in numbers but in appetite) it is well worth it to make a larger purchase up front at a less expensive price.  When buying a "side of beef" (equivalent to half a cow) the cost remains the same for the entire side and not the individual cuts.   Yes, it means spending more money in the beginning but in the long run it saves money because you are left with a little bit of everything right at your finger tips. 

Why Delaware? 

1. Dave's parents own a condo in Ocean View, so it is an excuse to go to the beach for the weekend and this grocery store is right around the corner. 
2. The meat is delicious and we trust them.  We have been ordering from them for over 8 years. 
3. The best part, it's TAX FREE! No sales tax in DE.  I've often wondered if it's illegal to transport so much meat across state lines. But .... right now I really don't care.

So we placed our order several weeks ago and let them know we would pick it up the weekend of Mother's Day. 

This is what 390 lbs. of beef looks like.  It doesn't look like a lot, but it is since the shelves are deeper than they appear.  On a side note, if you're ever shopping for a freezer, buy one with an alarm that will beep when the door has been left open for more than sixty seconds.  Been there! It's not pretty.  Ask Dave about it some time. 
So here is what the rest of the weekend looked like.  Early Friday afternoon the kids and I picked Dave up at work so we could try and beat the traffic.  Arriving at the condo around 5pm we decided it would be fun to head to Rehoboth for the evening.  Of course you can't go to Rehoboth without eating at Nicola's Pizza, it's the law. 

Acting silly while waiting for our dinner.  A little blurry but I couldn't resist posting.

Still waiting for my food, can you tell I'm excited?

Reprimanding Dave for something he said.  I don't remember what it was but I'm sure it was very inappropriate.

Finally, it arrives. Yes, I know Lauren, it's a picture of my food.  You take pictures of two-legged animals and I take pictures of my food.

This is my pepperoni Nic-O-Boli.  It's divine.  It's glorious.  I don't share, so get your own.  I ate the whole thing.  I was in pain.  I also wanted to go back the next day.  The bread is what makes this thing amazing; crispy and crunchy on the outside.  Dave ordered an "everything" with anchovies.  Yuck!

At the time this picture was taken I was not aware my husband was intentionally mashing hamburger into his teeth.  He is soooo immature.  As I am typing this Elise just said, "That is so gross, I can't look at it." 

Saturday gave us some gorgeous weather, so we headed over to Sharks Cove to clam for the afternoon. 

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Weather conditions need to be low tide with little to no wind.  The key to finding clams is to walk very slow and quiet.  Bringing the dog does NOT help.

This is what we took home the end of the first day.  They were everywhere and relatively easy to find.  Lots of big ones which can be used for Clams Casino and chowder. 

Chowder clam vs. steamer.  The larger a clam is the more chewy and tough it becomes.  The larger clams Dave chops in a food processor and uses them in either Clams Casino or Clam Chowder.

Dave's brother and sister-in-law, Ron and JoEllen and 4 of their grandchildren spent the afternoon with us.  Then later in the afternoon someone had the crazy idea of going over to Ron and JoEllen's house for the evening.  

I'm glad I did.  We picked the crabs that our nephew, Brian caught.  Since he was flying to Belarus the next morning we were glad to eat them for him.  Within the crab trap Brian also caught this. 

Twenty inch flounder, which Dave promptly filleted.   It was yummy.

So, that is how I spent Mother's Day weekend!  Perfect weather, 390 lbs. of meat, crabs, a Nic-O-Boli, and my hubby sticking hamburger in his teeth.  What more could a girl ask for?

Well there is one more thing, I still get to pick out my Mother's Day tree.  

Monticello

Several weeks ago Monticello, which is located just outside Charlottesville, VA, hosted Home Educators Day at a reduced rate.  We've never been.  The only draw back was, it is a little over 2 hours away and I had to tutor the next day.  After thinking about it for all of two seconds I decided no way. 

Then I felt guilty.  Why not be insane for a day and drive over four hours to take a 30 minute tour of a house.  But this isn't just any house.  It was home to our third President, Thomas Jefferson and author of the Declaration of Independence. 
After a relatively smooth drive, a bathroom stop at Sheetz (ooohhh yuck!) more coffee, slushies, and jerky (not for me) we finally arrive around 10:30.  I do have to say the drive was absolutely gorgeous. 

Here we are receiving instructions for the day from Lorri, one of our Classical Conversation Directors.  First item on the agenda was to watch a 20 minute film in the theater.  The film focused on Jefferson's achievements, ideas and influence on the country.   We left with a much better idea of his life and the activities of the people who lived and worked at Monticello. 

Next we headed to the Griffin Discovery Room, which is a hands-on activity room designed for children.  Children are able to touch and handle replicas of objects found in the actual house and around the plantation.

Rachel and her friend playing with a cipher wheel.  Decoded it should read "I love Eben Franckewitz".

Nicole playing with a polygraph.

I had no idea Monticello was situated on a mountaintop.  Hints the name, Monticello, which means "little mountain" in Italian.  Though this picture is not the best, the view is breath taking.  No matter where you were on the mountain you can see for miles. 

Jefferson's 1,000 ft. long and  80 ft wide garden terrace.  This fruit and vegetable garden served as a source of food for the plantation.

Today the food is used for tasting events on the grounds during Saturday and Sunday and then what is left is distributed to the employees of the plantation. 

Taking a break for lunch with Lorri and Diane and our children. 

Cleary, Jefferson wants nothing to do with Rachel.

I am thoroughly amazed this picture has no children in it, considering they were running around everywhere. I didn't even realize it until I got home. 

Students from both north and south Classical Conversations campuses.  

Thank you Lorri for organizing such a wonderful field trip.

I didn't sign up for this

I don't recall staining the deck as being part of the marital vows.  Dave made me do 98% of it, by hand, and with the smallest brush he could find.  Pure evil!

Someone, please rescue me!

Island Stylin' 2011

One of our favorite vacations to take as a family is to the Outer Banks, NC. We have been vacationing there since the year 2000. Typically, our goal is to go every other year, since the off year is spent either traveling to Utah or Cedar Shores, DE to visit family. In the past, while staying on the OBX we have been blessed to stay with friends in Kitty Hawk or Nags Head. But since that first trip in 2000 our little family of three has grown to a family of six. So this was the first year we rented a house. This is very exciting!
After spending numerous hours on websites we finally settled on a house in Frisco, NC, which is further south. Unfortunately, Hurricane Irene made her appearance during the last week of August 2011, wiping out portions of Route 12. Because of this we were forced to take a ferry from Swan Quarters down to Ocracoke Island. Then another ferry from Ocracoke to Hatteras Island, where we would then drive north to Frisco.

Problem #1 the only ferry reservation that was available was Friday morning at 10am and our house in Frisco would not be ready until Saturday at 3pm. What would we do for only one night?
Problem #2 the first ferry ride from Swan Quarters to Ocracoke would be 2 hours and 45 minutes and the second ferry another hour.
Stuck! On a boat! With 4 kids and no where to go!   aaaaaahhhhhhh!
I guess this really wouldn't be considered a true problem, I just knew it would be an extremely long day. Our trip would now go from six and half hours to over 12 hours. 
Problem #3 finding a place to stay for only one night. Good luck!

After placing 58 phone calls, well not really, maybe only 14.  I finally found a place to stay for just one night. Most places refused us because our family was either too large or there was a minumum two night stay. 
Since ferry reservations were at 10am we had to leave our house at the demonic hour of 2am. It is not normal for a human being to be awake at 2am.

Ready to go, at an hour I should be snuggled in bed. Yes, we are in Dave's truck instead of my van. Reason being, my van will not survive in the sand.  One of the reasons we enjoy the OBX so much is the ability to drive on the beach.

With time to spare before boarding the ferry we stopped for chocolate milk and donuts . 

Swan Quarter ferry. 

Joseph and Nicole checking out the horizon for the 726th time and there is still 2 hours to go. 

Even though we are on vacation we still have to accomplish some school.  Joseph attempted to do a math lesson also but became seasick.

After almost 3 hours crossing Pamlico Sound we are now on Ocracoke Island.   We then headed to the hotel we would stay at for only one night.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of this place.  It was Harley Davidson weekend.  Nothing against Harley Davidson.  We were just awake most of the night.  Listening to lots of partying.

Sight-seeing

Ocracoke Lighthouse

The kids and I experienced Howard's Pub for the first time.  Dave, his brother Joe and their buddies have dinner here during their annual fishing trip in November.

Welcome to Island Stylin'!  After another hour on the Hatteras ferry we are finally "home".

Our first day on the beach.  As you can see, it was overcast and it ended up raining.

Second day on the beach.

It also was overcast, windy and rained, again.

Yes, we are stuck, bad.  First time ever!  In the 17 years that Dave has been traveling to Hatteras with his brother and friends, he has NEVER been stuck.  It took us over an hour to dig the truck out.  I use "us" loosely.  It was Dave that dug us out, BY HAND! I love that man, he's my hero. Next time we'll remember to take a shovel with us. 

I think Nicole is very happy.

I'm only posting this on a dare from my kids.  They didn't think I'd do it. This is what I look like after a day on the beach, greasy face from sunscreen and frizzy, unruly hair from the salt air. 

Joseph, eating one of his favorites.  Soft shell crab.

Our one and only sunny day without rain.  We stayed on the beach all day.

A new use for a boogie board.  Let's pile seaweed on this board and build a dam.

We spent our last evening with a walk on the beach.

We've come full circle.  Early morning eating S'mores Poptarts and waiting for the Swan Quarter ferry.  Out of the entire week, we only had one day of good weather and the rest was rainy, cloudy and windy. 

Though the weather wasn't the best, I am so thankful for:

A week straight with my hubby, love it.

The truck, thank you Kohler.

Vacation days my husband has so we can go to the OBX.

The foosball table during the rainy days. 

A completely stocked kitchen, and I'm not talking food.

Safe travels.