R & R

Whoa, with a two week break like that you'd think I went to India... but no, it's just been beyond crazy around here. Fortunately, I took a small break from the crazy for the annual trip to the beach. Unfortunately, it's been such a busy time for the whole Schu clan that we traveled in shifts and didn't all make it to the beach at one time, but there's always next year! {A man and his shovel}

Lucky for us, the weather was perfect. For Sarah and I, that meant napping and reading on the beach until the evening sun painted long shadows across the sand.

When not on the beach, we were in a boat, either sailing, fishing or kayaking. I can tell that this summer's been a whirlwind based upon how rarely I'm able to grab my camera, but luckily I remembered it for one of our big fishing adventures. The catch of the year was flounder, and Sarah hooked one right away! Unfortunately he wasn't a keeper, so he was released unharmed.

The day's trip involved rescuing one of pop's crab traps that was pulled into the channel by the strong tides {an adventure that required a "plan" and a steady boat}.
The trap had been in the water for over a week, and it was prime mating season for the crabs, so most of our catch was pregnant females that aren't kept. Along with all of those ladies was a spider crab. These are slow moving scavengers that won't hurt you with their pinch. As you can tell from this guy, they can build up quite a bit of algae and barnacles on their shells, helping them to blend in to the benthic environment and avoid predation.

Looks like this spider crab found a kindred soul::


And this, my friends, is what happens when you decide to end your adventure during low tide::

All this mud must be good for your feet, right?
The big India trip starts on Tuesday, and I'm guessing that traveling halfway around the globe will leave more time for blogging than the past two weeks did. Lucky for you that means some sneak peaks as we travel!