Full family fun in the surf

It's probably a good time to mention that this is the best weather we have ever had at the beach. Best. Weather. Ever!!

So warm, in fact, that we ended up getting Emilyn a boogie board (with evil dolphins on it) -- and all of us ended up using it! There aren't photographs of that all-Crabbe party in the waves... Because Mommy, the photographer, was having way too much fun!

But there are plenty of pictures from Wednesday, starting off with seagull feeding and ending up with sandpipers at sunset. It was really a perfect day at the beach.

For the rest of the shots of the day, click here.

Dolphin cruise !

Emilyn was the first to request our annual dolphin cruise... When I first called on Monday, their sunset cruise was sold out. There's a reason we want the sunset cruise... So we waited until Tuesday.

We were back with Cetacean Cruises, some real fun people with a very comfy glass-bottomed pontoon boat. The tour guide and captain are always so nice, and the two-hour dolphin and nature cruise takes you back into some really neat bayou areas... It wasn't our best year for spotting dolphins, but we did see a few, and got a couple of "Jaws"-like shots.


On the way back to dock, all the kids get a turn steering the boat. Allen's a veteran by now! And this year, our tour guide even snapped a quick family portrait for us!


Another beautiful evening on Wolf Bay. To see all the shots from our cruise, click here.

Back to Swimmy's birthplace

It was a nice, lazy day... We went back to the home of Swimmy, the Original Oyster House, where we bought that great stuffed shark five years ago. Swimmy is five! How time flies for that floppy fish!

Out front, Emilyn posed in front of a new wooden sign... They still have the cutout of a diver, though. When Allen saw it, he said, "I want to be the astronaut!" Upon closer inspection, he said, "I want to be the fishtronaut!"

They've done a lot with the Boardwalk shopping center since we were here last year... There's a lot more boardwalk, and they painted it pretty colors. Sharky's Arcade, an exciting addition, seems to be only open in season. We did, however, go next door to Incredible Candies, and we loaded up a bunch of goody bags to go.

Eating is a major part of Beach Week. And watching some pretty bad movies. This week, we buckled down and let Emilyn watch "Dinner for Schmucks" -- which is rated PG-13, but probably was a bit too racy for the girl!! She thought it was pretty funny, though, and assured us she's plenty mature enough to handle it. I guess it's Mommy and Daddy who are going to have to get used to that concept!

A foggy start . . . and our first tarballs

We noticed right away on Saturday how clean the sand and water were. Truly, the water was as nice as it always has been, and the sand was cleaner and softer than ever!

But it stood to reason that we couldn't totally escape the effects of last year's devastating BP oil spill. On Sunday, after a foggy start, we started noticing our first tarballs.

They were not plentiful, by any means. They showed up about as often and randomly as sticks, seaweed, seashells or anything else you'd see at the beach. They look like little pebbles, but with bits of rock and shells embedded inside. And they're a little gooey, leave dark smears on your hands, and smell a bit icky. There, full disclosure. That said, they in no way ruined our day at the beach. Daddy even collected some to bring home, but Allen vetoed that idea and tossed them back. So all the evidence we have is this photo!

A bit later in the day, we saw an odd orange slick in the water... But Steve said that seemed more like algae or something. It was little specks, not oil. And all the while, I was shooting for the Luxe 365 theme of "Water," so I kept trying for just the right picture. I picked the lonely-looking seagull, but the rest were great too!



To see all the photos from Day 2, click here.

We're heeeerre !

Allen and Emilyn took a little nap to make up for a long night at the hotel...

It was a pretty long drive, and with lots of traffic because we're here on a Saturday instead of our usual Sunday. But the weather's warm and we are here.

Sure, when we got to the realtor's office, we found it totally empty! They'd moved!!? Where?!? After a couple frustrating walks up and down 59 in the heat, we found them. I was mad, but that quickly evaporated when we got to our beautiful home away from home.

We didn't waste any time getting into the water! Like I said, it was very warm out! Over 80! This is not our usual beach weather.


It's warm enough for somebody to jump right into the waves. No caution this year. We're gonna have to watch him closely! Beach Girl, of course, never misses a step.


After our traditional dinner at the Crab Trap, we were treated to a great sky show... the super-bright, super-big full moon!


Yep, we're here! Time to relax and have fun -- and just all be in the same place at the same time. Ahhhhhh...

For all the shots from Day 1, click here.

Beach bound, at last !

We've had such a tough winter that all the Crabbes have been mentally at the beach for months! But now, we're finally on our way to the real thing. Thank goodness!

After lunch at our new favorite place, the Greek restaurant in Blytheville, Ark., we crossed the Mississippi in Memphis and were well on our way. The water was mighty high!

The kids were so very good in the car. I had bought Allen a set of crayons and a note pad... when he asked why, I said, "To keep you entertained." Well, this was one of the many masterpieces he drew in the car:


(If it isn't already obvious to you, that's a picture of two sandwiches cut into 30ths.)

Later we crossed the Pearl River -- in Mississippi, just south of Jackson. Then it was time for Daddy to get his favorite award-winning rice and beans. A little inchworm hitched a ride on Mommy's pants! And look what they have in Jackson -- leaves!

Allen at the river park

My assignment for Luxe 365 was "water"... so we headed over to take pictures of the Meramec River. Little did we know that there was a little too much water! Made for an even better picture!

Allen wasn't captivated by the water... He wanted to play on some rocks and downed trees instead. (I wouldn't have let him in the water anyway! Those are not our shoes!)


The best thing about Missouri woods, as I think I've mentioned before, is how nice and dry they are... Well, they're usually dry, unless there's a flood right next door!

Anyway, it was nice and warm and a good break from getting ready for our trip to the beach!

Southwest Showcase

The stars came out... well, future stars... at Southwest Middle School's annual talent show. We saw a traditional dance from India (Allen's favorite), funny skits and lots and lots of singing. Too bad the microphones were working so poorly!!

Emilyn was a part of the fabulous finale, the Crescendo Singers' "Dance Evolution." She did really great. An amazing amount of footwork to keep straight! And a great mini-solo, too.

Two certain former Stage Krew members in the audience were happy to note that some things never change... Note the hand holding up the flat in this picture! That never happened to us, right, Steve? *wink*

Basketball tournaments are long for little brothers

Last night, Emilyn played in the last games of her basketball season. Tournament schedules aren't the best! She had a game at 5 and another at 8. We had to hang out in Arnold for hours. Luckily, there was a Cici's Pizza, and I had to take my last photo for Luxe 365's Night Shots. Memo to organizers: 8 p.m. on a school night is too late to begin a sixth-grade girls' basketball game!

But I digress. Although the Future Lady Patriots wrapped up their season winless, I feel like Emilyn learned and grew a lot; had tons of fun and plenty of exercise; and bonded with her teammates. And she looks super in her uniform. And made some excellent shots on Sunday!

Allen has had a long season too! He has spent his in the bleachers. Lots of different bleachers. And, as you can imagine, his head is not really in the game.

But Fox High's bleachers are really cool! And you can reach the nets!

Holy '80s flashback !

Maybe we shouldn't tell her how cool neon splatters were when we were her age...

Emilyn is performing in the Southwest Showcase talent show in a few weeks with her singing group, the Crescendo Singers. They have to wear their trademark pink T-shirts, but they're allowed to wear "wacky" pants to go along with their song.

Emilyn decided she wanted to transform an old thrift shop pair of black pants into a neon, paint-splattered masterpiece. Fun driveway project!

This look certainly reminds me of when I was 12... Ahhhh, 1984. Maybe she'll get the leg warmers, jelly shoes and plastic charm necklace to go with it?

Sick mommy and boy need antidote - to winter

Daddy was sick during the "super" storm... By the end of the week, it was Allen's and my turn to get hit with the bug. Some kind of flu-ey cold that gave Allen a bad, persistent fever and left me feeling like being vertical just wasn't an option.

On Super Bowl Sunday, during the third quarter, Allen crawled up next to me in the papasan chair and said, "I need to rest with you." He promptly fell asleep, leaving me to wonder how either of us was ever gonna get out of that chair!

Allen eventually started coughing, and stretched out, giving me a chance to shift my weight and lever up out of the papasan... I carried that big boy all the way upstairs, went to put him in his bed -- only to find it full of toys! Long story short, we eventually got him to bed, and amazingly, he didn't wake up! No school for Allen that next day... And Mommy stayed home from work, too.

But the boy's fever just wouldn't quit. After another missed day of school, and lots of cabin fever, we decided to head to our classic "sick of winter" spot, the warmest place we could think of: The Butterfly House.

As I was uploading my new pictures, I found other folders of butterfly pics, all from other Februaries! When we get tired of winter, we always end up in the same place.

The trip must have worn Allen out... He went in for a nap at 4:30 p.m. -- and was pretty perplexed when he woke up the next morning in Thursday's clothes! Maybe 16 hours of sleep will do the trick. And we're aiming for school on Monday!

The snowpocalypse that wasn't

Oh, boy, the weathercasters were foaming at the mouth. We were gonna get slammed by three days of superstorm, bringing an inch of ice and then a foot of snow.

Well, we got the ice... but more like half an inch. And instead of snowing all day, it sleeted in our corner of the world, piling up 3 inches of teeny ice pellets.

It did eventually turn over to snow, but that just left us with an inch or two on top of our slippery sleet base. Then, the bitter cold came and froze it all into a multilayered mess.

So, everyone was terrified and stayed home on Tuesday, and the kids got three days off of school. But it didn't turn out to be the end of the world, by any stretch. But it sure has been a cold and annoying winter. We're ready for spring!

Produce by the foot

Well, the weather doomsayers were predicting a dilly of a storm, so we decided to stock up Sunday night and get stuff to make our famous beef barley vegetable soup... Steve kinda went overboard on the potato-buying, though... We had plenty before we even got to this behemoth tuber.

The soup was terrific... even if the storm didn't live up to its billing. To be continued...

Actin' all cheesy - in the pages of the Post

So... thanks to my good friends Norma and Carlos, I got roped into being a "model" this week!

They conceived of a cover for our food section, Let's Eat, that involved two football fans fighting over pizza... They figured a girl going after a guy's pizza would be funny... and they picked me as the most rabid female football fan in the newsroom!

Well, that's probably true. But for this shoot I had to play the role of a crazy Cheesehead Packer fan, and my colleague Rich had to play one of the Steeler faithful, defending his "Roethlis Burger" pizza. Our chief photographer, J.B. Forbes, took about 100 pictures, and of course they settled on the one where I look the most insane -- or probably because the pizza in the shot is most prominently featured. The fact that I look like a nutjob is just a side benefit!

So, here's the finished page, plus the original photo of me and Rich... Rich was such a good sport. He had to deal with my headlock plus the lights plus the hot and cramped helmet! I just had Cheesehead hair and a stained face from the green and yellow makeup.

Click the picture to see me and Rich in all our silliness... If you click the newspaper page, it'll take you to the food section of our website. Don't forget to try our Super Bowl pizza recipes!