Fried Shrimp, Boiled Shrimp,.....

....shrimp kabobs, shrimp cakes, shrimp dumplings, shrimp and grits, shrimp wraps. No, I have not just finished watching Forrest Gump, I am just remembering all the yummy things I ate this weekend at the Beaufort Shrimp Festival!

Our friends Jan and Joe (Clayton's parents) invited us to spend the weekend with them at Jan's family creek house in Beaufort. So, Friday we packed up the kids and headed down for a weekend of fun. We started with crabbing on Friday afternoon.

Noah and I had never done it before and we both looked on with skeptical faces as Jan attached the turkey necks to the crabbing lines. (I didn't offer to help...are you surprised?) Anyway, Noah was very happy to play with the net and kept telling us how excited he was to catch a turtle. I tried to explain that we were catching crabs but he was convinced we would get a turtle. Turns out we got neither because the bugs were so bad we were driven inside pretty quickly. No worries though, we spent the rest of the night enjoying food and company and after the kids went to sleep the Shealys beat the Cruzes in a game of ping-pong. (Well, Wes beat them - I tried my best to lose it for us.)

We woke up on Saturday and had a relaxing breakfast on the porch as the sun was coming up over the water.

I know, I know...what a terrible view. It hurts my eyes.

Clayton, Wes, and Noah watch for dolphins in the creek.

That morning we headed into Beaufort for the Shrimp Festival. It was a beautiful day - hot yes, but that was okay.

Excited to be at the "Shrimp Vegetable"!

We did all sorts of fun things. Clayton and Noah did some face painting. There was music and tons of space to run around. Best of all was the food. So much to choose from - we probably tried it all! Noah's favorite part was definitely not the food - he liked the giant inflatable shark slide the best.

He and Clayton spent the better part of an hour going up and down the shark slide. They had a blast. So did the adults...

...don't you love our shrimp necklaces?

We finally dragged everyone home after several hours of fun and capped off the day with a sunset boat ride. After that, the kids were pretty much exhausted - and so was I - and we enjoyed some yummy dinner (thanks to Jan's parents!) and wine (yes, I had a glass -sue me.)

We had a great weekend - even though I may have gained 10 pounds from all the yummy food!