Before we left for the beach, Ella had her second dance recital. As I’m sure you know, most every ballerina gets an arm full of flowers to celebrate her performance. Last year, Ella got pink roses and as beautiful as they were, we left for the beach the next morning and never got to enjoy them. I talked with her about waiting to get flowers when we got home from vacation, but she opted to pick out a prize at the beach instead. She was such a big girl about not having flowers that night, knowing she would be rewarded in a few days.
I imagined her picking out a necklace or a new bathing suit or even a silly, unnecessary souvenir. I was not prepared for Courtney. Josh’s eyes lit up one night in the camper and I knew what was about to happen. He whispered in her ear that there were crabs you could buy and take home. Ella was sold. I, on the other hand, was not happy at the prospect of caring for a neglected crab.
One cloudy morning, we skipped the beach and did some shopping instead. We headed to Souvenir City for a photo-op at the shark’s mouth and to peruse the hermit crab selection. Ella had already made a decision about the name. We would be bringing home Courtney the crab. I’ll be honest. I couldn’t keep a straight face. We don’t know anyone named Courtney, I don’t know where she’s picked up the name and it doesn’t strike me as a “crabby” name. Nonetheless, Courtney the crab seems very happy with her name, as does her caretaker.
She picked out a purple shelled crab and a purple cage and Courtney is still kicking. I am convinced we will be that family who has to buy a new shell every summer for the crab that outlives the family dog. Just wait and see. Courtney is currently living on the top floor of a very pretty dollhouse and is well cared for. Ella isn’t quite sure about holding her, but she gets regular food and water and likes to shake her aquarium rocks and wake Ella up in the middle of the night.
What’s a vacation without our annual trip to Scoops. We actually hit them up a few times, but the whole family managed to make it one night and we spent some time eating ice cream on their big front porch.
As usual, Ella & I had mint chocolate chip, SD had a chocolate shake and Sophie grazed off of every cone she could get her hands on. It’s amazing how a 14 month old instinctively knows what to do with an ice cream cone!
