My son Alex and I were sitting on our newly power washed and stained deck. “I know we have to clean and re-stain the deck every few years, but I really hate it.” I sighed as I gently rocked back in my rocker.

“Why?” Alex looked confused. “It looks great!”

“I know but remember earlier in the summer when we were out here watching the chipmunks scamper all over the yard then dart under the deck? I’m pretty sure they’d made a burrow under there.” I looked around the yard. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but they’ve all left.”

Alex looked around the yard. Then got up to look over the railing of the deck. “You know, you’re right. I don’t see any of their holes.” He went back and sat. “That’s too bad. They were fun to watch.”

I leaned back further in my chair. “Remember the three that used to chase each other all over the yard? Oh my gosh, they were so cute!” I pointed to a spot next to the bird feeder. “One was trying to get some seeds off the ground next to a mourning dove. That’s when we saw the mourning doves do that weird move where he held up one wing. Then we found our that what they do when they think someones in their territory.” I started to laugh. “He looked like he was dabbing!”

Alex started to laugh. “Yeah, but the chipmunk wasn’t very intimadatied! He just ran over the bird’s back!”

“I’m pretty sure no one’s taking the mourning doves too seriously with that move!”

That’s when my husband Steven came out on the deck. “What are you guys laughing about?” he asked as he sat down next to me in his Adirondack chair.

“I was just telling Alex how sad I am that the chipmunk family that lived under our deck had to leave because we were mean and power washed and stained their roof.”

Steven looked confused. “So you were showing your sadness by laughing?”

“No.” Alex said. “We were talking about all the funny things they’d been doing earlier in the summer.”

Steven looked around the deck. “Hey, I’m sorry about that but we can’t let the deck go untreated for too long.” He looked around the yard. “Besides I’m sure they’ll be back.”

I looked over at Alex. “I don’t know, what do you think Alex? First the power washing must have felt like they were going through a hurricane, then big blobs of stinky stuff comes dripping through the cracks and into they’re burrow while we roll on the stain and to top it all off it’s a sticky mess for days until it dries.” I looked over at Steven. “Would you come back?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, I don’t want them up on the deck anyway. Chipmunks can do a lot of damage.” he got up and began to walk in the house. “I’m getting a bottle of water, anyone else want one?”

“I’m good.” I said.

“Me too.” Alex added.

“By the way, the deck looks great!” I called to him as he went inside.

Once he closed the door I turned to Alex and whispered. “Still wish we didn’t have to do it.” I sighed as I looked around our chipmunk-less yard.

I walked into the house and saw my son Alex sitting on the couch. “Hey!” I called as I headed right to the kitchen. I grabbed a glass and filled it with water before heading back out the front door. “Did you see my Gerber daisy?” I said as I passed him again.

“No.”

“Look out the front window.” I said as I went out and began slowly pouring the water on it. When my glass was empty I came back in. “When I left an hour ago that poor little flower was fine.” I went into the kitchen to put the glass in the dishwasher. I walked back in the living room where Alex was looking out the window. “I think you’re too late.” he said, then turned around and put his feet up on the coffee table. “It sure looks dead to me.”

“Nope, it’s this heat wave. In about twenty minutes you’ll see it pop right back up.” I sat down putting my feet up on the coffee table too. “I want you to remember that when I go to visit Aunt Lizzy.”

Alex looked confused. “Why do I need to remember that?”

“Because I’m putting you in charge of watering the plants.” I looked over and smiled at him. “I’m going to be gone for a week so I’d like you to feed the fish and water my plants please.”

Alex sighed. “Okay, how often do I water them?”

“Well, that depends on the weather. If it’s a heat wave like this it could be twice a day.”

“Wait, what?” Alex shook his head. “I’m never going to remember that!”

“That’s why I’m showing you the Gerber daisy now.” I turned around to peek out the window. “Nope, still a little droopy.” I turned back to face him. “I don’t want you to make the mistake of thinking they’re too far gone and throw them away.”

Alex smiled. “Yeah, but at least it would have been one less plant to water.”

“Hey!” I tossed a pillow over at him. “That’s not funny.” I laughed. “I’ve been checking on the geraniums on the back porch but they’re a little more forgiving. Just check the dirt and make sure it’s moist.” I got up. “Here let me show you.” I walked back to the kitchen and Alex followed me. I stood at the window. “See the Peace plant on the table?”

“That table?” He was pointing to the bistro table.

“No, that’s a Hens & Chicks, it’s a succulent. You’re not going to have to worry about that one. It gets watered maybe once a week.”

Alex nodded his head. “Okay, so I’m ignoring that one, got it.”

I pointed to the table next to my rocking chair. “That’s the Peace plant. That’s going to droop just like the Gerber daisy in front. As soon as you see that you water it immediately.” I looked back at him. “And don’t forget my basil and mint plants.”

Alex looked at me. “You do know the only plant I’ve ever owned was a succulent and it died.”

I stared at him, until he shrugged his shoulders and said. “I’m just letting you know.”

I’d been away for a few days and when I returned I was thrilled that I came back to a clean kitchen.

“Thanks guys!” I said to my husband Steven and son Alex. “I was afraid I’d come back to a sink full of dishes!”

“Hey, we clean up after ourselves!” Steven said as he kissed me on the cheek and headed to his office.

Alex went to lay on the couch while I put the kettle on to make a cup of tea. I was getting a cup out of the cabinet when I happened to notice my dual soap dispenser, next to the sink, was missing one of the bottles.

“Hey, what happened to the soap dispenser?” I called out. No one answered. I looked around the corner where Alex was laying on the couch. “Do you know where the other soap dispenser went?”

Alex had his eyes closed.

“Oh, come on! You’re not asleep!”

Alex laughed. “Okay, fine. I’m awake.”

I looked at him for a moment, but he still didn’t answer me. So I asked again. “Do you know where the other soap dispenser went?”

Alex shook is head. “I’m no snitch.”

I burst out laughing. “Are you kidding me?” I cried.

“Snitches get stitches.”

Just then Steven came back into the room. “Alex won’t give up what happened to the other soap dispenser. He just informed me that snitches get stitches.”

Steven looked over at him and smiled. “I broke it the other day. I was cleaning out a pot and it slipped out of my hand and broke in the sink.”

“Why’d you take it out of the caddy?” I asked. “I just squeeze some into my hand than hold my hand over the pot and run the warm water over that.”

“Clearly we wash dishes differently.”

“I guess.” I sighed. “But I really liked that setup.” I pulled out my phone and went to the Amazon link. “I’ll just go on our recent orders list and get another one.” After a few clicks I was disappointed again. “Oh, man. It’s out of stock and they don’t know if they’ll be getting it again.” I looked at Steven. “I just got that one two months ago! I can’t believe it’s already discontinued!”

“Maybe you should find one made out of plastic instead.” Steven suggested.

I crinkled my nose. “The plastic one’s are so ugly.” I began scrolling through the site looking for something similar. “Besides, it’s not like we have small children around and can’t have something made of glass.”

“Suit yourself.” Steven said. “But you saw how long that one lasted. What do you think the chances are for another glass one?”

I looked over at Alex who shrugged his shoulders. “He’s right. I think we need to stay away from the new one, you know just to be safe.”

It was early Sunday morning when I got a text from my sister Liz. She’d sent a screen shot of a question I’d posted on the Netherlands Facebook group saying:

‘Vacationed in the Netherlands last year and loved it!!! Was wondering exactly what was in the Mayo you dip your fries in? I can’t find anything like it in the States.’

My sister texted: “Here’s a screen shot of the post (says it was posted 5 hours ago, which would be 3:00 AM!) You didn’t post this did you?”

My answer was “I did!!!” Than I called her.

When she picked up she didn’t even say hello but went right into, “You were up at 3 o’clock in the morning thinking about mayonnaise?”

I had to laugh. “No, I posted it around 7 last night, I guess the moderator didn’t approve it until then.”

“Okay, that makes me feel better.” I could hear the relief in her voice. “What made you think about their mayonnaise?”

“I was out with Alex yesterday and we stopped at McDonald’s to grab a quick snack and he was dipping his fries in ketchup.” I shook my head in disgust just thinking about it. “I was telling him about how good the mayo was on our trip and that he’d never want to dip his fries in anything else once he tried it!”

“It was good.” Liz admitted.

“It was better than good!” I cried. “It was awesome!”

Liz laughed. “Okay. I haven’t checked your post, did you get any responses?”

“Oh my gosh, yes!” I put my earpiece in so I could go to Facebook and read her the replies. “Everyone was so nice. I got dozens of replies! It’s called fritessaus which means fries sauce! So many of responses were links to places I could order some!”

Just then my son Alex came into the room. “Are you still talking about mayonnaise on french fries?” He couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s not mayonnaise!” I called over my shoulder. “It’s called fritessaus and it’s going to change your life!”

My sister Liz couldn’t help but laugh on the other end of my phone. “It’s going to change his life?”

I shrugged my shoulder. “Okay maybe that’s going too far. But I ordered some and its coming in the mail tomorrow!”

Liz laughed again. “You paid for next day delivery?”

“They offered it for free! I sure wasn’t going to turn that down!”

Alex came back into the room shaking his head. “You get excited about the weirdest stuff.”

Just then the doorbell rang. I looked out the window and saw the UPS truck at the curb. “Oh my gosh!” I looked over at Alex. “Could you go get the package he just left? I wonder if it’s my fritessaus?”

My sister Liz was still on the phone. “Didn’t you just order it a few hours ago?”

“Yeah.” I sighed.

My husband Steven and son Alex and I were headed back to the car after a fabulous round of mini golf.

“I can’t believe you got two hole-in-ones!” Alex said as he climbed in the back seat.

I couldn’t hide my smile, I was grinning from ear to ear. “I can’t believe it either! That was so much fun!”

Steven had walked the clubs back to the golf shop and was headed back to the car. “You know, traditionally when you get a hole in one you buy everyone in the clubhouse a drink!” he said as he opened the car door.

I looked over at the snack bar attached to golf shop and gave a sigh of relief when I saw the closed sign. “Lucky for me it’s closed.” I said, pointing my thumb in the direction of the sign. “And we were playing mini golf. I’m pretty sure that doesn’t count.”

Steven nodded his head in agreement as he got in the car. “You’re right. In mini golf you have to buy ice cream for everyone in your group.”

Alex looked over at me and smiled. “Sounds good to me! Seeing that you got two, I’m thinking you should buy us each two ice creams!”

“Oh, come on!” I laughed. “There’s no way you could eat two!”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just saying.”

As I pulled out of the parking lot I looked up and down the street. “Where’s the closest ice cream store from here?”

Steven held up his phone. “I’ve already Googled it! Make a right at the light and it’s about two miles down the road.”

While we were driving a smile crept over my face again. Alex tipped his head from the back seat. “Still loving the fact that you got two?” he asked.

“It was pretty cool.” I said.

“We should play again next week.” Alex tapped Steven on the shoulder. “What do you think? Again next week?”

“NO!” I cried. “I’m never going to play again!”

Steven looked over at me a confused looked on his face. “What? Why?”

“Because I’ll never get two hole in ones again! The pressure’s too much. I’m quitting while I’m ahead!” I put my blinker on when I saw the ice cream shop coming up.

“Are you serious?” Alex laughed from the back seat.

“Completely!” I said as I parked the car. “What if I play again and I don’t get any hole-in-ones? You two will think today was just luck. This way I’m leaving the game as a pro.” I looked back at Alex as he opened his car door. “You know I’m at the Top of My Game.” I added.

Steven started to laugh. “At the Top of Your Game.”

“I really think she’s serious.” Alex said.

“Well, this stinks.” I said as I began to read the letter my husband Steven had just handed me.

“What?” Steven was going through the rest of the mail.

I held up the letter from AARP. “Nothing says you’re old like a letter from the American Association of Retired Persons telling you you can now be a card carrying member!” I pulled the card off the paper. “Look they’re even giving me a discount as a birthday gift!” I sighed as I tossed the letter on the table. “What a crummy birthday gift.” I sighed then picked up the letter again and read it out-loud. “Dear Kathryn, Enjoy your birthday.” I tossed the letter back on the table. “Enjoy your birthday.” I grumbled. “How am I suppose to do that when they’re telling me I’m old?”

“Your birthday’s not for weeks.” Steven reminded me. “Just throw the letter away.”

“I will.” I sighed. “But the damage is done.”

Steven laughed as he tossed the rest of the mail on the table on top of mine. “I’ve been getting that advertisement for years! I can’t believe that’s the first one you’ve gotten.”

I stopped and stared at him. I’m sure the look on my face showed I wasn’t thrilled with what he’d just said.

Steven smiled. “Come on! You’re not old.”

I laughed. “You’re just saying that.”

“Yup.”

“Hey!”

“Look, we’re both getting old, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

I sighed again. “I know. But I miss the days when I’d be asked to show my license so I could get a glass of wine.” I looked over at Steven sadly shaking my head. “It’s been a long time since someone’s asked to see my license.”

Steven went into the kitchen to get a bottle of water. I followed him, as he reached into the cabinet he got a bottle and held it up. “You want one?”

“Sure.” I leaned against the counter as he tossed the bottle to me and I caught it with one hand.

“See.” Steven said as he twisted the cap off his. “You still have your hand and eye coordination.”

“Very funny.” I took a sip of water and sighed again.

“Well, if you became a card carrying AARP member you could feel that way again.” Steven laughed.

Now I was confused. “How do you figure that?”

“When you go to Dunkin’ Donuts and want to get a free doughnut you can pull out that card to prove you’re an eligible senior citizen!”

“But I’m not a senior citizen yet!!! I’m a long way off!”

Steven shrugged his shoulder. “That’s not what that card said.”

I took another sip. “Crummiest birthday gift ever.”

“It wasn’t a birthday gift! It was an advertisement!”

“It was a special birthday rate.” I took the card out of my pocket. “See it has birthday balloons on it and everything!”

Steven took the card from me. “Hey, you can get a free insulated trunk organizer!” He looked over at me and smiled. “See, now that’s a nice gift for old people.”

I threw my water bottle cap at him.

He quickly put his water bottle down and caught the cap in his hand. “See!” he held up the cap. “We’re not that old yet!”

We were sitting on the patio of our favorite Mexican restaurant eating a late lunch. I looked over at my son Alex. “This was a great idea!” I said as I took a bite of my Pollo Especial that we were sharing.

My husband Steven nodded in agreement as he took a bite of his Caesar salad.

There was a cool breeze and I was enjoying the sound of the water splashing from a nearby fountain. “I don’t know why we don’t come out here more often?”

Alex took a sip of his water. “I know, it’s only twenty minutes away.”

A half hour later we were back in the car. “We should do that again.” I said as I was traveling down Route 33, a four lane road, headed back home.

“I’m in!” Alex called from the back seat.

I was in the slow lane but keeping up with the traffic which means I was going about 10 miles over the speed limit. An SUV was trying to pass me on the left but we were pretty much staying together when we passed a police car tucked back off the road.

“Oh, man!” I cried as I looked down at my speedometer to confirm I was speeding. I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I tap my breaks, proving I was going too fast or keep going, pretending I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I chose the latter.

Steven tried to reassure me. “You’re fine. Everyone is going the same speed.” he patted me on the leg.

I nervously looked in my rear view mirror and saw the police car pull into traffic. “Oh, great!” I sighed. “He’s coming!”

Steven shook his head. “Stop worrying. Maybe his shift is done.”

I kept checking the mirror. Then I saw the sign that my exit was coming up in two miles. “Now what do I do?” I asked as I pointed to the sign. “If I take the exit it looks like I’m trying to get away!”

Alex laughed from the back seat. “Or it looks like you’re taking your exit.”

I took a deep breath, feeling my anxiety beginning to rise.

Steven patted me on the leg again. “What’s the worst that could happen? You get a ticket?”

I looked over at Steven. “Yes!” I cried. “I get a ticket, our insurance rates go up and you call me Speed Racer for the next five years never letting me live it down that I was speeding!”

Steven laughed. “True.”

I looked in the rear view mirror again. “Oh my gosh! He’s turned his lights on!” I instinctively eased my foot off the gas, dropping back and letting the left hand traffic pass me. My hands were beginning to get sweaty as I tried to accept my fate.

That’s when the police car passed me and got behind the SUV that had been next to me a moment ago. “Oh my gosh!” I said as we watched the SUV pull over to the side of the road, the police car pulling up right behind them. “We were going the same speed!” I cried.

Alex laughed. “See. He wasn’t after you.”

As we passed the pulled over car I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. “That could have been us.” I said as I put my blinker on and took our exit.

“But it wasn’t.” Alex said.

I wiped my sweaty hands, one at a time, on my pants. I could still feel my heart racing.

As we continued down the road Alex leaned forward. “You know you’re going 35 when the speed limit is 45 here.” He pointed to the speed limit sign we were passing.

“I know.” I said as I continued at the slower speed. “I’m not taking any more chances today.”

It was a Friday evening and my son Alex and I were walking around our neighborhood when we noticed a lot of families setting up tables in their driveways.

“Must be the town wide yard sale this weekend.” I said as we passed a woman wheeling out a rolling rack of clothes. I began shaking my head. “I’ve only had one yard sale and I hated it!”

“Why?”

“Well, we were downsizing, and your Dad wanted to clean out the garage and shed to get rid of all the extra contracting materials he’d been storing.” We passed a house that was lining up a row of bikes on their front lawn. “I thought it would be a good idea to start cleaning out the house and get rid of the stuff I wasn’t planning on taking when we moved.” We saw a woman with her dog on a leash walking towards us. We stepped into the street until they passed then got back on the sidewalk. “I couldn’t believe how much work it was dragging everything out on our porch, trying to decide what to charge and grouping them in some sort of order! It was exhausting.” I shook my head at the memory. “Then the day of the sale came and the creepy part started.”

“What creepy part?”

“When I came down early the next morning there were some dollar bills laying on the porch!”

Alex stopped walking. “What?”

“Yup! Someone was on our porch and decided to start shopping early!”

“What did they take?” We’d begun walking again.

“I have no idea! There was so much stuff I couldn’t figure out what they took. They really creepy part was I hadn’t put prices on anything yet so whatever they took they decided on what they’d pay for it.”

We were passing another family setting up. I scanned what they were putting out on the tables. Then shook my head. “Nope I’m not even going to look. Once you downsize your treasure hunting days are done.”

“I remember I sold a lot of my old video games.” he said.

“Oh, yeah!” I looked over at him. “Do you remember how much you made on them?”

“No, but I regret selling them.” Alex sighed. “Some of them are classics now.”

“I’m sorry.” I said sadly as I patted him on the shoulder.

“Do you regret selling anything?” he asked. We were at the end of our street, headed home.

I thought about it for a moment. “Maybe a few things, but when your downsizing you have to make some tough choices.”

We were just passing our neighbors house, who were also getting ready for the sale. I could see they had a table with some crystal pieces on it. “Oh, I’ll have to come check that out tomorrow.” I said as I turned into our driveway.

“I thought your treasure hunting days were over?” Alex pulled the house keys out of his pocket.

I shrugged my shoulders as he opened the door and I walked in. “I guess I was lying to myself.”

I knocked on my son Alex’s bedroom door. “Can I come in?” I called.

“Sure!”

I walked into his sitting room and saw that he had a clear plastic bag of rubber snakes on his couch. I picked it up but held it away from me, because even though they’re rubber they’re still snakes. “What are these for?”

Alex came out of his bedroom. “Dad and I ordered them the other night.”

“Why?” I peeked inside and noticed there were several different types of snakes before I dropped them back onto his couch.

“It’s for the mockingbird.” Alex picked up the bag and tossed them further down the couch before he sat down.

“You mean the mockingbird that we were having so much fun listening to the other day?”

We’d been on the back porch while the mockingbird perched himself by the feeder and went through his repertoire. “He did a really good seagull.” I smiled as I thought about it.

“Yeah, and his blue jay was so perfect the real blue jays were chasing him all over the place!”

I had to laugh. “I know, it was pretty funny.” I stopped laughing, looked at the bag of snakes and felt confused. “You were liking the mockingbird when we were on the deck.” I shrugged my shoulders. “What happened?”

“Yeah, it was all fun and games until he decided to park himself in the holly tree outside my bedroom window the other night and do his entire repertoire again at three in the morning!” Alex sighed. “Oh, and this time he really liked his car alarm song!”

I had to laugh. “I’m sorry, but when we looked them up online it did say they’ll imitate any noises in the area.” I actually thought it was pretty interesting that mockingbirds can learn close to two hundred sounds. From other song birds to squeaky gates, car alarms and even babies crying. “So what are the snakes for?”

“To hang in the holly tree and scare him away.” Alex pulled one out of the bag and tossed it to me.

“Don’t do that!” I jumped out of the way and let it drop to the floor. “I’ve got bird feeders and bird houses all over the place and you want to hang snakes in the trees!”

“Just the holly tree by my bedroom window. Dad and I looked it up and it says smaller birds are afraid of snakes.” He picked the snake up off the floor and put it back in the bag.

“But that means you’ll be scaring all the birds away!”

“The holly tree’s in the front of the house.” Alex reasoned. “Your feeders and bird houses are in the back.”

“I still don’t want you hanging snakes in the trees.”

Just then my husband Steven walked by. “Are you talking about the snakes I just bought?”

“Yeah,” I looked over at Steven. “I really don’t want snakes draped over my holly bush limbs.”

“Hey, if it keeps the mockingbird from singing at three in the morning I say we hang snakes in the trees!”

“I’m with Dad!” Alex called.

“Oh, come on you two.” I looked over at Alex. “How many times has he woken you up in the middle of the night?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Just that one time.” he admitted.

“Are you two serious?” I looked at Steven then back at Alex. “He keeps you up for one night and you’re ready to put snakes in the trees!”

“I never said anything about putting them up yet.” Alex said as he picked up the bag and began walking back into his bedroom while I followed him. “I just want to be prepared if he does it again.” Alex placed the bag next to his bed. “This way I can just open my window and toss a few right in the tree.”

I looked over at Steven and sighed.

“What?” Steven looked over at Alex, who shrugged his shoulders, then looked back at me. “It’s the perfect solution!”

“You two better promise me that I’m never going to find one of them hiding anywhere in the house.”

Alex and Steven just smiled.

After dinner my son Alex and I decided to take a drive down to the beach. There’s a National Park by us called Sandy Hook, a peninsula that has the ocean on one side and the bay on the other.

We parked the car in the lot and made our way across the sand to some large jetty rocks by the ocean. As we climbed up on one of the rocks we could see the ocean, the waves gently tumbling onto the sand. We sat down and watched as fisherman, further down the beach, set up their equipment along the edge of the water. Right in front of us several poles were lined up on the sand, waiting for the next nibble, but no one seemed to be around to tend them.

“I’m so glad you’re Dad isn’t into fishing.” I said to Alex.

“Why?” he was sitting on his own jetty rock.

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I really don’t like the taste of fish and I wouldn’t want him coming home with a cooler filled with them and wanting me to gut and clean them.” I shuddered at the thought. “Yuck.”

Just then a man popped up from the other side of the boulder I was sitting on. He didn’t look our way but went directly to the fishing poles in front of us.

Alex looked over at me, his eyes opened wide. “Do you think he heard you?” he whispered.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m not sure how he couldn’t.” I leaned over the boulder and saw where he’d been sitting on the sand leaned up against the boulder I was sitting on. “Want to go over to the bay side now?” I asked.

Alex got up first then reached over to help me down from my perch. “Thanks.” I hopped down onto the sand. “Well that was embarrassing.” I laughed as we walked back through the parking lot, crossed the road and walked through the section that had been cut through the dunes.

“Whew,” I covered my nose as the low tide smell hit me. “It’s stinky over here.”

I spotted something close to the tide line and walked over to it then crouched down. “It’s a horseshoe crab!” I cried waving Alex over to me.

“Do you think it’s still alive!” He asked as he came to stand next to me.

“I don’t know.” We both stared at the motionless armored creature.

Alex pointed to another one half buried in the sand a few feet away. “It’s like they’re playing the worst game of hide and seek.” he laughed. “You know how little kids put a towel over their heads and think they’re hiding?”

I had to laugh then quickly stopped. “Wait a minute.” I looked around and saw several more partially buried in the sand. “It’s low tide.”

“I know. I can smell it too.” Alex began to step back.

“DON’T MOVE!” I cried.

Alex froze. “What’s wrong?”

“They’ve come up on the beach to lay their eggs and the tide went out before they were done. That’s why they’ve buried themselves in the sand! They’re waiting for the tide to come back in.” I looked around and could see even more crabs. The drag lines from their shells were all over the beach. I slowly stood up. “Watch where you’re walking.” I gingerly stepped over another crab. “We don’t want to step on any of them.”

Alex and I must have looked ridiculous as we hopped and leaped over what other people watching us would think were imaginary objects. When I finally felt we were safely out of their egg laying area I turned back to Alex. “Well, that certainly was exciting!”

“Exciting?” Alex began brushing the sand I’d kicked up off his legs.

I looked back over to the horseshoe crabs. “I haven’t seen that many horseshoe crabs since I was little girl.” I smiled as I looked at Alex. “I’m just so excited to see so many!”

Alex smiled. “I’m glad you’re so excited.” he tipped his head towards the parking lot. “Now do you want to head back to the car before the fisherman you insulted packs up and we find out we’re parked next to him.”

“Oh yeah.” I grimaced as I headed towards our car. “I forgot about him.”