Look at the size of that fish!

We just got back from a week with Nana and Papa at the beach in Emerald Isle.  The house we stay at sits on the backside of the outer bank right next to the sound.  There is a pier that has proven fun over the years for goofing around with small crabs and fish.  As part of the yard sale blitz earlier this summer, I found my old bass pole that was last used (and never successfully) in 2003 according to the fishing license I found in my tackle box.  The tackle box itself was full of old bass lures.

Anyway, we were down on the dock the second night and I decided to put a small spinner on the line and let Lily have fun reeling it in (with zero expectation of catching anything, after all it was all bass stuff).  But it seems as though the cosmic bakers are not without a sense of humor....I got a hard tug on the line and hollared out for Chip to come over.....he was convinced I had caught the bottom.  It turns out that what I had was this flounder!

It was a good size fish and all the kids got to get a good look at him while he was on the dock (Lily touched him, in addition to many other fish and crabs, we were super proud of how inquisitive she was).  It was a clean hook in the jaw so we got it out without much problem and released him back into the sound.  Many thanks to Em for the pics below.

Scarlet Runner Beans?

I've been so impressed with the zinnias this year....just look at all the purple blossoms in the picture below.  They go up pretty high into the scarlet runner bean....the zinnias are holding their own against it!

 I realized today that the scarlet runner bean actually produces beans....who'd have thought!?!

I shelled one of them and found these hot pink beans inside....I've already munched on a couple of them raw, they are actually pretty good!  Unlike the red noodles, I think we'll actually be able to eat these beans!

Tennessee Volunteers

OK, so we definitely like those orange folks from Knoxville, but that is not the kind of volunteer I'm talking about.  Each fall I pile up all the old brush and garden leftovers into a pile that composts down.  In the early spring I till it into the dirt to help enrich the soil.  This is a beneficial procedure because it adds valuable nutrients to the soil, while at the same time taking care of all the yard waste from the fall....win-win.  One side effect is that sometimes some of the seeds in the pile survive and I end up with un-anticipated plants in the garden.  I used to pull them all out (Chip you remember helping me pull hundreds of squash saplings that one year?)  But lately I've gotten in the habit of letting a couple of them go just to see what they are.  

This year, we've got three....one is a squash (and they usually are) that appears to be a spaghetti squash.  Its vine and first massive fruit is in the picture below.

The second one is actually a basil plant! You can see it below sitting to the bottom left of the calendula.

 Finally there is this tomato plant that popped up in the back of the "rock bed" that contains most of the flowers.

Laughing and Graphing

 Milligan periodically does a photo shoot of one of our classes to get some publicity pictures.  They came by my MBA class in June to take a new round.  Sometimes these pictures can feel staged....but I love this round because it pretty much sums up what I do....tell jokes to entertain the students in between rounds of graphing.  We've definitely found truth in advertising on this campaign!

Kingsport Aquatic Center

Recently we became aware of a water park in Kingsport....after checking it out, we found it to be very similar to a water park we visited a lot in Winston-Salem.  It has a toddler area with small water slides and fixtures that spray and dump water.  It also has a lazy river and two large waterslides.  Lily is going to have her 7th birthday party there next weekend, and we thought we better check it out today (and also to not miss Mama too bad....its her last day of work before a week off!)  Lily took off and was by far the most fish like that I've ever seen her, going underwater for long periods of time and even doing underwater somersaults!  We had a big day and are now getting cleaned up to fix some dinner....except for CJ who is out cold on the bed :)