This weekend was full of work, which is exciting, but also exhausting. Happy to be taking it easy this Monday morning and working from home and trying to get a handle on laundry and groceries along with bits of work squeezed in!

A happy floral moment I spotted while we were out and about:

On Saturday we tackled two photoshoots for the blog! Don’t have any teasers to share, but they will be up on the blog this week!

After we finished up work on Saturday we started tackling some prep work for Jon’s side business. As you know Jon loves being outdoors with the boys and taking them hiking, camping, fishing, etc. We are constantly out exploring our surroundings and when we do it we always have little kids and parents flocking to us. They all ask Jon questions about what he is doing, how he is doing it, questions about whatever creature he has found! So, last summer he started up Wild Ones Adventures where families can sign up for adventure excursions. With the move last summer we really didn’t get anything off the ground, but this year we are moving full steam ahead! We started the adventure season with a community garden in a nearby town and Jon was a hit!

On Saturday we went out to pick up little creatures for the Wild One’s booth on Sunday. We hit the beach super early and found crabs, ghost shrimps and a jelly fish! In order to get the crabs you need to hit the beach at low tide, which means rain boots for all! It’s really muddy and any other shoe would get filthy!

We found crabs right away! The first time we went I was terrified to grab them, but now I’m a pro! It’s actually really exciting to flip over a rock and see all of the crabs and then try and catch them! The shores of Long Island are full of Asian shore crabs, which are an invasive species so, it’s actually really good to go and take them. You can use them as bait if you like to fish. We tend to catch for fun and then just release, but it’s up to you!

Taking in some rays, because why not!

On Sunday we had to be at the community garden by 11:30 for set up!

Don’t you love the postcards I designed for guests to take with a little bit about the company and coupon for a discount on an adventure! They were a big hit!

I also get up a little tattoo and sticker station for the kids that weren’t into touching the actual crab, but still wanted something to do at the table. It was a big hit as well. The boys kept grabbing people from the crowd to get tattooed.

We had the most popular table. Adults and kids were amazed by the creatures Jon bought. We had crabs, sand worms, ghost shrimp, sea snails and a jelly fish!

Is the jellyfish not the coolest? That was the only creature people couldn’t touch because it was poinious, but it really helped draw people in to ask about what we do, etc.

The crabs were also a big hit. We had a variety of sizes and put all of the ones with small pinchers out so that everyone felt safe holding them. The big guys got their own container and Jon would take them out when explaining the different species and pincher sizes!

It was a really fun day and it was nice to see so much excitement about Jon’s idea. He spoke with a state senator and many people from schools that were interested in working with him. Now we just need to figure out how to scale it all.

After all of that hard work we needed to finish off the day with a trip to the ice cream truck!

It was a really fun and rewarding weekend! Happy Monday!