Annual Crawfish Boil 2015

Our annual crawfish boil was this past Saturday. However, we almost had to cancel it on account of the weather. There was bound to be a rainy Saturday sooner or later since we had gotten so lucky for weeks before; the forecast for boil day didn’t look great.

We ultimately decided just to go for it, crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. Kenny and Grandpa constructed quite an impressive tarp tent over the driveway to protect the tables, and we also had five pop-up tents on standby. We were as prepared as we could be.

But, lo and behold, the weather held out. It rained on Friday night and some on Saturday morning, but then it didn’t start up again until almost 5pm on Saturday. And it stayed overcast throughout most of the day so it wasn’t hot at all. Perfect!

Kenny was most excited to test out his new crawfish cleaning apparatus this year. He worked on it with his colleague at their office for the past few weeks. Quite impressive, I must say. Grandpa was definitely a fan since the new process was much easier on his back, and Rory loved dropping crawfish into the chutes to be rinsed.

  

We had about 30 adults and 20 kids in attendance, and Kenny boiled approximately 170 pounds of crawfish in 5 batches. We even had our acts together and had the first batch already boiled and soaking when the first people showed up. Geaux us.

Everyone started arriving right around noon. Lots of the kids (and Lizzie!) were fascinated with the cleaning station and stopped to watch. Colin and Grant even gave a few of the crawfish an extra rinse.

  

We had the first batch out at about a quarter to one and the tables were hardly empty the rest of the day. Kenny did a great job; everything was really tasty.

The kids didn’t partake in the crawfish but they kept themselves occupied with our backyard toys, the little bounce house that Uncle Jeff set up, and the spread of desserts in the kitchen. Oh, and Steve brought two watermelons again this year, which they pounced on as soon as he cut them up. I think Rory ate about 8 pieces all by himself.

Some of the kids also had crawfish races…..

…..and they all loved when I turned on the crazy sprinkler for them later in the day. Except for Jack, who waited patiently on the tricycle for someone to want a ride. And for Rory, who just wanted to push his truck. And then eat more watermelon. While all of the parents watched from the shelter of the back patio.

The party started breaking up when dark clouds moved in, but Kenny did get help emptying out the pots and bringing some of the boiling equipment under the tarps before the rain began. It was, as always, a great afternoon. I love having so many of our friends together in one place. We so rarely all hang out together anymore.

However, one of my favorite parts of the day actually happened after almost everyone had gone home. That’s coming up next!