pippies

On one of our last nights in New Zealand our friend Leah took us and the Kelly family out to Orewa to dig for pippies.  When the tide was low but starting to come in we went out into the shallow tides and dug with our toes down into the sand until we felt shells.  We then dug down with our hands and pulled up little shelled animals.  The kids were thrilled to get wet and feel the water splashing around.  They were up past bed time in the late Summer sun.  It was a perfect New Zealand moment and it hurts my heart a little thinking about it.

 

The next day I cooked them up in a little sweet and sour sauce and the kids actually ate them!  They were a bit too sandy for me.  I still need to prefect my pippi cooking skills, but Max, who regularly eats sand anyways, loved them.