Champagne taste on a beer budget

Yesterday, my mom and I took a ride with the kids up to Essex to get fried clams. Yummm. We do this a few times during the summer and everyone enjoys it. Aidan and Gavin eat fish and chips just like on one of their shows, Balamory. And, Ciara had her first taste of fish yesterday but she didn't seem as thrilled with it as her brothers.

So, we get the boys their fish and my mother and I get a fried clam plate and a shrimp plate which comes with french fries and onion rings. Aidan loves onion rings and so he reached over and grabbed one. Or so he thought...it was actually a fried clam. Before I could say anything, he popped it into his mouth at which point I expected him to spit it right back out. But he ate it. And then said "Mmmmm." and reached out and grabbed another. This from the boy who basically lives on hot dogs, tater tots and fish sticks. Then he reaches over and takes a shrimp off the plate and eats that, too! I just cannot believe my eyes. My mother and I were just staring at each other as he continued to pop fried clams and shrimp in his mouth as if he were eating popcorn. Even Gavin, the boy who eats everything, wouldn't try it.

So now that he eats them, is he going to ask for them when we go to the fish store? I don't even think I knew what a fried clam was until I was a teenager and even then, my parents wouldn't let me order it in a restaurant in case I wasted them. I mean, right now a fried clam plate in New England is about $18 (!) while a clam roll is about $12. Um, I don't think so. Aidan can stick to fish or hot dogs and can skim the occasional clam off his mom's plate.