Monday, November 27, 2006

Last night on the boat

Hope everyone had as great a holiday as I did! Lots of food, lots of good company, lots of reading, lots of watching movies and just relaxing in general. It was perfect. Today was even great at school, so nice to go back in refreshed and excited to see the kiddos! I'll have a couple of good weeks to cram some knowledge into their heads before the excitement of the winter holidays overwhelms everything else.

Here are the shots I took on our last night on the boat. I was playing around with 15 to 30 sec exposures. I rather like how they turned out!

Looking over the small river to the restaurant where we had dinner.

A couple of the empties lined up on the edge of the boat from our last night of celebrating.

Eric, Deirdre, and Zeth board our tiny little plane as we bid Placencia (and D&Z) farewell and head off into the interior of Belize for monkeys and Mayan ruins...

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Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Last day on the boat

I could really go on forever with my underwater photos, but I think you've seen the best of the shots. I included my last couple of favorites from the sailing portion of our trip.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Deirdre sits in my favorite spot and contemplates the ocean.

My friendly 3 ft barracuda. Zeth pointed him out so I swam over to take a picture... I found out later he was pointing so we could avoid swimming near him! After the sharks, I'm fearless in the water ;)

When we were snorkling in the cut (a large channel cut out of the reef--too cool) we saw so many schools of fish hanging out like this in the coral. Amazing.

One last shot of my favorite kind of coral...

...before I say good-bye to the ocean.
What an amazing experience! Eric & I finally agree on the necessity of scuba certification. Hopefully this summer, and then we can journey back to Belize and dive the Blue Hole. No matter what happens, I believe that we will be visiting Belizean waters again. Just incredible!

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Thursday, November 16, 2006

Sandwiches and Sandcastles

After a wonderful lunch of delivered sandwiches on the beach, we split into teams for a sandcastle building competition. The moms were the designated judges. Look below to see the exciting results!

The happy couple chows down.

Eric finishes the work on our castle-on-a-bluff while I run off to take action shots.

Elizabeth and Matt work on their rather greek-inspired structure.

The newlyweds build an odd looking castle using a cup as their guide.

And the Irish sisters clinch the lead by appealing to the moms' sentimentality... You can't really see it here, but the finished 'castle' was a heart -- complete with flowers and flags flying announcing the union of Kevin & Kim. I will (grudingly) admit that they deserved the victory.

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Wednesday, November 15, 2006

The Happy Couple

Here are some posed and not-so-posed shots of the happy couple.





Tuesday, November 14, 2006

The Party

What a fabulous time we had in St Martin, and the best part was the reception on Sat night. Hopefully these few shots can convey how much fun we had!!

The happy couple 'relaxing' in a hammock.

Elizabeth gives a lovely toast about how wonderful Kim and Kevin are together and how sure Kim was about Kevin being the right one.

Kim and Kevin pose with Momma J.

The conga line.

The view off our balcony. Spectacular!

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Thursday, November 09, 2006

Shark Ray Alley

So I showed you the nurse sharks... Here is the other part that makes Shark Ray Alley so spectacular. Hope these rays keep you entertained for the long weekend, as Eric & I are off to St Martin to help his sister Kim celebrate her marriage to Kevin. I cannot wait!! It is going to be such an awesome time. Hopefully I'll have more lovely tropical photos to share when we return next week! Oh, a big congrats to Cate & Jamie, who are getting hitched this weekend too. You two are awesome, and even better together, in truth ;)

The perfect ray picture.

Swimming along the sand.

A different swimming ray.

I love this shot because it shows how extremely close you are to the aquatic life! I doubt that couple even realized there was a ray swimming along right at their feet!

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Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Overcoming fear

Jumping into the water at shark-ray alley has got to be one of the bravest things I've done. It was close, but I overcame my fear and swam with the fishes... I know they are only nurse sharks, but they are still sharks!!

The water was literally churning before we jumped in. The fish and sharks are used to being fed by the tourist boats and so they swim up and greet you at the buoy.

The first picture I took in the water. So close I could have touched him if I were braver.

You can see the edge of Eric's mask on the side of this picture as we stare in amazement.

A couple of nurse sharks cruise by again.

A very nervous Zeth keeps his hands behind his back.
Eric named this picture: Zeth & the Blue Tang.

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Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Last night I dreamt of San Pedro


Madonna sure can turn a phrase, can't she? The only time we docked during our sail was at San Pedro. I really did love this beautiful little island.

Eric takes a turn behind the camera to capture these lovely early morning shots from our dock.

He even managed to show off our wonderful boat in this shot.

I took the camera back and snapped Horace arriving with sticky buns and johnny cakes. Yum!

Golf carts are the main mode of transportation for the roads of San Pedro.

The four travelers take a moment to enjoy some tropical drinks and a good meal.

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Friday, November 03, 2006

Grouper

I think the coolest thing we saw in that acquarium was this giant grouper. It wasn't that he was a pretty fish or anything... but for a huge fish, he could sure move! We got to watch him get fed a couple of times, and well, the photos are below...

The first time they fed him, I was so shocked by the huge splash and the speed, I must have jumped a foot. (Which you can see from the camera shake!)

The second time, I managed to stay still, but still underestimated the speed of the fish. As he is still a blur streaking across the tank.

Third time is the charm they say!

The next day, we happened upon one hanging out under the boat when we were snorkling. So cool.

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