Carambola Beach Resort

Our first day of snorkeling was off the Carambola Beach Resort on the North coast. This area of the island (Northwest side) is known for having a lot of elkhorn coral. Here is a very nice big one that we saw. There isn't a lot to give you a sense of scale but this was about as tall as I am.

Katie doing a little snorkeling.

Here is a nice little school of Seargent Majors.

These big Fan Coral were everywhere, especially in Cane Bay where we went later. These are really cool because they wave back and forth in the surge.

Buck Island Underwater

I bought an underwater digital camera before going to St Croix. So here are some of the pictures from the Buck Island reef. We also saw some really great stuff that we couldn't take pictures of because they are too fast. This day we saw 5 Hawksbill turtles and a GIANT sting ray. It was down pretty deep (40-50 feet) and it still looked huge. We think it had a wingspan of about 6-7 feet.
A school of Blue Tang

A nice Elkhorn Coral with Katie snorkelling away in the background.
Some pretty corals.
 

Buck Island National Monument

Here are some pictures from our trip to St Croix, USVI. We took a trip out to Buck Island National Monument. This is an island just north of St Croix that has been protected since JFK (well... and strengthened by Clinton). The place is absolutely amazing. First off here we have some pictures from above the water.

We sailed out with Captain Heinz on the Teroro II (a trimaran). It was a great sail. It took us about an hour to sail out to the moorings at the snorkel site. We had to beat up into the wind tack upon tack. It was great for a wannabe sailor like myself. Here is Katie standing on the beach with the Teroro II and St. Croix in the background.

This is Katie's seafaring pose.

Just look at those beautiful blue waters. We are tacking up toward the snorkeling area at the eastern tip of the island.

Funny Guy

We love this guy at Sea World. He is the warmup before the Viva! show. He is a really excellent physical comedian. To us he is "The Funny Guy". He has been working at Sea World for a quite a few years now.
 

We Love Fruit

Nuff Said.

 

Aquarena Springs

We went to Aquarena Springs in San Marcos. This is where the San Marcos River comes from. It just bubbles up out of this spring. It really produces a lot of water too. We went for a ride in the glass bottom boats too. We saw fish and turtles and lots of plants. Very cool.

They also had a neat boardwalk that went out through a marshy area.

Ella's First Day of Preschool

Ella is attending preschool at the Methodist church down the street. It is so close that Katie walks her to school in the mornings.
 

High Pucker Factor

Wow. Now that is up close and personal with nature.
The picture is authentic too.

Butter Fried Krispy Kreme

Now we've really gone over the edge.

Butter fried Krispy Kreme Donuts.