Swimming with Sea Turtles in Barbados

They are one of Earth's most ancient creatures~~

 

Their ancestry takes them back 150 million years~

Swimming, they are poetry in motion.

From the crystal clear turquoise waters of the Caribbean

just off the coast of Barbados

these are 

the Gardener's 

sea turtle photos

(yep- that's me and my purple floaty!)

These underwater photos were taken by the Gardener with his

Panasonic Lumix camera

(Model No. DMC - TS2)

(our friend Bob is in the upper right corner) 

(that's the Gardener in the left corner here.  Taking pictures with his camera!)

(Thanks to my friend Jan for taking these photos of me swimming with the turtles.)

If you are traveling to Barbados and would like to have your own experiences swimming with sea turtles you can contact these folks.

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 Can we talk? Seriously?

When I started this blog just over 2 years ago my goal was just to maybe have 20 or 30 or (long shot goal - 50) people who would maybe read my blog and leave me comments -- and be my friend :)

Now - just this week - there are over 600 smiling faces who visit, leave comments,write to me, cheer me on - cheer me up!- support me in this blogging adventure - and give me reason to want to continue to do this thing I do~~

 I know you are there - I feel your love and support every time I write on this blog. Some of you visit often, some of you visit every now and then, some of you just when you have the chance -- we are all so very busy in our own lives.  I am overwhelmed with your show of support for me - thank you for being here~~

 SO-- Let's Celebrate!!

 My Vera tropical give away.

To enter - just leave a comment here on this post.

This Vera Bradley Tote bag will be given to a lucky winner drawn from all of the entries.  Anyone who visits here and reads my blog is welcome to enter. You KNOW I don't care where you live - I love you ALL!

This Vera Bradley beach towel is a special gift for one of my followers - a little thank you for all the support that you give to me.  If you are one of my Followers, just leave a second comment here on this post telling me that you are one of those sweet smiling faces on my sidebar!  Please make sure that you all have an email address or blog address where I can contact you. 

Miss Maddy girl or baby Keri Beth will draw the winners.  We are going to have to start taking turns now you know!  The winners will be announced on June 28.  I'll post the winners right HERE . 
~~~ 

***This Contest is Now Closed***

6/27  So here they are -- the BIG winners!!  (I am actually posting this a few hours early because I have to work in the morning  :(
# 48 YaYa from the Whispering Pines blog- the Vera purse winner
#17 Tanya from the Bead and Needle Blog - the Vera beach towel.  
You all need to send many thanks to Maddy girl for fishing your names out of the bucket!!

 Coming up next -- the Gardener's big Airplane Adventure!  You might want to invite your husbands to share this one with you!  (that's our little grandson Mason hanging on to the fence-- he LOVES airplanes!) I'll be sharing lots of pictures of him too - wait till you see how big he is!  

xoxo,

Vicki

Barbados ~ Swimming with Sea Turtles

We spent our special time on the beautiful island of Barbados - on the water! We made our own plans for the day and sailed away on a beautiful catamaran. The turquoise waters of this exotic island were crystal clear and the Gardener was able to take some stunning photographs of the sea turtles as we played and swam together~~ Our day was spent with the wonderful folks at Silver Moon Cruises in Barbados. We privately booked their full day cruise excursion that allowed time for snorkeling and swimming with the sea turtles. The Gardener and I had done this same excursion last winter and we could NOT wait to go back again this year and take our friends with us. This is absolutely the best catamaran cruise excursion that we have ever done. (we love it so much- that we are already booking it again for next year!) There were only 12 passengers in addition to the crew on this excursion - one of the things that we love best about this wonderful experience! We practically had the boat to ourselves!

lots of sunshine and smiles!

(it was miserable cold and snowing back home!)

do these folks look happy or what? Jan takes her knitting everywhere she goes! (me too!)

the weather was perfect for our sail~

I'm telling you - this was a fabulous day!

(no photos of the Gardener on this post -

he spent most of his time

UNDER water-

keep watching and you will see why! )

these guys were THE absolute best crew!

not only did they sail the boat, but they waited on us like we were royalty

AND served us a fabulous buffet lunch

that was prepared by

Christian's Mom.

(he's the cutie in the middle)

Pina Colada in paradise

Oh yea!

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love this beautiful church!

what an idyllic setting next to this shimmery blue water

(I wanted to swim over so that I could walk around and take photos -

but couldn't figure out how to get my camera safely over there -

DUH! - why didn't I borrow the Gardener's underwater camera?!!!)

NEXT TIME for sure!

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Are you ready for some serious underwater beauty?

Enjoy these photos that the Gardener took with his new camera~

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(that's my leg in the top of the photo

the turtles swam right between my legs!)

the crew fed the turtles

they were swimming around us like crazy!

(I love sea turtles!)

they are so graceful and beautiful in the water~

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Beautiful - huh?

The Gardener is so thrilled with his new camera!

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(UPDATE - I have had SO many people to email me and ask about the type of camera that the Gardener used - so here is the info and some links to Amazon.)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2 14.1 MP waterproof digital camera

AND the Gardener's favorite thing to use with the camera - the Orange life preserver strap that I bought him to go with the camera! - Olympus strap float

Thought you might want to see a few photos taken on the ship~~ we clean up pretty good sometimes~ (doesn't the Gardener look dapper?)

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(my beautiful necklace was handmade for me by my best friend Mary. She makes absolutely stunning jewelry. This necklace means the world to me and I love, love, love wearing it. When I wear this necklace - people truly walk across the room to ask me about it!) (You will be able to enjoy some of Mary's spectacular bead handiwork on a very special designer nest coming up SOON!)

My favorite ice cream that I have enjoyed on past cruises is honey apple. Unfortunately, it is no longer on the menu~~ so my sweet waiter requested to have it made for me by the chef! He surprised me with this on the second night of our cruise. The chef made enough ice cream that I enjoyed it for the entire 2 week cruise! (That is why I am NOW on a big DIET!!)

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Our group - hanging out in my favorite wine bar. My evening dress was knitted by ME! I loved making the dress and want to make another one. And you thought that I could only knit nests! (the slit in the dress is actually on the side - I did not realize that it was twisted to the middle when we took the photo.)

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(love you guys!)

Bob's favorite desert is bananas foster - so the chef made it special for him several nights while on the cruise~~ sometimes he even had more than one serving!

The traditional last night of the cruise~ Baked Alaska. We had the most wonderful waiters - these folks worked so hard to make our cruise special - I always want to take them home with us. Those of you who have been on cruises know how important that the staff and crew are to the enjoyment of the cruise experience. These guys were fabulous!

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Are you tired of cruise photos yet? I hope not because I have saved the very best for last - gorgeous Bonaire and beautiful, colorful Curaco. BUT before we visit there in pictures - I am going to take a little spring break~~

Coming up next - a springtime CELEBRATION!! A giveaway to celebrate the completion of my latest "nesting" session! You know what's coming up now don't you! See you here in about a week~~

Vicki