Snorkel Camp

Erica has nicknamed this vacation "Snorkel Camp" which is meant in the best way possible.  The snorkeling is fantastic and the happenings at the resort revolve around snorkel and dive times.

Here is the full run down of our days and where we snorkeled.  

Day 1:

Arrive in the afternoon and get settled

5:00pm - Happy Hour at the Pool Bar

6:00pm - Dinner

Day 2:

7:30am - Breakfast

8:30am - Snorkel at the Blue Channel

Sightings of Note: Sea Turtle

10:30am - Dolphin Encounter & Snorkel - we snorkeled with 14 dolphins

12:00 - Lunch

2:15pm - Snorkel at Mike's Place

Sightings of Note: 2 Eel, Grouper, Barracuda, Puffer Fish, giant Parrot Fish, Sea Turtle

5:00pm - Happy Hour at the Pool Bar

6:00pm - Fish Identification talk given by the Resort Dive Master

7:00pm - Dinner

Day 3:

7:00am Breakfast

8:00am - Snorkel at Bear's Den

Sightings of note: 4 Lion Fish

10am - Depart for Maya Key

11:15 - Maya Key Snorkel 

Sightings of Note: French Angel Fish, Trumpet Fish, School of Squid

12:15 - Lunch

1:00 - Explored the Grounds & Exotic Animal Sanctuary

2:00 - Hawkbill Turtle Feeding

2:15 - Departed Maya Key back to the Resort

5:00 - Happy Hour at the Lobby Bar 

7:00 - Dinner

Day 4:

7:30am - Breakfast

8:30am - Snorkel at West End

Sightings of Note: 3 Sea Turtles, Lion Fish, Jelly Fish, Barracuda, Trumpet Fish

10:30am - Cab to West End & Coxen Hole for shopping.

1:15pm - Lunch back at the Resort

2:15pm - Snorkel At Mora Channel

Sightings of Note: Star Fish, Lobster, Sea Cucumber, Conch, Porcupine Fish, Scorpion Fish, Spotted Drum

5:50pm - Night Snorkel at Baileys Key

Sightings of Note: Lion Fish, Lobster, Shrimp, 3 Octopus, Toad Fish, 3 Squid, Jelly Fish, Tiger Tails, Featherdusters

8:30 - Dinner

Day 5:

7:30am - Breakfast

8:30am - Snorkel at Four Sponges

Sightings of Note: Lion Fish, File Fish, Porcupine Fish, enormous Rainbow Parrot Fish, Needle Fish

10:00am - Relaxing at Pool and on our Deck

1:00pm - Lunch

2:15pm - Snorkel At Canyon Reef

Sightings of Note: Squid, File Fish, Barracuda, King Crab, Eel, huge Grouper, Porcupine Fish

5:00pm - Happy Hour on the Key

7:00pm - BBQ on the Key

Day 6:

7:30am - Breakfast

8:30am - Snorkel at West Bay Point & West Bay

The current was very strong at West Bay Point, so we moved in toWest Bay

10:00am - Pool time

12:30pm - Lunch

2:15pm - Snorkel at Spooky Channel

Sightings of Note: Jelly Fish, Porcupine Fish, Trunk Fish, Trumpet Fish, Lion Fish

4:00pm - Beers on the Deck

6:30pm - Dinner

Day 7:

7:45am - Breakfast

8:30am - Snorkel at Wrasse Hole

Sightings of Note: Moray Eel, French Angel Fish, Queen Angel Fish, Lion Fish

11:30am - Dolphin Show

1:00pm - Lunch

2:15pm - Snorkel At Lost Rock

Sightings of Note: Sting Ray, Sea Turtle, Sea Cucumber, Featherdusters, Sea Biscuits

4:00pm - Hot Stone Massages at Ixona Spa

6:00pm - Happy Hour at the Lobby Bar

7:00pm - Dinner

Day 8:

Lounging and Coffee in our Cabin

12:00pm - Shuttle to airport 

Hammock Time

Wish we had a good spot for a hammock at home...

Aaahh...

Sunset

View from the bar/restaurant.

The Pool

The resort pool is very close to our cabin:

Anthony's Key Resort

We left Zoey back home in the snow and cold and are spending the week in Roatan Honduras with Chris's parents.  This is primarily a divers resort, but we are taking advantage of the good snorkeling.

We are staying on a Key in a little cabin that sits out over the water.  Here is the view from our deck toward Roatan.  A water taxi gets you from the Key back to Roatan proper.

Snowy Presidents Day

70 and sunny one day, cold and snow the next.  I know we don't have anything to complain about, but the sudden cold feels even colder today.

The Cuddle Bugs this morning, getting a slow start to the day.  Chris gets today off, lucky guy.  But he probably didn't feel very lucky when he shoveled all our snow a little later.

Valentines Day

It's Valentines and we made a day of it.

Lunch at Butcher's Bistro.  This is the charcuterie plate.  The chicken liver pate and house made ham were favorites.

Beer at Zephyr Brewing Co. & River North Brewery.

Sweets from Sugarmill.

And patio time.  It was a beautiful 70 degree day.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Spicy Clucker

We found a new pizza at Costco this weekend.  The Screamin Sicilian's Spicy Clucker, with chicken, bacon & jalapeños.  The ingredients seem really high quality.  It was pricier than the typical Digiorno, a 2 pack was twelve dollars and change.  Chris says it's his new favorite pizza.  

We want to try their other varieties, but we can't get them in Colorado - maybe we should write to them about that.  It looks like they are everywhere in Wisconsin, though.  You Wisconsinites should try 'em if you havent already. 

And, the pizza box had a cut out mustache.  Moral of this story: Chris should never grow a 'stache. At least not a crazy Sicilian style one.  

Guest Bedroom Progress

We have 2 guest bedrooms downstairs.  This is the larger of the two and it looked like this or something like it for the first year in the house.  It was a junk room.

And then it improved some. (2012)

We added an egress window. (2013)

And now we finally have a real, actual, guest bedroom.  This is the same room we have been installing the built in wardrobe.  The wardrobe isn't trimmed out quite yet like we had planned, but it will be finished soon and we will post pictures of the entire completed room from all angles.

Living Room

We picked out new coffee tables and a rug a couple months ago.  Here is what the living room looks like today:

Still Standing

I've been standing at work with my standing desk for 4 days now.  My legs and feet are tired and a little sore, but nothing major.  I like it so far and have generated a lot of buzz in the office...

Yesterday, one of my very hilarious co-workers put this on our desks (here's the article http://time.com/sitting/):

Today, 3 of the people on my team were standing too.