Happy 4th of July!!!

Once again, Will and I loaded up all of our scuba diving gear and headed down to Key Largo for the weekend of July the 4th. Unlike, last year, we made arrangements for James to stay home and it was just the two of us. The trip was oh-so-nice! Great diving conditions and being "child-free" for the weekend made for a very happy and well-rested mommy and daddy. Of course, we missed our little sunshine, but we were so giddy to be back in the water again! During our dives, we saw tons of colorful fish and beautiful coral. Will was our main photographer during the trip, but I happened to capture this beautifully illuminated coral about 30 feet below the water. As nervous as I was to initally get scuba certified, I've become totally hooked on this underwater world. It truly is a "whole other world" and I feel honored to be able to spend a few hours inside of it during our dives.

We were fortunate enough to dive The Duane on Saturday, July 4th. This is a picture of me, posing about 90 foot below the surface. We were on the front deck, waiting for our friends to circle/swim around. Pretty cool!

On this dive, we saw several LARGE barracuda watching our every move. Surprisingly, there were several other fish swimming around the wreck, but it was the barracuda that kept our attention. Others on the dive saw a large goliath grouper, but we missed it. Oh well, there's always next time!

So, I said that we made arrangements for James to stay at home this trip. We flew my mom down to watch him for the weekend. I love knowing that James was happy, safe and in loving hands. He loved being spoiled rotten by his Grandma! She took pictures to document their weekend. Here was a quick trip to our local "Redneck Riveria". Mom cut the beach trip short due to the large crowds (holiday weekend, what do you expect?), dirty water and sketchy people. I tried to warn her that we don't call it the Redneck Riveria for nothing!

Yes, you see James wearing his trusty "Puppy." He really doesn't mind wearing it all and it gave mom the comfort in knowing that he wouldn't be able to outrun her. I warned her about his fondness of running away towards the street (good thing I'm working on my speedwork) and his love of running away and hiding from you! Yep, she brought Puppy along on all of their outings!

Here he is "hamming" it up for the camera! He obviously had a wonderful weekend with Grandma! Grandma had a wonderful (yet tiring!) weekend! Mommy and Daddy had a wonderful weekend together. Good times all around!