Rise and shine and time to run around the house acting a little crazy person trying to get things ready for a big day today. I was charging batteries for both camera's and the GoPro and gathering up everything that needed to be packed...all by 6am.

WE ARE GOING DIVING TODAY!!! Karl has done nothing but talk about this for months. He was so excited and from day one of being here he was asking "When are you booking our dive?" Well, today would be that day!

I headed out to the car to organize everything and on our porch were 3 hummingbirds zipping around. They were so cute. I managed to get a picture of one of them that landed in the tree before it whizzed off.

The kids were up around 8am and it was time to make some breakfast. We needed our protein for energy today.

However, Sakari elected to have cereal. Cereal? Really? And Karl, he once again elected not to eat. What is with him this trip? I told him he would be responsible for having to listen to his belly talk today and try to reason with it why he did not eat breakfast. (I've come to the conclusion maybe he's not a big breakfast eater?)

We left the house by 9am and arrived in Frederiksted by 9:52am and parked at the exact same location we did yesterday when we went snorkeling here. We knew exactly where to go to find Cane Bay Dive Center since we had walked past it before. It is located right on the waterfront.

Since we had a couple of days of snorkeling under our belt already, we did manage to get a little red on our backsides and you know how when that happens, your skin "dents" easily? Well Sakari had sat on a towel on the way to the dive shop and she was a little "dented" when she got out of the car. She looked like she had been run over by a truck.

As soon as we arrived we were being sized up for our gear and then headed outside for our "class" for the 24th time...I kid you not. Well, this would be #3 for Karl since he did dive back in Puerto Vallarta and also took a Discover Dive here at home at the local dive shop. I'm pretty sure I could teach this class by now.

Carol is our instructor (on the right) and she was fabulous and a hoot. She kept things interesting and funny and before you knew it, class was over. (Not my picture but one from the Dive Shop). However, she is not just a dive instructor but a MERMAID instructor as well and teaching mermaid classes!! How cool is that?

Aidan had arrived to accompany us on our dive and then it was time to gear up. We started out with 3200psi in our tanks.

Then we were headed directly across the street to get in the water. Over the last year I have been carrying my own equipment and tank and I'm quite proud of that. After my accident, usually the instructors will carry it for me because having any added weight on my leg was hard on me. But since I've lost most of the weight over the last year and a half after the accident, I've gotten a lot better with my walking. I still have the chronic pain and constantly swelling, but it is 70% better (on good days) after this last surgery.

Now my biggest fear and difficulty would come when it was time to hop the chain across the sidewalk to get down onto the rocks below (see pic above). I have a big fear of stepping over anything now and avoid it at all cost since this is what I was doing when I had my accident. I took it nice and slow and held onto the hubby and made it over with just a tad bit of anxiety.

Now it was time to tackle those slippery rocks and a slab of concrete in the water to get out to safety in the water. I went first...slow and steady. I took it a little faster than the hubby wanted me to but I made it out safely. Up next was Karl...he was not as graceful as I was and down he went. He said he was ok after getting up...or either he played it off rather well. Everyone else came in and we were off to an area to practice our skills we just learned...for the 24th time. "Never hold your breath" and Karl was blowing his bubbles as instructed to prove he wasn't holding his breath. Great job Karl. I have a good feeling about this dive. You are going to do just fine!

Everyone was good and out we went to explore:

We didn't get too far before I spotted "little moving sticks" on the ocean floor. I knew exactly what this was!!! GARDEN EELS! They are so small and so cute but if you're not looking for them, you can easily miss them...and Sakari did.

She was busy taking a picture of something else she had seen and now I know why...

She had spotted a Stingray.

Hey Karl...how's it going? He was doing just fine as we expected. He was actually getting the hang of it this time around and having a good experience. The water was warm and clear...a much different experience than the last time. But those arms...they were always doing something crazy. 😄

Sakari was fascinated by this fish. It had red eyes. I am pretty familiar with most fish we dive with but this one has me stumped. I have been unable to identify anything with eyes like this. If anyone knows, shoot me an email so I can properly name it.

There were schools of fish along the rocks and a super big fish was heading our way. At first I thought it was a Tarpon, but when it got closer, I noticed it was not. I have no idea what it is either. The tail is throwing me off. Again...if anyone knows what it is, let me know.

Blackbar Soldier fish

Sharpnose Pufferfish

Hey Karl...what's happening? You keep floating up. Every time we looked at him he was floating up in the water and Carol was grabbing him to come back down. Breathe! Stay down. She added weights and tried everything but he would eventually drift up. We would explain to him later about how to breathe to control your buoyancy and assured him he would eventually get the hang of it after multiple dives.

Our videographer at work:

We spotted two different (what we call) Lizard Fish. Others call it a Sand Diver. They have razor sharp teeth. I keep my distance from them since I've learned this information.

Sakari on the other hand likes to get up close and personal with them:

Trumpet Fish

Sergeant Major Damsel and feather duster.

Hey Karl, why don't you stay down here and play with us at the bottom...nope, he would continue to float back up and Carol would end up holding onto him most of the time.

Several times I noticed he was floating up and it was like a comedy show with Carol looking around, seeing he was up too high, her kicking to grab him, then pull him back down. Poor Carol.