Green Sea Turtle close up and personal

December 15, 2007

Well I got to get really close to another green sea turtle today. Bridget and I first swam with a few on our first snorkle trip, run by the Pacific Whale Foundation (we chose them since they use biodiesel to run the boats and are a very environmentally freindly company). One of them was huge, maybe 400-450 pounds, which is about the largest that they can get to be, and was trying to surface for air very close to where we were swimming at!

But this time I found another turtle that was on land so I was able to get some great pictures. We were down the street from our hotel in Makena, also known here as “turtle town”. This guy was up on a very secluded small beach landing, made out of all lava rock. He was at least 3 feet around, and easily weighed at least 100 pounds or so.

I climbed over a rocky area and some trees to get to him, but it was worth being able to see him so closely and to get some many great pictures! He was happy (well at least tolerated) me about 1-2 feet from him for over 5 minutes, before he decided he had enough and went back into the ocean for a swim.

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Happy in Hawaii

December 13, 2007

Bridget and I are enjoying ourselves very much here in Maui, Hawaii.

The trip started out with a few problems… it had been raining here in Maui, with some pretty significant rainfall and flooding and 24+ hour power outages at most of the hotel resorts. It was still looking bad when we landed and for the morning of the first day here.

But ever since then the weather has been wonderful for us… Sunny skies without any more rain and tempatures in the 80’s.

We also had a problem with out first rental car… they gave us a Mazda 5 wagon, but the driver’s seat didn’t work in it. So we were then given a Mazda 6, just like our car at home. In fact, it was even Dark Cherry, the same color! It’s great being able to drive around and already be familar with the car, since it’s just like at home!

When we checked into the Maui Prince, they gave us a room with a double bed. We tried to pay to upgrade to another room with a single king bed, but the only one they had was mildewy smelling. The next night they still didn’t have a king for us, so I complained to the manager about it, and he got us upgraded to a very nice oceanview room! It overlooks the ocean in the middle of the hotel, and we can see the sunset from our balcony every evening which is always very beautiful (as you can see from the pictures).

I’m sure we’ll have more when we return, along with lots and lots of great pictures! Here’s a few to get started:

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New Nephew

December 13, 2007

Bridget and I have a new nephew!  John Thomas Schreiber was born December 10, 2007 at 8 lbs 7 ozs and 21 inches.  Here are some pictures that my dad took:

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Portraits of Madeline and Ben with Vanessa and Chris

November 25, 2007

Here are some portrait pictures of Madeline and Ben with Vanessa and Chris:

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You can see all of the pictures here.

Portraits of Madeline with Jenn and Steve

November 25, 2007

Here are some portrait pictures of Madeline with Jenn and Steve:

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You can see all of the pictures here.

Portraits of Ava, Carly and Eric

November 25, 2007

Here are some portrait pictures of Ava, Carly and Eric:

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You can see all of the pictures here.

Thanksgiving

November 25, 2007

Well Bridget and I are very thankful to have some wonderful family to join us for Thanksgiving Day dinner.  Here are some pictures:

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You can see all of the pictures here.

Madeline’s First Birthday Party

November 18, 2007

Bridget and I had a wonderful time at Madeline’s First Birthday party.  Here are some of the pictures from the party:

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You can see all of the pictures here.

Conowingo Dam and Nikon Cafe BBQ

November 4, 2007

Bridget and I joined up with some online freinds from the Nikon Cafe site on Saturday.  We went to Conowingo Dam, which is where US Route 1 crosses over the Susquehanna River, just north of the beginning of the Chesapeake Bay.  Afterwards, we had a BBQ and Portrait photo session.  The day was a bit cold and overcast, but we had a good time anyway.

Here are some pictures of the dam… those fishermen were crazy, it was 50 degrees out, and I imagine the water was even colder:

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The dam is a great place for bird watching, and this time of the year there are many Eagles to see.  We were kind of hoping to see an Eagle poop on a Cowboy’s head, but alas we missed that shot!

They were very active, as you can see:

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But there were plenty of photographers there with long lenses.  I think the photographer to eagle ratio was about 4:1.

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I got some shots of some other little birdies too back at the BBQ:

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You can see all of the pictures here.