Today's activity was booked through the ship. The girls wanted to swim and snorkel with the dolphins and the only place had a contract with Carnival. You cannot book independently with contracted companies. When we looked at the price and the cost of transportation, Carnivals activity was about the same cost.

Mary wasn’t as happy that we were doing another water activity . She got sunburnt yesterday and the thought of another day in the sun and heat wasn’t appealing. I don’t think she likes snorkeling as much as I do.

Our trip to Anthony’s Key took about a half hour. Mary was intently looking at the countryside. She started to ask about taking an excursion that drove around the island. I wish we had time to explore.

Our first encounter with the dolphins was with a trainer. Our dolphins name was Dixon. The trainer has worked with Dixon for the last three years. After some good background information on dolphins, Dixon was swum in front of us and we got to touch him. We were to stay away from his face, blow-hole, and genitals. I understood that we had to be told about the face and blow-hole, but there was no way I wanted to go near the genitals. Since I’m married, I know I’ll get my hands slapped if I get too close to those! I conditioned to stay away!

We stood in a line, shoulder to shoulder . We had to keep our hands to the side. I guess Dixon wouldn’t swim in front of us if it looked like we were going to touch him.

When the trainer wanted Dixon to do a trick, he would use his hands to communicate with him. After each trick, the trainer would blow his whistle and give Dixon some fish. Dixon would swim upside down, dance, jump out of the water, and show how fast he could go. It was difficult to keep all of the attention on Dixon. There were two two-week old dolphins swimming with their mothers. Other female dolphins were jealous of the mothers and would try to take the young dolphins. When they did, there was a fierce battle where they would chase the young dolphin to get them back. They would go behind us and go onto the shallow beach. This seemed to spook Dixon and we had to wait until they were gone before we could resume.

Sometimes, Dixon would talk to us. He would make loud squealing noises. They sounded cool, but I suspect that, if correctly translated, he was saying: "Give me the damn fish and let me get away from these pesky humans!"

We got to bring our camera out for a few pictures. This was after the “professional” took a few. Kim said we were not going to buy them, but when she posed for the kiss and the hug, I knew she would relent.

The snorkel started with some dolphins swimming around us . After a few minutes, you could see a few in the distance, but not real close. Gabby and Abria were diving down to the bottom. The trainer said the dolphins get curious if they see you diving and will come over to check out what you are doing. Abria found out how curious they can get. One grabbed her arm by its mouth. She was so scared that she pulled her hand back. Luckily, she didn’t pull back a bloody stump.

As I was snorkeling around, I thought that the two or three sightings were all we were going to see. You could see them when you would pull your head out of the water. By the time you got to them, they were gone. You could hear them when they talked to each other. I decided to move to an area where no one was snorkeling. All of a sudden, three dolphins swam right by me. It was freaky at first when they came by. They were longer than me and were so close. I dove down to the sandy bottom and a couple followed me. I had about five dolphins around me. After a while, they started playing with each other and biting . I was hoping they didn’t do that with me. I wish I had the camera. Just as it was getting interesting, we had to get out of the water. Our time was up!

Kim told me before we left this morning that we were not going to buy the pictures today. He accepted my offer right away. Although Kim didn’t want to buy them, she will love seeing them.

It was hot when we got back to the terminal. This is the first real shopping we had to do. Mary wanted to try some cigars, so I had to buy them for her. She also came with me when I got a wooden mask to put on my office wall. She liked how I had to bargain for it. One of the tactics is to start walking away when the price is not going lower. We got a lower price!

I asked Mary if she wanted another daiquiri. She said NO! It will be a long time before she has another drink again.

I am really beginning to enjoy these dinners on the cruise. Don’t get me wrong, the food is very, very good. I get the biggest kick out of watching my daughter. Throughout the entire meal, she is smiling and joking with Reno and Abria. She is really getting along with Reno. She has been trying some new stuff. I got some smoked salmon at pre-dinner. She tried some. Gabby got snails for dinner and she tried a very tiny bite. As I watch her, I cannot help but feel very proud of her. She has become more independent. Before dinner, she took off on her own. She is doing things I don’t even think she thought she would be able to do.