Good news and a Birthday Adventure

 So let's start with the good news! I got my tests back and I am clear of cancer... Phew! I will have to check in annually with my doctor but for now, things are good.

Today is my amazing husband Mike's fiftieth birthday, so we actually left the house!
(I know, I know we should get used to doing that again, but for some reason it's hard!) Here he is on a boat in a mangrove swamp just outside of the city.

The three of us on the boat!

A heron in the trees

Looking for alligators.

A hanging nest overhead.

"Duck!" (we had to do that a lot.)

Mike and I on the boat.

The guy with the camera is a documentary filmmaker who was filming.

A great blue heron flying off.

Arriving at the sea turtle rescue.

Recently hatched baby turtles in the incubation room.

More very cute baby turtles.

Me, inside the incubation room with Eduardo, who works at the rescue.

Naomi with her baby turtle to release on the beach.

They were very cute!

Mike's turtle.

Go turtle go!

       We had to try three times to find a window to release the turtles and even took a break for brunch. The sea birds have learned when people gather on the beach they are tossing a tasty snack into the water for them (the turtles float on the surface as they learn to swim) so we kept having to go back in and wait for them to leave.  They finally made it into the water though and then they had us rush off the beach before the birds noticed us.

    These are buzzards waiting by the beach. Not the same birds that kept causing problems, these particular birds just wanted some dead fish to wash ashore.

  After what seemed like a long time later we were back in the van and headed out of the preserve.

Well, we were headed out of the preserve for a hot minute and then the van got stuck in the mud. We piled out and immediately sank into about 10 inches of mud ourselves ...and a mosquito swarm. Then we did a sticky mud walk into the shade and waited while the van was discussed. They got a rope and pulled it out with an ATV with all of us pushing!  Then we really did head back to Mazatlán.

    Anyway, today is the first break I have taken from work since my surgery. Halloween orders are coming in for my mask store (these two are drying under the fan), and I'm busy trying to get my new release, "The Hand Turkey Book" out for early October.

Have an amazing week from all of us here in Mazatlán!