The crowd started gathering early, and 90 minutes before showtime the path to the ocean was already defined by waiting turtle lovers.

An hour later the line was 5 people deep, leaving a nice wide path for the turtles to take toward the Atlantic Ocean

First to be released was a loggerhead turtle named Beasley. He barely survived a cold snap in North Carolina waters in early February of 2009:

Front row seats:

I love how this boy crawled through a sea of legs to get his prime spot:

Finally Beasley reached the ocean…

…and swam away to a great round of applause and cheers from the crowd:

Meanwhile, another loggerhead survivor of the same cold snap in North Carolina, Ocracoke, was given a helping hand in getting to the water…

…and then stopped to pose for the paparazzi:

Seemed like Ocracoke was really checking out everything before going back home to the sea:

Swim Ocracoke, swim!

Up next was Dare, a green sea turtle who was also a victim of a cold snap, this one in December of 2009. He was covered in barnacles when he arrived at the aquarium, but he’s sure looking good now!

Cluse, another green turtle brought in as a result of the same event as Dare, testing the waters before getting in:

Here, Dare, Cluse, and Frisco, yet another green sea turtle brought in due to cold-stunning, are released at the same time:

Scute, a juvenile loggerhead turtle, has the distinction of being the 50th turtle to have been rehabilitated and released by the South Carolina Aquarium. Looks like he wants nothing to do with the fanfare of having his picture taken…

…and heads straight for the horizon once past the cameras:

It’s just so awesome to see them swim away…

Last but not least was Mingo, a juvenile green sea turtle found on Kiawah Island, SC, in June of 2009. He was found very underweight, covered in barnacles, and suffering from severe dehydration. Mingo was “air-swimming” the entire way to the water!

“Please, no photos”

The crowd loves little Mingo:

One last look before the show is over:

I cannot describe how magical it was to see these turtles find their way back to the ocean and swim away. If you ever get a chance to see it for yourself, go check it out!

Now, for those of you asking yourselves “What are sea turtles doing on a blog devoted to ‘pet’ photos?” The answer is this: some turtles are pets! (Though no one should have a sea turtle as a pet—they belong in the oceans.) Also, turtles have had a bit of a role in my life, as can be seen in this past blog entry of my brother and me holding our pet turtles in Holland. I’ll even confess here on my blog, that my mom’s nickname for me used to be “Turtle” (had something to do with me telling her I’d be right over, then getting caught up in something I was doing, and showing up an hour later.)

My mom would have turned 80 tomorrow. She passed away at age 78, and some days I still cannot fathom that she is no longer alive (she always believed she would “at least” make it to age 99, like her own mother did.) Mom would have loved to have been front row for the turtle release, and it is thanks to her that I have my love of nature, travel, art, writing and photography. So, in honor of what would have been my mom’s 80th birthday tomorrow, I am offering a May special for pet photography! Any photo session booked in May, and making mention of the discount code…wait for it…TURTLE, will receive an extra $80 print credit! So what are you waiting for? Book it!

So, the Blue Angels were neat and all, but, the real fun was in meeting Peaches the Australian Labradoodle, and her folks, who were also out on the docks watching the air show. What a sweetheart of a dog Peaches is, and, she wasn’t scared of the loud jets passing by at all. Here are a few captures of Peaches and her folks. It was great meeting them and enjoying the show together!

She’s a real lap dog…

…and a kisser!

…and she follows her folks wherever they go without being leashed!

Nonetheless, despite having a number of 3- and 4-letter conditions myself (ADHD, PMS, TMJ ring a bell?!? Not to mention OLD. That’s old..as in, aged) I’ve managed once again to remain persistent (if not patient) and only let a few choice words escape my lips as I brought this whole project together and then uploaded it all, despite wanting to wait to relaunch on January 1. (Yep, impulsivity is another of my strong suits.)

In any case, I’d love any and all feedback on the new looks of the main website and, of course, of this blog. Feel free to let me know exactly what you think—I seem to be doing that myself in this picture as well: (I’m the little one with mad face, in case you hadn’t figured that out)

I believe we were in Italy on a boat from Piombino to Elba here, and from the looks of it, I wasn’t too happy about it. (Even though I love boats and being on the water.)

Seems things went no better the next year, when my grandmother came along:

Wise calm woman, I was the youngest of all her grandchildren, and she had probably seen it all before already.

I’m sure I made this same face this week while working on the website redesign, but I’ll bet I didn’t look half as cute now as I did when I was 4 or 5.

Anyway, have a great week everybody! I’ll finally be starting my Christmas shopping now!

We got there around 4 in the afternoon, and it seemed like most of the crowds had already come and gone…but there were still plenty of dogs…

This guy was having a blast following Cooper around (i think he was really just after the tennis ball Cooper had in his mouth)

Same objective here…except that he succeeded in getting the ball Murphy’s Law of bringing tennis balls for your dog to public places: either you bring plenty of balls, and leave with one if you’re lucky….or, you bring no balls, and leave with at least one.

This girl was a bit skeptical…but her daddy gave her plenty of reassurances…

Some dogs never even got their feet wet…

…despite being all decked out for the occasion…

This guy was really interested in the big toy i had in my hands…but no way i was tossing that in the water! (my camera)

Cooper was having as much fun out of the water…

…as in the water. 10 points for style on this jump back in the water chasing his tennis ball…

Plenty of tennis ball chasing going on…

…except the other guy came out of nowhere and ran off with it…

Cooper was ready to get out of there…and five minutes later he was sound asleep in his crate in the back of the Jeep.

We can’t wait ’til next year so we can do it all again!

Check out the video of the event by Lowcountry Dog magazine!

Whirlin’ Waters Dog Day Afternoon at the Waterpark from Docent Prodigy on Vimeo.

You can check out Lowcountry Dog magazine online at: www.lowcountrydog.com, or, check out their blog at: http://lowcountrydog.wordpress.com