Saturday, July 24, 2010

Bahamas Kid Style

Looking in gift shops, shopping for the perfect souvenirs, ice cream, candy stores, late night scavenger hunts for milk, kid friendly meals and backpacks full of stuff were only a few ways our vacation looked different than our pre-kid days.
Our days no longer consisted of sleeping in, spending all day in the sun, late night dinners, cab rides to the outskirts of town, fruity cocktails with an umbrella poolside, enjoying the local parades and listening to the bands in the resorts lobby.

We quickly learned that we had to take breaks from the sun periodically to give our fair skinned, red headed kids a break. We found lots of things to do and looking at the sea life was one of the many things that occupied our time. Emma and I were attempting to get this little guy to come out and pay us a visit, eventually he did say hello to us.

Introducing my kiddos to Mr. Starfish, Emma was interested in knowing every detail about all the sea urchins and Gavin did not want to be touched by any of it.

While we were in Nassau they celebrated their Independance Day. This was the Junkanoo parade that passed through the Marina that scared my kids to death. It was super loud with tons of insturments and drums. Emma kept her fingers in her ears and told her Daddy to keep going.

Oh Sugar was the candy store that was located in the Marina at the Atlantis. Each night we took Emma there to pick out a treat and that just might be a post all by itself. It is HILARIOUS what she chose to pick out each night.

Nights consisted of visiting the Marina, eating dinner and visiting the candy store or ice cream parlor.

Our visit to predators lagoon and the rope bridge.

Daddy had a hard time getting that double stroller pushed across the rope bridge in the rain. Emma & Gavin were a little nervous, especially since there were sharks swimming below. The bridge got super narrow at all the green plates and Daddy had to work hard to walk the stroller through it. Of course, I was on the other side behind the lens.

This was the view from one side of our balcony. We had to be super careful and make sure we kept the door locked at all times so Little Man could not get between the rails. Our other view consisted of the beach and palm trees.

Emma & Daddy visiting the Sea Turtles, one of our very favorite places to hang out. We would always take a walk through the cave afterwards to look at all the fish.

One night it got super late and we did not get ready to eat dinner till about 9:30, so we decided to grab Pizza from the Marina to avoid the 2 hour wait at the restaurants. Obviously this guy did not get enough at dinner, so he decided to crawl inside the Pizza box and eat until he was full.
Creativity is required when you vacation with little ones, so one night we decided to jump on the beds (only in hotels) and have a marshmallow fight, some kind of fun. You are looking at the dividing line that the team members could not pass or they were out. It was boys against girls and I am proud to say that me and Emma were the CHAMPIONS. Sorry guys, maybe next year when Gavin knows not to sit down and EAT the ammo ya'll will have better luck.

The next day Curtis was walking through the room and this got stuck to the bottom of his foot and we both just laughed and agreed that life is much different traveling with kiddos.

This little girl was wondering where the sharks were one afternoon and of course she had a make believe story about what they were doing.

Well, I think your little brother found them Emma. We stood here for over an hour just watching them pass by and Gavin kept yelling, "FISH, FISH, FISH"!

One of the sweetest things this little boy did on our trip was get on this pillow and ride it like a horse (at least 100+ times). It was so funny and we would laugh until we were crying watching him. He would ride it, fall off and roll over on the bed a couple times before getting back on to ride again.

Although our vacation experience was lots of work, involved more bags, required a layover, cost more money and sent us on many scavenger hunts... it was by far the BEST vacation your Daddy and I have ever been on in all our life.
You guys fill our hearts and our days with a happiness that is indescribable. We look forward to seeing the world with both of you, one destination at a time.

1 comment:

Rebekah said...

Your trip looks amazing! I am so glad you guys had some fun time away together as a family of four! I know it is such a blessing! The pics are gorgeous!