Bahamian Adventure (with Kids!) Day 4

We started out slowly our first full vacation (with kids) day in Nassau to acclimate everyone to the heat and our surroundings.  There is a brand new park within steps of the condo that became our best friend when Dadda was away at work. 

Liam found a couple of friends his age at the park and next thing I knew, I looked over and he was seven feet in the air on some playground equipment!  P.S. Would that structure pass playground safety regulations in the U.S.?  My usually cautious and physically timid boy suddenly had a moment of bravery and climbed all the way up by himself.  My heart jumped into my throat, I snapped a couple of pictures (bad Mamma) and sped-walked over trying to avoid startling him and spotted him the rest of the way.  Yikes!

These brothers got a lot of bonding in over our two weeks.  I think they kind of like each other.  

Living in Park City year round, sometimes I miss the bright, tropical flora of warmer climates.  

The shopping is not great in Nassau, and by that I mean they do not have a T.J. Maxx.  There is the occasional Gucci, Prada or Fendi for window shopping, though.  It's mostly fun for shock-value purposes: "Who would pay $1500 for a purse?"  

Later that night, we made our way to Atlantis (the huge, reddish castle-like hotel you see on commercials following shows like Sesame Street.)  I was afraid we would never get a family picture during our vacation (with kids), so I took this one in the elevator.  I couldn't fit Aiden in.  Wes and I match. 

If you are a teenager, Atlantis is a dreamland.  They had an entire room dedicated to remote control car racing and a teen-only nightclub.  (One of the rules on the board outside noted that public displays of affection and obscene dancing were prohibited.  I guess Wes and I can't go.)  The Obama daughters were there the week prior to our trip (with kids).  Do you even understand how happy I was that they (and their secret service entourage) left before we got there?  We wouldn't have been able to go anywhere!

It's fancy.

One cannot go to Atlantis without taking the obligatory giant chair picture.  

Our lives are measured by these chair pictures.  Compare the following:

2006

2009

 

2013

  

The real reason for our Atlantis stop was the aquarium which happens to be the largest in the universe.  Tickets are like $100/person, but Shameka informed us that if you go past 7pm, they stop checking wristbands.  Score!  The only downside to that is that you don't get to see the shark exhibits because they shut those down at sundown.  We didn't tell Liam about the sharks.                                                                                 

The BOB had a flat tire (with holes) the ENTIRE trip.  This slows things down a bit and got really old after awhile.  Poor Aiden is still probably lopsided from it. 

Mana Ray... this this is an alien.  Or a dinosaur.  Definitely one of the two.

We found Nemo.

Portuguese Man of War; my favorite.  

Liam made friends with a grouper.  

Here are some rich people's yachts.  I always feel like I'm on a James Bond set when I'm in Nassau and I LOVE it.  

Bahamian Adventure (with Kids!) Days 1-3

I know you've been DYING to see pictures from our Bahamas trip (with kids), so I thought I'd get started posting before it's December and I'm only half-way through posting about our spring adventure (with kids)!  P.S. Every time I mention "The Bahamas," "trip," or "vacation," I will heretofore include the parenthetical "(with kids)" to remind you that a) calling it a "vacation" when two toddlers are included is debatable, b) everything takes four times as long as normal when traveling with small children and c) Wes had to work much of the time.  Wes and I are pretty dang proud of ourselves for even attempting it.  If we can do it, anyone can!  

I took over one thousand pictures in two weeks.  Not an exaggeration.  But don't worry, I only chose about three hundred fifty of my favorites to post.  I'll break it up by days.

First stop: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  We stayed at a hotel to break up the voyage into two manageable days instead of one day from HE#! (The return trip is a true tale of masochism.)  Liam has a talent of alerting us of his need to go potty just before the fasten seatbelt signs illuminate, so he had a little accident in his seat prior to arriving at the gate in Denver.  Wes even got up to alert the flight attendant of the potty emergency but was told he was out of luck (Oh yeah, we'll see who's really out of luck when he wets his seat!)  In fact, Wes's exact words to the middle-aged flight attendant were "My boy has to use the potty chair..."  Apparently, everyday vocabulary goes out the window when you have children.  Anyway, we had a short layover and I failed to pack an extra pair of pants for the plane, so I ran with Aiden in my arms from airport store to store looking for something, ANYTHING that would do the job (Otherwise he would be walking around naked from the waist down with a jacket tied around his waist).  I finally found a pair of boxers in a size 6-7 that said "Rock Bottom" on the bum with a picture of some bears playing instruments.  We had a late dinner at the hotel, got the kids to bed a little after midnight (FL time) and only lost two articles of clothing during our stay.  Yay us!  

The next day we were able to relax a bit, Wes worked, Liam waded in the pool in a pull-up and Aiden got a nap in.  

And Rock Bottom turns to Soggy Bottom...

By the time we got on the plane to Nassau, it already felt like we'd been traveling for a week.  Aiden dug it.  He even got his own seat on the last leg! 

We made it!  I had never been so happy to see an enormous Bahamian soldier.  In 48 hours, we had gone from freezing temperatures to a balmy 78 at sea-level.  My hair, nails and skin thanked me.  Liam and Aiden's eczema-like crocodile skin softened almost immediately.  

Wes's coworker in the Nassau office, Shameka, whom I LOVE, picked us up and escorted us to the company-owned townhouse in a nice residential area called Sandyport.  I had been there nearly four years before and everything was exactly as I remembered it.  But for Aiden and Liam, they were in a new place and they LIKED it.  

Our digs for two weeks: 

We got to use the two cars on the left:

Our backyard view: 

Sandyport has been developed around a series of canals that lead to the ocean.  I've encountered some interesting sea creatures that have accidentally made their way inland (more on that later.)  We had access to everything in the condo, including the two kayaks and boat.  

And a cute little breakfast cafe inaugurated our Bahamian adventure (with kids)!