Spring Break 2019: Beach Bums

Saturday, March 9th, was our first full day at Atlantis, so we had a slow start but were soon bombarded with requests for the BEACH! Well, I should say John and I were able to have a slow start. HG entertained Cress for a little bit while they ate FOUR doughnuts and looked out at the beach before they came to wake us up. They were bouncing off the walls by the time we saw them!

We had a cabana reserved for the day at the Mayan Temple pool, but the girls just needed to play in the sand for a bit. (Side note: On the walk to the beach, Cressey broke into a run and fell on the sidewalk, scratching her knee pretty good. Lots of Band-aids helped us calm her down and get her to the beach.) I still can't believe that Cressey has decided she likes sand, but she was like a whole new child from our last trip, not even needing water shoes and getting all into the sand. She even liked the big waves splashing on her. HG was her usual mermaid-like self, diving down to see the fish and riding the surf in. HG and Cress sat in the sand and played together for a long time too. Eventually, we talked them into finding the cabana and exploring the water park area.

The cabana was a great investment. It provided shady spots to sit and plenty of lounge chairs in the sun too. It offered a safe, fridge, etc., and a waiter would make the rounds to bring you food and drinks. It wasn't as close to the kids' water playground as I had expected, but the girls only played there for 30 minutes or so. (First, HG was too tall for it and was run out. Then, the water was really cold there, and a big bucket would spill over and unexpectedly drop freezing cold water over the top of the playground. Cress did NOT like that.) The cabana sat on the edge of a zero entry pool, so the girls liked that playing there too. There was a shark tank nearby, so that gave us some entertainment! HG and John would wander off to do the Rapids River from time to time, but mostly we just had a relaxing afternoon in the sun and shade, complete with Cressey napping in my lap (which required a good bit of coercion to happen). A late afternoon shower (the only rain we saw the whole time) made us head back to the room for showers.

We had dinner at the Bahamian Club in the Coral that night. It was much fancier than I anticipated, but the girls were champs and behaved so very well. Afterward, we walked over to the Ben & Jerry's in the marina for our mainstay ice cream visit.

Baby on a shelf

You can take the girl out of Mississippi, but you can't take the Mississippi out of the girl...

Getting ready to run back to the hotel in the rain

They loved sitting together in the shuttle.

Waiting for dinner in the Coral lobby

The Bahamian Club

The first time the girls slept in their own beds in their own hotel room. MONUMENTOUS! They slept well all nights, with Cressey just coming in our room once early one morning.

Spring Break 2019: Cressey comes off of travel probation

Our NYC trip in April 2018 ended in John and Cressey not coming to dinner at Tavern on the Green (because Cress refused to put on shoes) and then Cressey traipsing through Laguardia with no shoes on. After throwing in some awful, painful plane behavior too, needless to say, she has not been allowed to travel this past year. We (I) just decided it wasn't worth it for everyone (us, strangers, flight attendants, our loved ones) to be miserable, so home we stayed. 

However, since she seems to have mellowed a bit/ can be more reasonable, has been able to sleep well in a big girl bed on special occasions, and has traveled well in a car for a few hours, we (I) said, "We've GOTTA GO somewhere!!!" We thought a short flight was critical, and we wanted somewhere warm. I googled two hour flights from Atlanta to the Caribbean. Well, wouldn't you know that the Bahamas is exactly a two hour flight! So Atlantis in Nassau it was. 

We convinced Spiffer and Granddaddy to come with us. John was on the west coast for business, so he took the red eye across the country and beat us to the Bahamas. He was joyfully sending us pics of paradise while we were still changing planes in Atlanta. 

After an embarrassing amount of research and indecision on my part, we decided to stay at the Reef and were so pleased. The room layout was perfect, the rooms were so nice and comfortable, the beach was *right* there (and like a dream), the pools were plentiful, and the closest pool was the perfect depth for Cressey. There were several nice restaurants, a Starbucks, and a poolside restaurant all right there at the Reef/Cove, and then a short shuttle ride took you to a ton of great options.

Headed to the airport

Look at this sweet and happy girl!

John's pictures start coming through on our layover. Paradise Island from the air...

View from our balcony

The second flight begins, and it was sweet silence after we got her plugged into Vampirina on the movie player. She literally didn't move the entire time, other than snacking.

This girl has never met a band she didn't like, and she apparently loves island music. She wanted to dance the whole time we waited for customs and was mad when the line moved away from the dance floor. 

On the shuttle to Atlantis and a little excited. It's Cressey's first time to be driving on the left side of the road! Even though the Bahamas is an independent country since the 1970s, there are still lots of signs of the British times. They drive on the left and have roundabouts everywhere.

Cressey fell asleep about five minutes from the hotel. I was able to get her out of the car seat asleep, through the loud lobby, up the elevator, and onto the bed in our room. She stayed sprawled out for an hour until we had to wake her up to go to dinner!

Exploring the marina area

Dinner at Carmine's

While we were eating Ben & Jerry's that night, HG was surprised to see her tooth was bleeding. We ran to the bathroom, and her molar came out. What!??!?! We were pleased to learn that the tooth fairy does make international visits!

We had to put our feet in the sand!

Praise the lord- Cressey liked the sand! Whew, this trip just got a LOT easier!