Our Atlantis Trip

This April, we were blessed to be able to take our family to Atlantis, Bahamas! We owe it all to our hard working daddy who qualified for this reward trip through his company and as always, they took such great care of us.  Looking back on the memories made, I just can't thank him enough for finding a way to be 100% committed to his job, and 100% committed to us.  It's not always easy, folks... but he does it and he does it well. 

We stayed in the Royal Towers, which was the perfect central location for everything we wanted to do.  Our room was great, it overlooked the ocean & the waterpark, Aquaventure.  Our boys loved waking up every morning and watching all the sea creatures in the aquarium pools directly below our room. My parents were also able to travel with us and their room overlooked the harbor on the other side so we felt like we got the best of both worlds!  Sunrises from our room, sunsets from theirs-- and yes, we absolutely woke up early to catch the sunrise over coffee.  They were spectacular! 

We arrived just before dinner the first day so we didn't do much besides check in, get our bearings, and EAT.  We did a lot of fabulous eating on this trip-- there are so many great restaurants at the resort! The next morning, we at at the breakfast buffet at Poseidon's Table... which became a daily tradition.  Then we checked out the aquariums and little Brooks' love for fish was born.  He is now obsessed with fish, and fishing, and could NOT get enough of all the sea life at the resort.  It was a joy to watch... and we got our daily exercise chasing after him as he squealed with delight at all the exhibits.

We spent the rest of this lovely day at the giant water park, Aquaventure.  There really is something for absolutely everyone here.  Kreg loved all of the "grown up" slides and rides and Westin & Tucker did every single one they were tall enough to ride.

 

After cleaning up for dinner, which was at the Bahamian Club that night-- one of our favorites, for sure-- we took a nice evening walk on the beach while we waited for our reservations.  There's just something so magical about watching little boys chase waves! Even in their nice dinner clothes...

 

The next day Westin & Tucker got to join the Sea Squirts class to visit the resort's nursery for baby fish and to get to feed some of the local sea life.  We knew this would be a fun experience for them but we had no idea it would be one of the best memories of the trip!  Westin wore the goPro through the class and got some great up-close footage of the sea creatures... as well as captured the "shark attack" they were involved in!  It was priceless.

The photos below depict the "shark attack" while they were feeding the sharks together!  For the video version, click here.

They may have been just slightly scarred from this experience, but it didn't keep them from jumping in and feeding the stingrays next!

Shark attack survivors!

After Sea Squirts, we jumped on the lazy river as a family-- the lazy one at the park (there's one that's not so lazy at all!) and enjoyed some leisurely, scenic float time.

After this we headed to Lagoon Beach, a protected area right on the resort itself, where we had a pizza picnic and let the boys play in the sand and the water.  Then we had to indulge in a little bit of Ben & Jerry's to top off the afternoon! The boys got the biggest kick out of the seagulls that swooped in and took care of our leftovers.

Dinner that night was at Seafire Steakhouse and once again, I have nothing bad to say about it! We met up with another sweet family there and enjoyed our time of fellowship!

 

I can't remember which mornings these photos of my babies go with so I'm just sticking them in here... we wore them out great every day and they slept HARD every night!

The next day we spent back at the water park with sweet friends.  One of the highlights of this trip for my boys was the friendships made and I'm so thankful for this! The bulk of the day was spent on the not so lazy lazy river.

Dinner that evening was a giant party thrown by Kreg's company-- it was a fabulous time to catch up with many friends and the boys adored the entertainment!

 

 

The next day my dad & Kreg joined some of their friends on a deep sea fishing trip and caught our lunch! The sea was a little rough that morning but it didn't keep them from enjoying themselves! My mom and the boys and I enjoyed us some Starbucks and some more time at the waterpark kids area.

Chief & Mimi treated us to some ice cream that afternoon and we did some shopping at the resort.

Our last full day we spent at the beach!  Cove Beach on the resort is absolutely gorgeous.  We set up our little portable beach tent and bought another pizza.  Watching my little explorers in the reefs and building sandcastles made for a perfect day.

This is definitely a place we plan to return to with our family!  There are so many amazing things to do for every age group so we know it will be just as fun the next time!