ATLANTIS!

We LOVED the Bahamas!  And, Atlantis ROCKS!  There will be Atlantis overload for the next few days on this blog.  (Steve, don't get too annoyed with all of the same posed pictures!  Just check back in a few days and it will be over!)  Just trying to document our fun in the sun for the blog book.  We will definitely be going back!  It is almost like going on a cruise, without the movement (if that makes any sense).

Anyway, here we go with our amazing trip to Atlantis...

Getting there was a bit problematic.  I got up at 3:00 a.m. (actually I never fell asleep) to go for my little jog in the morning.  Mohamed was up at 3:30 a.m. after getting home from work at 1:00 a.m. and Emmersyn was up by 3:33 a.m.  I showered, packed up the toiletries, got Cameron up at 4:00 a.m. and I was in the car with the kids at 4:17 a.m. heading to the airport.  Our flight was out of Detroit at 6:45 a.m., Mohamed was leaving to catch his flight out of Windsor at 6:00 a.m.  Neither one of us had direct flights.  I was stopping in Miami for 4 hours and Mohamed was stopping in Toronto for 3 hours. 

I parked the car in a QuickPark parking lot off site and was shuttled to the airport.  The rain didn't cause us too much problem, and within minutes we were dropped off at the airport!  It wasn't until about 5:35 a.m. that we encountered our first problem of the long day.  As I was trying to get my boarding passes at the American Airlines check-in counter I was asked to present a letter from the children's father to allow me to take them out of the country in addition to our passports!  Are you kidding me?  I didn't even think about needing a notarized letter.  I bring the kids back and forth into and out of countries on a daily basis, I've had numerous encounters with immigration, yet I didn't think about running into this major potential problem.  After getting in touch with Mohamed who was already boarded onto his flight in Windsor, I told him that the U.S. was giving me a hard time about leaving the country with the kids, and if I am allowed to leave, there might be problems when I get to the Bahamas.  So, I instructed him to wait for me at customs in the Bahamas rather than heading to the hotel with our luggage.  

To make a long story short, we made it out of Canada, into the United States, out of the United States, and into the Bahamas!  Being in three different countries in one day is pretty impressive if you ask me!

This first picture was on our first leg of the flight from Detroit to Miami.  Cameron was busy playing his Nintendo DS and Emmersyn was watching Mickey Mouse on her DVD.  How did parents travel with young children before all these electronic devices?  

We also did some coloring on the plane as well as playing with some MY DOUGH!  MY DOUGH is so much better than Play Dough and it doesn't dry out or smell!

Here Emmersyn is waiting in the Miami airport during our 4 hour layover which got delayed by nearly two more hours!  Dot paint, crayons, Leapster, stickers, markers, My DOUGH, DVDS, you name it, we did it in 6 hours at the airport!  So we left the house at 4:17 a.m. and were supposed to be in the Bahamas by 2:00 p.m., but instead we were still waiting in the airport at this time.  We eventually took off after 3:00 p.m. and made it to Nassau a little after 4:00 p.m. where Mohamed was waiting for us near customs.  Needless to say, they let me and the kids into the country with no questions asked!  Probably because I was nearly in tears by this time.  I was soooooo tired!  

Here Cameron is waiting so patiently at the airport.  I got some compliments during the 6 hour layover from other passengers impressed that I was traveling alone with two young children stating, "you must have done this before."  And other passengers stated, "You have your hands full", or "You have some valuable baggage."  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that as soon as we landed from Detroit into Miami I noticed that there was an earlier flight taking off to Nassau so I ran, dragging Cameron, and pushing Emmersyn in the stroller to find the gate that was leaving in 5 minutes to see if I could hop aboard.  We landed in Miami at 9:45 a.m. and the next plane was taking off at 10:00 a.m.  I made it to the gate, all passengers were already boarded, and there were 3 seats available if I was willing to pay $150.  "Absolutely," I shouted excitedly.  I think I said I would pay anything.  Just let me on.  But, then my next problem came along when I was told that because of the way Atlantis booked our flights, it was going to take too long to change our original reservations to get us on board!  Are you kidding me?  What would take so long?  The problem was that when we made the original reservation, Emmersyn was not given a seat on the airplane.  So, we had to book her a seat separately.  Cameron and I were on one reservation and Emmersyn had her own reservation.  It was going to take the woman behind the counter too long to change 2 reservations...Once again....are you kidding me?  Thus, we waited 6 hours!

As soon as I got into our room and opened the curtains, this is what I saw!  What a fabulous view from our room...8-122!  We were upgraded to an ocean view room, probably because we overpaid for our room when we booked the vacation.  The terrace rooms are going for much cheaper now, so someone felt bad for taking advantage of us and our money.  I loved our view every morning!

Another picture from our room up on the 8th floor!

And yet another!  I think this is such a beautiful island!  I really got to personally know this island during my daily jogs every morning.  I missed my run around the island this morning.  The treadmill does not compare.  I was already looking up flights and room rates for next year.  Who would like to join us?

We passed this everyday leaving the hotel room on our way to Aquaventure which is the water park area of the island!

Cameron and I just wanted to get a picture together with the beautiful background.  Isn't it gorgeous?

So handsome!  So many beautiful beaches on the island.

Posing again on the island.

So this little area is where we spent a lot of time.  It is called Splashers.  I have much better pictures of this area which will be coming in future installments.  This area is meant for the kids who are under 48" tall.  All of the other water slides have a height requirement of 48".  Unfortunately Cameron is about 3" too short.  I'm hoping he will have a growth spurt this year so he can ride the rides next year.  He was so disappointed he couldn't go down the big slides with his dad!

This was Emmersyn's favorite part of the trip.  All of the amazing aquariums!

She was able to say "fish" by the end of the trip.  

Here are a few more simple beach pictures.  The water is so blue and so warm!

Cameron did not like the taste of the beach water.  It was way too salty for his taste!

Here he was trying to get the salt off of his tongue.  He was sooooo funny about this.  

We crossed through the casino many times and Cameron was always asking if he could play the games.  I was able to capture a quick picture before I was told this was illegal to take pictures at the machines.

Just a crazy Atlantis chair and a reason to take some pictures.

Well, I think that is enough Atlantis pictures for this entry.  We have lots more!  Can't wait to show you more tomorrow!