April 21-15, Nassau, Bahamas~Atlantis

Several weeks ago Trish invited us to join them on a family trip to the Bahamas.  We were both pleasantly surprised when Andy agreed to join us.  Ed and Peg stopped by our house on the 21st at 4:30 am and we drove together to the airport for our 5:50 flight with a layover in Baltimore where we were joined by Trish, Chad, Luke & Lily for the second leg of our journey. The flight from Baltimore to Nassau is only 2 hours and 15 minutes which is about Andy's limit for sitting in one spot.  It was quite a long walk from the tarmack to customs so he was worn out by the time we made it to the limo that Chad had waiting for us as we left the airport.

Our Limo to Atlantis

The fountain in front of the Royal Towers where we stayed

Behind our hotel

I, of course, thought of Sharon as I passed the many waterfalls on grounds.

We spent most days at the Aquaventure Water park enjoying the multiple pools, winding lazy river and water slides alternating time at the beach which was only steps away from most of the pools.

I took these photos on a morning walk before the park opened

The Cove hotel where Trish and Chad stayed

Entering the lazy river

riding the river elevator to the next level

Sand Art at the beach

More sand art. 

On Sunday we went to Dolphin Cay (pronounced "key") for a Sea Lion Encounter. This was Trish and Chad's treat for the Grandparents and kids!

Meet Sebastian

Ed got a special kiss!

The most important part of our trip, according to Mr. B, was our meal plan!  We opted to buy into the meal plan which gave you choices at restaurants on the Paradise Resort and I would highly recommend it if you decide to go.  You got a breakfast and dinner but we had a breakfast buffet and ate so much that we never needed lunch and we went to dinner early, around 6, to avoid the crowds.  Dinner included an appetizer or salad, entree and a dessert.  Trust me, if you didn't have a meal plan and looked at the prices listed on the menu you would not eat until you got back to the states!  Our 5 day meal plan paid for itself in 3 days and we tried things we otherwise would never even think about. One of my favorites was Seafire Restaurant down on the wharf.  The breakfast buffet at Poiseidon's Table in our hotel was great as well.

Playing a little music down on the wharf

Even Pop Pop joined in!

Sunday evening we cancelled our reservations at Olive's.  We had eaten there on the first evening and the service was really slow, "Island time", and we wanted to make it to the beach for the sunset.  We instead had the dinner buffet.  We spent the evening on the beach.  Unfortunately, as sunset got closer the clouds rolled in so the sunset wasn't as pretty as we had imagined.  But it was a great way to end our trip.

What a wonderful way to spend an evening!

April 15-16 Visit the Jungle- Movie & Zoo

This post is a little late but I'm keeping it in order. Evie and I made plans to see the movie Jungle Book while she was here on Easter.  We saw it on the day it opened in theaters April 15th.  Matt was home in time to watch Arthur so mommy joined us at the new theater in Blue Ash that serves food as you watch the movie.  We all enjoyed the movie and the food was really good. (better than the Tavern at Mill Run)

On Saturday Evie, Arthur, Sara and I went to the zoo in Cincinnati.  Spring is an excellent time to visit because the Cincy Zoo is also a botanical garden and it was in full bloom when we were there.  It was a beautiful day for a visit.

As soon as this gets posted I will be writing a new post for our recent Bahama trip!

Tuesday, March 29~Easter Weekend~ Crazy Fun

Well our usual sedentary life style was "rocked" off it's foundation this past weekend.  I intended to write a post yesterday after all of our company had headed back home but I was just too doggone pooped to sit down and write.  It was non stop fun from Wednesday evening until late Sunday when our house guests left for Dover & Cincinnati.  In addition to the 4 grandchildren we also had the pleasure of our 2 grand-dogs. Shorty and Zeke.  Zeke is Lily and Luke's new 4 month old black lab puppy who discovered mud and the creek while he was here.  Shorty was not impressed with her younger canine cousin.

On Thursday I took Luke and Lily to see Zootopia.  We went to the Mill Run Tavern to see it and ate lunch while we enjoyed the movie. If you haven't seen the movie you need to grab a kid and go see it, it's very good!

On Friday, Luke and Lily went to see their grandparents and cousins in Springfield and Evie and I colored Easter eggs until they returned.

On Saturday morning we went to the John Deere Easter Egg Hunt near our house and then went to see Grandma-Great.  We took her to lunch at Spagheddies where she ate very little spaghetti but an enormous bowl of spumoni.

After lunch, we took Grandma-Great back to her place and then we took the kids to the trampoline park.  An hour of jumping, slack lines, Ninja courses and dodge ball was enough to wear us all out, even those of us just watching.  The kids had a great time.

Easter Sunday wouldn't be complete without the Sunday School egg hunt and Easter service.  After our ham dinner we even squeezed in enough time to visit my brother, Bob, Ramona, their boys and the kids, Asher, Lillie and Olive.