Home Sweet Home

How is it that two weeks have gone by so quickly and our vacation is already over?

It's great to be home and sleeping in our own beds again, of course, but it sure was nice to wake up to this:


The weather in the Bahamas was beautiful the entire time we were there, hot enough to swim and play but not so humid that we couldn't be outside. Each day the most difficult decision was whether to go down to the beach or to swim in the pool and who wouldn't be happy with either of those?

(Yes, we kept our pale-skinned children pretty well covered. But actually, they both really loved these amazing i play. sunsuits and didn't want to wear anything else. A future review will tell you more!)

If you're looking for a laid-back, relaxed atmosphere, the islands of the Bahamas are a wonderful vacation destination. We opted to stay in a vacation villa for more space, but we did spend a day at the famous Atlantis resort checking out their massive water park. When else am I going to ride the Serpent Slide, a five-story water slide that ends in a clear acrylic tunnel submerged in a shark-filled lagoon? It was definitely impressive.

We also checked out the Ardastra Gardens, Zoo and Conservation Center, a small zoo in Nassau that features a variety of exotic animals and fun shows. We not only saw their national bird, the flamingo, up close and personal in the Flamingo Encounter Show, but they were strolling around the gardens without a care that we were there.

No zoom used at all, this flamingo really is an arm's length away

After the Bahamas, we headed back to the U.S. to spend a few days in Orlando and I thought Big Sister E was going to burst with excitement by the time we got to Disney World. I think her favorite rides were Dumbo and Winnie the Pooh (although probably only because you get to sit in a honey pot, which she thought was fantastic) but for her, the true highlights of the day were meeting the friends she had been longing to see.

(Even though she's covering it, that's a pretty cute Disney shirt, isn't it? Barbara from Sew Cute Creations did an amazing job and in record time to get it to us before we left! A future review and giveaway will tell you more about that, too)

I can't recommend doing Character Dining enough, we all had a great time at ours. We chose Winnie the Pooh and ended up doing lunch which worked out well for a break in the middle of the day and a way to rest and refuel. In fact, while we were waiting outside to be seated, we happened to look up in the sky and see this:


It's not often that NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis is launching nearby, right? I was pretty impressed and I'm fairly sure that's about as close as I'll ever come to being an astronaut.

We headed in for lunch and having the characters come around to each table was perfect, no waiting in lines or having to rush to get a picture in before our turn was over. Big Sister E gawked at each new face that came by and loved that they stopped for a hug just from her. She was also only too eager to join in the little parade around the restaurant that occurred every half hour or so.


All in all, it was a wonderful trip and Big Sister E is already asking when we can go back. I'm sure there will be more beaches and Disney in our future and I can even see us booking a Vacation package to Disney World once the girls are old enough to fully enjoy it, but for now my brain is still readjusting to being home and I think I'm ready for my vacation from the vacation. When does that get to happen?

Zoo-rific

There's something about going to the zoo that I equally like and dislike at the same time. On the one hand, it's the ZOO. You get to see the lions sleeping on the big rocks, the rhinos sitting in the sun, the prairie dogs digging their holes and the peacocks flashing their feathers (sometimes. They're really not all that exciting when they're not). On the other hand, I can never leave without feeling bad for the large polar bear in his way too small "habitat," the chimpanzee who sits sadly staring out through the glass and the black bear, who, at our zoo, seems to be the outcast bear and barely even gets up most days.

Big Sister E loves the zoo, though. I think most kids do. Our little playgroup visited there this week and even though we've seen the same giraffe a million times, the kids were still right along the railing watching him sit in the grass. The tiger, who seems to be a little neurotic, was doing his usual pacing back and forth along the window and everyone made sure they had a spot right up there to feel like they were inches from him (that glass is WAY thicker than inches though, right? RIGHT?) when he passed by, back and forth, back and forth. We said hello to Leroy, the zebu, who is always a friendly fellow and squeezed in a little time feeding the goats before the petting zoo area closed for cleaning.

The best parts of the zoo, however, are the attractions for children. There's a big playground area with huge rocks and rope ladders to climb, tunnels to disappear into and multiple slides for what seems to be the ultimate in kid enjoyment: sliding. There is also a beautifully-decorated carousel where kids can choose to ride animals like a jaguar, dolphin or warthog up and down, up and down while moms like me get dizzy standing next to Big Sister E as we go around. Finally, there's a small train driven by an elderly gentleman who takes his engineer job seriously and dutifully points out the 4 animals that the train goes by (it's a pretty short ride) even though the wallaby is always a sleeping lump on the ground and the red panda is nocturnal, so he's barely ever out (he's very cute though, when he is awake).
The trip ended with a picnic lunch where the kids did a great job sharing their grapes and crackers with each other and I managed to not lose too much hair to Little Sister B's clutches. And the best part? Both girls fell asleep in the car on the way home and, after moving them into their beds, they both napped all afternoon. I'd say that definitely made things zoo-rific. Zoo-tastic, even.