Atlantis Vacation Chapter 1: The Resort

We just returned back from our amazing Bahama vacation yesterday.  400 pictures later, I am completely overwhelmed with a lot of photos. I am going to break up our vacation in many chapters so I can do it justice.

Atlantis was incredibly large!  We did not even see many of the places we could of.  We stayed at the Royal Towers which was the center of the resort and the best place for kids. The architecture was gorgeous and the amenities were endless.  We basically had a pass to use the enormous water park everyday.  Our favorite thing to do besides hang out at the beach was go on the Rapid River.  It was the adult form of a lazy river with lots of rapids and big waves pushing us through.  They had a lazy river too for toddlers that we did once.  When Sydney would take her daily nap with Nana in the room, Steve and I would take Luke and Ava to it.  Steve and Luke capsized on the same curvy part and ultimately Luke got too scared to go back.  We would ride on these big double O floats and it would take about 20 minutes to get through the "river."  I was proud of Luke and Ava for going on it, they were the youngest kids I saw on there.  After the first day we went on it, Luke kept saying he wanted to go on the bunnies again.  Nana, Steve and I had no idea what he was talking about.  So, I thought to myself (as I often do when I need to figure out how the kids came up with something I can't understand) what is another name for bunnies.... Rabbits.  Rabbits sounds like Rapids.  Rapid river is what we did that day!!! We laughed and laughed.  My funny Bubs!

The architecture was beautiful. I photographed it as much as possible but did not even get to many of the places I wanted to.

This was the view from our room. Royal Tower West, 9th floor.

Close up of the outside "open air" aquarium.  The only one in the world, apparently.

One of the many huge water slides for big kids and adults...

The Marina at night.  The nicest yachts we have ever seen!

View from our room at night of the East side of the Tower...

The connecting room of the Royal Tower.... $25k a night!

The "Rapid River"

The Lobby of the Royal Tower...

Last but not least, our favorite drink and food place.  Right by the The Cove beach...

Easter Weekend 2012

More photos to come tomorrow....

We had an awesome Easter weekend.  It is what I hope every Ester is like weather wise.  65 degrees and sunny both days!  On Saturday we did the Bothell Easter Hunt, had brunch at our friend's house :), and then went to Lukey's first baseball game.  The kids were so cute.  I have many pictures I still need to edit, but all of us parents were so proud of them!  On Easter Sunday, we went to brunch at Grazie (we have been doing that for the past few years) and then we played at the playground of our new neighborhood and met some new neighbors.  The Easter bunny hid Easter eggs all around the house for the kiddos and left them many goodies and some cute stuffed animals! 

Happy Birthday Luke...again :)

Happy Belated 5th Birthday my dear sweet Luke.  I have been so busy trying to keep up with all 3 kids this week, and I did not forget that I needed to post my little letter for Luke that he will someday read when this blog is in a book so here it goes.  Luke's birthday lasted forever this year as we celebrated his big 5th birthday party with all of his friends, extended family and classmates.  He was spoiled with love and many wonderful presents from everyone and he couldn't of handled the attention any better.  He is modest and was so sharing with all of his new toys.  I have grown to expect this behavior from Luke and I feel so fortunate that he sets such a great example for his little sisters.

So many things have happened this year for Luke and I LOVE to see what #5 has in store for us. He has grown out of his tantrums, he is inquisitive asking questions and pondering everything, everywhere.... he is my helper, he knows how to dress himself in the morning now and will still wear what I ask him too :) if he picks something that doesn't match. He has exhibited a fearless determination that has allowed him to advance from just starting to ride a bike, for the first time 6 short weeks ago to actually riding without training wheels today all by himself. Luke is my little engineer, so interested in how everything is made and where the materials come from. He started writing his name and riding on a school bus this year. He is eating new foods that he would never try before. Luke's teachers' in school said the other day that they have never met another kid like Luke before and will never forget that. He is a pretty mysterious guy at times...just when you think you've figured him out he throws you a curve ball.... he keeps me on my toes. Luke had his first crush this year and it seems to be lasting. As I get ready to register him for Kindergarten this week, I do not feel sad at all, I am excited to watch him flourish even more and learn more things about him. I love to amazed by him and I love to think about the things he will teach me in the future because he is THAT amazing. Luke is passionate about his legos and his "stuff." He is a collector... I can tell already. I feel like I need to add many shelves in his room to display all of his precious items. Luke loves to work on projects and crafts. He loves to recreate experiences and duplicate events more than the typical kid. He started staying his bed this year and not sleeping on the floor in our room. I can't even remember the last time he had a night terror (those were the worst.) When Luke doesn't like something he says, "I am tired of doing that." and when he loves something he says "he wants to do it all day." When he eats a food he likes he says, "I want to eat this all day." His best buddy is still his sister Ava and loves his "Bainy" Sydney and will protect her forever. He has never once had an ill feeling towards her, I can honestly say that. He still can't sleep without his "B" bear. I can't wait to see what the next year holds for Luke, we love him so much and are so proud of him and his accomplishments this year.

Little League

Luke started T-Ball last week... the day of his birthday and so far he really likes it.  Our first practice was frigid.... poor Sydney was frozen through by the time we left.  Ava played with the other siblings who are her best friends from school.  Everyone was happy :)  Luke participated right away.... I never know what to expect with him when he tries new things.  Last year when he started soccer, he refused to participate the first class or so.  Steve and I were so proud that he jumped right into baseball.  It probably helps that his best buddies are playing with him.  We can't wait to watch him improve as the season moves along and to go to his first game.  We were so lucky to have the sun shine for our team pictures this past Saturday.  Afterwards they participated in the base-a-thon where they ran around the bases as many times as they could.  They were all so adorable and they ran a lot longer than all of us parents thought! 

Birthday Celebration #2- Red Robin

We were soooo lucky and blessed to have lots of visitors for Lukey's Birthday.  Auntie Jen, Uncle Chris, Paige and Chase were here for about a week.  The kids had so much fun together and so did the adults :)  We were able to sneak away for a night to visit the wineries and go out to dinner while our beloved babysitter Emily watched all 5 kids!!!  We visited with Shanen, Elena, the kids and Mark and Kathy for dinner one night and then we went swimming at their indoor pool another day.  Luke was so excited he could touch the bottom and Ava clutched on close to Auntie Jen.  We were so sad to see them leave and can't wait for our next visit together.