Atlantis Day 5 - Exploring the Resort

On Saturday, the resort was crowded with "tourists" but we braved the crowds and went exploring. There is so much we haven't seen yet! I will show you a few highlights here...it doesn't even begin to cover everything we saw!

First, we went through an underground cave and saw schools and schools of fish!


What a GIANT fish you are!



Then we found a tunnel through a tank of sharks! We saw a hammerhead and more!

Here I am kissing a statue of a dolphin, to make up for not hugging the real one yesterday.

Then we went to explore the bridges and waterfalls. Here is the biggest rope bridge I have ever been on! Okay, it's the only rope bridge I've ever been on and it kept shaking...hey, wait, that was just Dad bouncing up and down. Cut it out, Dad!

Then we tried out the beach at the other side of the island. Whoa!

Atlantis Day 4 - Dolphin Cay

Mom has been telling me for a month that I am going to get a chance to "hug a dolphin!" I have been executing this order faithfully by hugging all the stuffed dolphins in all the gift shops, but apparently this is not quite what Mom means. So, today, we are hugging real dolphins.

First, I don a wetsuit. Ok, ok, not willingly. But Mom insists.

Then we watch a short video (during which I dozed off, not a good omen for school, Dad says). We go into the shallow water for our interaction.

Well...ok...I know you don't want to hear this. But I get splashed by the dolphin with some salt water and I start to cry. So Dad takes me out of the water and I don't finish the interaction. I did not, in fact, "hug the dolphin." Maybe we'll try again later in the week. But the people there felt so bad for me that they let us get a private tour of the behind the scenes areas and their sea lion habitat.

This is where they prepare the fish and keep track on a board of how many pounds each dolphin eats.

Here are the sea lions, which are not on view to the public unless you schedule an interaction.

All in all, a fun day!

Atlantis Day 3 - Exploring the Resort

On Thursday, we spent the morning by our hotel pool and then we saw our first tropical storm in the afternoon. The rain came down hard for about an hour, but then everything brightened up and we went out exploring again.

All the hotel towers are beautifully decorated. There are fish everywhere! This is inside the open lobby of The Cove tower.

Then we went to explore the rest of the resort and see some of the water adventures and other pools. This is the outside of one of the water slides.

Dad went down a super fast slide that shoots you 25 mph almost straight down into an underwater tunnel. I went down this slide instead.

Here is one of the special pools for people my size. It's 2ft deep! Yikes!

Outside the Royal Towers...

Between the Royal and Coral Towers is the "Michael Jackson Suite," which rents for $25,000 to $35,000 a night with a 4 night minimum stay. They say it is all booked up for the year!

We went to a buffet dinner and I ate and ate...for about 15 minutes. Then I played with my Doodle Pad, which Mom says is "the best $6.99 she ever spent," whatever that means...

Atlantis Day 2 - My first day at the beach

My first day at the beach, Dad helped me dig a little whole to sit in. I got a lot of sand in my hair!

That afternoon, we went to "The Dig," which is a giant aquarium inside the Royal Towers. It looked like an ancient Mayan tomb. We saw stingrays, sharks, eels, and jellyfish!

Then we made it back to our tower after dinner for sunset at the beach.

Getting to Atlantis - Day 1 (My first plane ride!)

Boy, Mom and Dad made me leave the house right after I woke up. And if you know me, you know I am not a morning person. So I didn't really enjoy the ride to Dulles Airport:

After sitting on the runway for an hour on a little plane, we finally get to take off to Charlotte (don't get Mom started on how she didn't want the connecting flight.) I fell asleep on the plane...in Dad's lap. So my seat kinda got wasted. Oh, well. I was ravenous at the Charlotte airport and ate half a Quizno's sandwich and a whole banana:

Then we got on a big plane and I decided to take my seat. I was very proud to have my own safety belt and wouldn't stop talking about it. I also made sure Dad read the safety instructions.

The second plane ride was so exciting, I forgot it was my nap time (Mom tried to remind me, but I wasn't listening.) So when we got in the car to go to the hotel, I finally gave in.

And now, finally, 11 hours later, we are here at Paradise Island! This is our hotel, The Reef.

This is me claiming one of the chairs in the lobby as "my chair."

This is our hotel room. That's Mom and Dad's bed. I guess I am sleeping on the pull out couch. We'll see...

The view from our balcony!

And a preview of Day 2...my first encounter with the beach!

Water, Water, Everywhere...and Fish!

Mom and Dad took me to the aquarium because I have been learning a lot about turtles and stingrays and sea horses through my intense independent study...okay, okay, I mean through watching "Go, Diego, Go!" Anyhow, they thought I had learned enough to visit the Baltimore Aquarium.

First, Dad and I examine the fish tanks!




Then we wait patiently forever and ever (30 minutes) for the dolphin show.

Finally, it starts and what do I get for my trouble? I get splashed all over by a dolphin tail!

Bye bye, turtles and stingrays! See you later!

And then there was fire!

Mom and Dad took me to a Japanese restaurant where a man wearing a puffy hat cooked in front of us. I almost had a heart attack. "Don't panic," I said to myself. I'm okay now, thanks for asking. Phew.

Maestro! Maestro!

Okay, first, sorry for the lack of postings. We will try and make up for it with a few posts here so scroll down to see them.

Second, we have been busy. While Mom has been on an airplane almost every week for work for the last month, I've been working on my first Concerto. I can't quite get the melody for the string section in the second movement...I'm still working it out. Here is a sneak peak at the first movement. (Try to ignore my Dad's singing. His knowledge of music is so rudimentary that I tried to distract him with Old MacDonald....)

The Zoo, Reprised

A few weekends ago, it was all of a sudden 60 degrees, so we went to see the animals at the zoo! It started off cold...

In case your're wondering, I did also just get a new stroller. (Yes, it's my third stroller. Mom says this with a sigh. This is the only one I've liked to sit in. So I'm a little picky...)

It eventually warmed up! I pointed out all the animals along this wall. Dad says it was a long wall...

I loved the jellyfish and the monkeys the best!

See you next time, jellyfish!