Welcome to Paradise

I spilled the beans on Friday that our past week was actually spent in paradise...literally...as we were at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.  As I expected, the trip was pretty much FANTASTIC!  We were there with my entire family...mom, dad, brother, his wife, sister, her boyfriend, and the four of us...our first family vacation since Josh and I have even been together!
 Want a brief (well, as brief as I can make it?) recap?  Here it goes...
Saturday was spent with some crazy early flights (like leaving our house at 3:45 AM, and yes that includes getting both boys up and out too!).

  Once we arrived in the Bahamas, we made our way to the resort, did some really quick pool/beach time, and the boys crashed somewhere in between!

 That night we got all dressed and headed out for dinner at Virgil's (which ended up being maybe our best meal of the trip!).  Before going into the restaurant, though, we stopped for some drinks.  Colton invented some game where we would walk around the coffee table in the middle of our chairs, saying hi to everyone.  When he got to Levi each time, Levi would totally giggle in absolute delight at the sight of his brother, which totally cracked Colton up.  It was beyond sweet, and cute, and because I can't pick just one picture to prove it, you can see the excessive amount I took!

my brother and sister-in-law

Josh enjoying "Colton's dessert"

On Sunday morning we woke up, and were completely excited to really understand where we were going to spend our next week...so we took some pictures to prove it!

sister, boyfriend, and Colty 

and Colton was understandably eager to hit the pools.  A little tip about the Atlantis in case you're thinking of going.  The place, at least when we were there, was crazy crowded with people absolutely swarming the property and pools.  Luckily we were staying at the Reef which gave us access to a separate pool/beach area which ended up being a savior because I don't think we would have enjoyed the experience nearly as much had we had to deal with the crowds all the time.

Levi's first of many snoozes poolside

We had a 3PM dolphin swim scheduled that day, so we headed over to the Dolphin Cay to get ready.  I mention the 3PM because that happens to be right in the middle of what should have been Colton's nap.  Luckily he seemed to buck up (despite some touch and go moments) and really enjoyed the dolphin, especially when he saw the mommy and baby together (melt my heart!).  We chose not to spend the $200+ dollars to purchase the pictures, and are still waiting to receive the ones my dad took, so I don't really have any to share with you.  But I can tell you a few things: 1. Colton looked A.DOR.ABLE. in his wet suit.  2.  I looked RI.DIC.ULOUS in mine (and it stunk and was hot and sticky...oh the things I do for this child). 3.  It was a pretty cool experience, but they spent way too much time taking our pictures.  We do have some good ones though of Colton and I kissing the dolphin, giving it a high five, and hugging our new friend.

After all that fun, we stupidly boarded a bus to the Marina Village to get some dinner.  Remember that no nap from above?  Well, it bit us in the arse BIG time!  After waiting about 45 minutes for dinner (and being bribed with a lollipop to do so), Colton completely crashed as we were sitting down...as in major tantrum.  Needless to say, the four of us left everyone else at dinner and marched back to the room for a dinner of Doritos and PB and J...definite vacation low point!

And since this is already really long, we'll cut it off there for now and finish up tomorrow!