Then first day of our spring break began like this-
and ended like this!
We traveled to the Bahamas and stayed at the Atlantis resort for the week!
It was our first international trip with the boys.
We were all excited to travel in style to the resort from the airport.
The first night we enjoyed warm temperatures and a dinner out, ocean side.
Most of the week we spent at the pool or ocean, soaking up the sun and then went out to dinner at night. It was so relaxing!
Nick, enjoying his cereal in the morning, and the ocean views!
Our big family excursion was a dolphin encounter.
We learned all about dolphins, fed them a fish and received a kiss for our efforts. It was so much fun!
The dolphins at Atlantis are from a pod that was rescued from the open waters of the ocean after Hurricane Katrina. The pod was from Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulf Port, Mississippi. The hurricane destroyed their habitat and had left them out to sea to fend for themselves before they were rescued.
Eric, Sam and Nick were brave enough to ride the Leap of Faith water slide. It went straight down, through a clear tube that was surrounded by sharks!
Ben and I were happy to watch and take pictures!
We did ride a lazier version of Leap of Faith that involved a raft for 2 that slowly went through the shark tank.
There wasn't a shortage of water slides here!
Eric enjoys scuba diving on our beach vacations when he can, and boy did he have an adventure this time! He dove with Caribbean reef sharks. There was a guy that also fed the sharks with a spear for their entertainment. Crazy! A photographer also dove and took some great shots and video.
This is one of the dive company's famous dive sites; it was also featured on Shark Week on the Discovery channel.
Eric was instructed to sit still with his hands folded in front and not move his hands around for fear that they be mistaken for food by the sharks!
As you can see he followed the rules quite well!
The boys had a blast taking underwater pictures using their goggles to see below the water.
Atlantis had a popular casino. We had to cut across the casino floor to get to dinner most nights. The first night the boys were all a little unsure about being on the casino floor, by the last night they were asking us to put money on black and a quarter in the slots!
Our first trip to the Caribbean was a success and we can't wait to return!
