the poseidon pool

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You might think that a pool which maxes out at about 10 inches in depth would be boring.  Well, unless you are really into wading and you were an average adult, you would be right.  But for a kid, this is the Amazon River and for Charlie this left him waist deep in water most of the time which meant (a) he thought it was one of the best things he'd ever seen in his short lifetime and (b) we didn't have to constantly hold him to keep him alive.  He crashed around, falling over and stopping certain drowning with his chubby little arms and generally enjoying the heck out of himself.  I thought Schuyler might be bored.  She's gotten so good at swimming recently that she really digs swimming underwater and diving to pick things up.  I was wrong.  It was deep enough so she could swim about like a SPF protected hammerhead, darting under the clunky floating toys they had anchored by chains to the pool bottom and re-emerging on the other side just in time for her Dad to stop dialling 911 on his cell.  She pretended she was a frog half the time and squatted before leaping and crashing into the water and/or some helpless toddler in her path.   This was a big win for the kids and their parents.  Just shows you have to remember to think of it from their perspective and so long as it's all good with them, it's pretty fine with their parents.

peeping charlie

 

 

 

There are lots of fun differences between a boat and a house.  Here Charlie discovers his Mama's bedroom has a sunroof.

a taste of Vermont

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unlike Bermuda, the Bahamas have no blockades stopping the American chain stores from cannibalising the local shopping scene.  You can drive downtown and see a Chili's, a TGI Fridays, a McDonalds, and a Pizza Hut.  And here, at Atlantis, you can find a pretty darned decent Ben & Jerry's where we got all hopped up on some new fangled flavour of chocolate and whatever else it was they put in it (the chocolate was pretty dominant judging from Charlie's shirt afterward).  But, over and above the ice cream, the thing they took back in their memory pouch and mentioned at random moments throughout the trip was the car ride toy thing that basically wiggled them about a bit with the weak strength of a small child but to them it was Days of Thunder 2.

into atlantis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I should also mention that Dad captained this voyage.  I'm pretty amazed he can do that.  I mean that's the real deal, taking a boat this size across these chartered waters and the idea of docking this beast in a snug berth surrounded by gleaming white obstacles worth more than the US National Debt, is just more than I can stomach.  It's really impressive watching Captain Wardy Baby make it all look pretty darn easy when I would need a diaper change after trying to even get into the harbour!

the journey continues

 

I am King of all I survey.

Capt Wardy Baby relinquishes control to a new recruit.

 

Charlie and Kim during "quiet time".

Charlie and Schuyler at Spa Kim for a rainbow pedicure.

 

Schuyler gets a full makeover.

 

Shots of Schuyler like these kind of scare me... 

on the go: breakfast & play

The scenery was.... um... breathtaking.

 

Papa schools Charlie in the finder points of jam removal (one of the many invaluable skills Charlie can thank me for later).

 

 

Box full o' kids.

Kim supervises the Aft Deck Water Park.

 

The look on Schuyler's face is priceless and Charlie looks like he's doing a number 1.

 

Man, oh man!  What could be more fun for two young kids than full permission to have a water fight "indoors"?

Charlie versus the child-locked sliding door

 

 

 

 

 

 

the journey from harbour island

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sea journey from Harbour Island to Nassau is a lazy, beautiful voyage at about 20 knots.  It is shallow water the whole way down and littered with seemingly abandoned beachheads that would be clogged with people anywhere else in the world.  However, it is a long time to be in a confined space with two small kids.  Fortunately, Kim was on hand with some aft deck water play which was one of those great ideas only she would think to do and then actually do.  Then, the wonders of television kept them rapt until we saw the grey outline of Atlantis rising above the horizon.