bahama mamas

9:44 PM

this is going to be a long post...so get comfy.

last weekend we headed south for a weekend in paradise. the girls were asked to be flower girls in dan's cousin stephanie's wedding down in the bahamas. what a weekend it was!! it was just the girls and i who made the trip down. we decided to leave may home because we knew we would be on the go a lot with all the wedding activities and would not have a sitter to stay back while she napped or when she needed to go to bed. i was so sad not to have her with us...but i enjoyed a little time with just the big girls.

i'll let pictures do most of the talking for me...

we had the luxury of hitching a ride down with my father-in-law. traveling with kids is always easier when you can fly the john hauck style! thanks again for the ride grandpa :)

it didn't take us long to settle into island living!

the first night there we hopped in a shuttle that took us over to the atlantis. a quick 5 minute drive from the one and only resort where we were staying. a lot of the wedding activities were held at the atlantis. it is also where my parents were staying and where the hauck boats were docked. we stopped by the marina on the way to the welcome party to check out uncle steve's boat...the silver fox. i had only heard about this beauty and the stories paled in comparison to the actual thing. just look at that puppy...it is basically a ritz carlton on water. absolutely incredible.

after we ogled the silver fox for awhile we headed over to the "dig deck" for the welcome party. this was amazing. basically an underground tunnel that leads you through all of the aquariums at the atlantis.

every turn was another view into the aquatic life in the bahamas. the girls (and myself) were in awe.

once we made it through all of that it kicked us out onto the deck for the party.

the girls had such a great time at the welcome party. they had a fire dancer, a limbo guy...

and a jankanoo parade!

jankanoo is a bahamian festival that is held every year in december. the bahamians hand make these elaborate costumes, dance, sing and parade through the streets of nassau every year. they gave us a little taste of the festival and it was incredible.

the girls were thoroughly entertained. lil was blowing that whistle and shaking her cow bell for an hour straight

after the parade it was time for the girls to head to bed. but not before we took in all that the atlantis lobby had to offer.

the infamous atlantis throne

and the many "princess chairs" that the girls had to test out

the next day we woke up early and headed back over to the atlantis to hang out with my mom and dad all day. of course first i had to do a little photo shoot at the one and only.

on our balcony

and outside the lobby while we waited for our car

then we woke up ne ne and dow and spent the entire day down by the pools

we mainly stayed by this pool that the girls nicknamed the "sea horse pool." it was perfect. they must have gone down those slides about 30 times. at one point my dad was napping in the sun, my mom and i were sharing a frozen drink on the pool's edge and the girls were playing in the water. it really does not get any better than that!

after finally peeling ourselves away from the fabulousness that was the atlantis pools...we headed back to the one and only to shower up and go down to the rehearsal. unfortuantely it was raining so we had to do the rehearsal in the plan b spot by the pool.

the flower girls waiting for their cue

ready to lead the bride...

their job is through...now it's time to play

bonding with the bride while we await our ride to the rehearsal dinner

the girls were rock stars at the dinner. all three of them.

but after a long day of swimming and rehearsing...lil was ready for bed

the next morning before the wedding grandpa took us for a little kid-friendly cruise on the fever. the girls loved it! most of those pictures on my phone and i need to upload them.