KTMusings

Monday.  We really lucked out on weather the first 6 days. The last 3 were definitely not great for the pools. Today was sunny again and it’s amazing how much warmer it felt while we were walking around.  We got up and packed and headed out before 9 to try to catch a feeding. Never saw a feeding but wandered through the aquariums again. Breakfast at Shake Shack. Up over the rope bridge again.  Got our luggage and checked out at 11 and caught our shuttle to the airport. The ride to the hotel seemed to be on major roads, but the ride back to the airport seemed to take us through a ton of small rundown streets. We did go past the US Embassy and a few hospitals as well.  The line for TSA was long but went pretty fast and we cleared customs quickly. I got a Starbucks (coffee for me, pastries for the girls) and the girls colored in the gate area. Flight was easy and the girls discovered they could play tic tac toe against each other on the screens in the seats. We made it ...

Sunday. 75, less windy, partly cloudy.  The day looked promising … less windy, partly cloudy. We headed out right as the slides opened so that Jeff could do the slides he wanted to - a side by side racer (he tried to convince Lauren or I to race him) and one that basically goes straight down. Lauren joined him for the tube slide that goes through the shark tank.  We then headed over to our usual pool and found some sunny seats. Abby was hungry and we got nuggets for her at like 10:30 - ha! The girls swam very briefly. Then Lauren and Jeff left to do the river. I got a turkey sandwich for lunch - Abby came with me and was happy to hand over the room card to pay. The lady was impressed she knew our room number (they always confirm it and our name when we pay). When Lauren and Jeff got back the girls swam briefly, but the pool was not that warm and the sun had disappeared. We went back to the room to warm up and clean up. At about 3:30 we headed over to Dolphin Cay. We watched fo...

Saturday. 72 and mostly cloudy. And WINDY! Another cool and cloudy day. Most difficult was the wind, though… 20-30mph and gusty. We had another slow start - no real reason to get out. We were all ready to leave the room at 9:50 and then I remembered that I needed to sign Lauren up for camp at 10am, so we waited until I did that. We walked through The Dig and got out to Shake Shack for breakfast? Lunch? They had switched over their menu to lunch (much to Lauren’s dismay as she wanted breakfast tots). Then we walked to the beach just to check out the crazy surf (beach was closed for swimming).  We wandered back and the girls got mani/pedis (Abby’s first!) at noon. We vegged in the room for a bit and then at 4 we headed out to walk around. The girls got ice cream again and we wandered through predator tunnel again and then we went down a path with a very cool overlook. We saw hammerhead sharks, a cool rope bridge, and gorgeous views of the resort. We got some great pictures.  Whe...

Friday. Cool - 72. Turns out 5-8 degrees makes a big difference! We took our time in the morning (girls always have a snacky breakfast in our room, I had two cups of coffee) and I finished my third book (the first two were really good, this one was eh). Then everyone put on pants to walk around a bit - we headed out to the marina to a diner there for breakfast. We waited quite a while for our food, played the camping memory game again, and Abby had several meltdowns. It’s just a long time to be away from home and I think swimming truly wears them out. I don’t think we fed them enough the first few days because Jeff and I have less appetite during the day when we’re out in the sun, but these girls swim nonstop. Anyway, it’s catching up with her.  Jeff had PBJ pancakes and I had a breakfast BLT with egg. Abby ate bacon and picked at a muffin. Lauren had some fruit.  Then we went to the Yurman store to look at rings again. I’m so indecisive.  Then we walked through The Coral...

Thursday. Sunny and warm! We went back to the same pool, but sat on the other side today so we could have some shade since it was sunny all day (and the umbrellas only work in the afternoon due to how they have them arranged). The girls brought the dive toys we had packed - I had them check w the lifeguards to make sure they could use them since we hadn’t seen anyone else with toys. They started off playing their own games with them, then I threw half for each of them on their own side to collect, then they made an underwater obstacle course for themselves - like rings at the bottom that they had to go put the other sinkies into. They kept busy for a long time! And several people commented to us that they’re great swimmers. Jeff went to get drinks and snacks - watermelon for the girls and hummus w pitas for us. Then Lauren kept asking me to do the wavy river with her. I was not real excited, but figured I should try it. She had so much fun we went 2.5 times (got off halfway through bec...

Wednesday.  This morning we had Rise and Shine with the dolphins. Set an alarm for the first time since our travel day, we didn’t really need it but it was a good kick in the pants to get up. The three of them matched in their blue Atlantis shirts and we headed back to Dolphin Cay. We were in the female area this time and got to meet Tracy (26) and her calf (17) and a few others. We couldn’t touch them this time, but we learned a ton more. Like dolphins exfoliate/turn over their skin every 2 hours. Which is good because they are pretty physical with each other so any scratches they get heal quickly. We discovered that each section has it’s own reef that they stock with fish, so none of the dolphins need to cooperate with the trainers in order to eat. They have two love languages - food and attention. Our trainer had been with Tracy for 10 years and he said all she wants is his attention- she gets depressed when he goes on vacation. We got SOAKED, which I wasn’t expecting (we all ha...

Tuesday. Mid 80s and sunny all day.  Weather has been warmer than we were expecting, which is awesome. Especially when it’s 0* and school is closed at home.  Started our day by dropping our stuff in “our spot” and heading for the beach. Jeff went to get breakfast sandwiches while the girls played in the sand. I buried Abby’s legs and turned her into a mermaid and then she asked to do the same to me. Everyone knows how much I love having sand all over - ha!  Lauren and Jeff went snorkeling. Jeff has a full face mask snorkel contraption and Lauren just went out with her goggles. I looked up at one point and they were nowhere to be seen and I was just about to panic when I saw them walking back down the beach after getting a life jacket - that worked wel because Lauren could float and just hang on to Jeff and stick her head in to look.  We spent the whole day by the pool, Jeff and Lauren went back to the ocean at one point and then she came back and nearly fell asleep p...