Excursion Day!

Wednesday was Excursion Day at the amazing Atlantis Hotel Water Park! Everything about this hotel is breathtaking - the size,

the shops, all the little details around the property and on each building,

the sea life,

and the water park! It was awesome! Most of our day was spent hurtling down water slides, like the one shown below where I actually came off the building a split second before once again hitting the slide and ending up in the pool below, all in a matter of 3 seconds...

or riding rafts through darkened tubes and ending up in a tank surrounded by sharks. They, of course, were thankfully OUTSIDE the tank.

My favorite part of the day was riding the lazy river on a double raft snuggled up with David. He had his struggles getting on the tube - all I remember is looking behind me to see both of David's legs straight up in the air as he fell over backwards off the raft - but he eventually was able to get on and stay on. Riding the full river took about 30-40 minutes and we enjoyed it so much that we rode it three times throughout the day. The river was calm in parts and then we would hit rapids and it was quite the ride. At one point the rapids were so strong that David and I were smashed up against the wall and ended up flipping over! After several hours of the water park we were all ready for some down time on the lounge chairs.

As we were getting ready to leave David and I promised ourselves that we would bring the kids here one day. What a fun place!

I loved all the amazing sculptures throughout the hotel.

And of course we had to take our turn sitting in King Neptune's chair.

Unfortunately our dinner reservations at our hotel's Japanese restaurant that night weren't until 8:45. Good thing hanging with the Yens is always so much fun and filled with laughs because I was having a hard time keeping myself from gnawing on the furniture by the time we were eventually seated.

Pete is always good for a few laughs!

After dinner we hung out in the lobby to watch one of the NBA basketball playoff games.

Another fun-filled day in the Bahamas!

Bahamas!!

Joy and excitement are all over our faces as we wait in the airport to catch our flight to the Bahamas for President's Club.  Yay for great rewards earned at David's job!

Ahhhhh! Palm trees, sunshine, and warm weather!

We couldn't pass up those Bahama Mamas in the hotel lobby - a delicious, addictive blend of orange, pineapple, and cranberry juices mixed with grenadine. This was the first of many that we drank throughout the week!

Our early afternoon arrival meant that we had time to drop our bags in our room, change into our bathing suits, and hit the beach!

Our gorgeous view!

I love spending time with this guy!

All inclusive resorts are the way to go - we can't get enough of the Bahama Mamas and daiquiris.

After a few hours at the beach we were ready to head inside for some dinner. There were several different restaurants at the hotel but Japanese food was calling our name. We ended up in their Hibachi room with several other couples from all over the world - Canada, Austria, and Texas. During the evening we all got to know each other and throughout the rest of the week when we would see each other around the resort we would wave to each other and shout out the state or country that the other was from. Nothing like Japanese style cooking to bring people together!
The food was quite tasty, especially the spring rolls.

Although initially surprised that we wanted virgin drinks, our waiters did a good job finding tasty alternatives. My favorite - a strawberry/banana daiquiri.

Our head waiter was hilarious, leading us in different chants and motions to get us excited about eating.

Heart-shaped fried rice...

and sushi. It doesn't get any better!

After dinner I had to walk off all the food I consumed so we took a lovely walk along the beach. A long day of traveling and relaxing at the beach had us heading back to our room early to watch a movie and just veg. As we were getting ready for bed David looked over the guest list to see who was attending Presidents Club and we were delighted to discover that Pete and Leslie Yen, our dear friends from Utah, were on the guest list. Unfortunately their flight didn't get in until late Monday night so we didn't see them until Tuesday morning. Once we met up we were pretty much inseparable. Hangin' with them made the week extra fun!

Definitely something you don't see everyday!

A Pierce Kind of Spring

I love spring! After the long months of winter, we are all ready for beautiful blossoms...

flowers...

sunshine...

wildlife in the backyard...

and gorgeous sunsets.

This year spring also brought Noah's first year of lacrosse. None of us had a clue about the game but Noah was stoked about the equipment so he gave it a try.
His first game - he sure looks cute!

Warming up before the game.

Lining up...

and Noah is all ready to go!

Fighting the big herd of boys for that little teeny ball.

Chasing down a guy...I don't think he caught this one.

Love that stance of his!

Spring also brought baseball for Xander! He was so excited to be back out on the field.

Ready position.

He's definitely ready to tag someone out!

He got off some nice hits this season...

and scored a bunch of runs.

And of course we can't go a season of the year without soccer!

She definitely has some Michael Jordan going on with that tongue.

That tongue!

Fight for that ball, Sav!!