There is one thing about my wife that is a constant… she is always searching for and finding new and adventurous things for Dylan to try. This started out as a way to find engaging camps and activities to keep Dylan busy during the summers while he’s out of school. In many cases, Julie and I have found that jumping in and engaging with Dylan in these extra curricular outdoor activity is not only a great bonding experience, but it’s also just a whole lot of fun!
Dylan on the tree top ropes course at ‘Go Ape Adventures’ – Springfield, VA.
This weekend we ventured out to a tree top ropes course in Springfield, VA that Julie found called ‘Go Ape Adventure’. It was the first time Dylan had tried anything like and turns out he was a natural. He flew through the junior course in record time and was advanced to the intermediate course before our time slot ended. He says the next time he comes back, he wants to try the advanced course, which is all the way at the top!
:: Tags: Dylan, Fun, Photo, Travel, WildlifeHanging with the dolphins at Dolphin Cay – Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas
While vacationing at the Atlantis Resort, we opted to try the park’s dolphin adventure at Dolphin Cay. They have all different levels of interaction that tourists can choose from including snorkeling or swimming with the dolphins to just watching/taking pictures while they perform tricks. For Dylan’s first time being around dolphins, we decided to go with the less intrusive shallow water touch and feel adventure. This easy and comfortable in-water experience lets you get up-close and personal with the dolphins in only 4 feet of water. This worked out well in that it gave Dylan a chance to see just how graceful and gentle these beautiful creatures are without scaring him from how powerful and aggressive they can be in open water.
I myself have been scuba diving with trained dolphins on several occasions while in both the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, and have always done so with dive operators who allow their dolphins to come and go as they please using open sea pins. When diving with them, we are always in open water and they not confined in any way. While I sometimes have a problem seeing dolphins in captivity and being made to perform for tourists, I can only hope that they are being well cared for by their trainers and the park.
Thanks to the Americas Cup races being held in Bermuda this year, our condo at Tucker’s Point was already rented out for our normal end-of-school vacation week. So instead of booking another place on the island we decided to change thing up a bit and spend the week in the Bahamas. It’s been over ten years since we’ve been to Grand Bahama Island and since we didn’t plan on doing any shark diving on this trip we decided to do the tourist thing and hang at Paradise Island instead. This would be our first time staying at the Atlantis Resort since they completely finished the park, including the marina and Cove & Reef Condo’s in 2007.
The Reef Atlantis had some of the best reviews, so we opted for one of their deluxe suites for the week while we took in as much of the water park as we could handle. We had a fabulous week and the service at the resort was top notch! Our only gripe was that the food situation at the on-resort restaurants could have been handled better (it almost felt like you were in a chow line on a cruse ship), but we made the best of things and tried to eat out at the marina as much as possible. All in all it was a great trip and we will definitely be going back for more in the future. Here is the first installment of pictures (80 of them) from our trip to Atlantis… enjoy! (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
Here are a couple of pictures from Dylan’s school soccer team which he played on for one season. His current school doesn’t have any sports teams, so some of the parents from his class put together a Saturday morning soccer team to compete in the DC Stoddard Soccer League. I think this gave him just enough exposure to team sports to get him interested and I know he really enjoyed playing with his classmates. Hopefully he will continue to participate in competitive team sports and become more of a team player in the future.
This year we celebrated Mother’s Day once again at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC. As in years past, this has become a favorite gathering place for our family to celebrate the mothers in our lives. We are all very happy that we can come together each year in such a wonderful place for such an important holiday. Happy Mother’s Day everyone!
Taking a selfie with Dylan on a carnival ride @ Harbor Ridge Club – Palm City, FL.
As per normal, we spent our spring Easter vacation down in Palm City, Florida with the grandparents. The private community that my wife’s parents live in always puts on an awesome grandparents weekend for all the visiting families and kids. It starts of with fun kids activities at the club, then an Easter egg hunt on the golf course and finally ends with a huge carnival on the fairway of the first hole. This is a huge event for the entire community and the kids love it. The food is great and the adults can indulge in an adult cocktail while chasing the little ones around between the different rides and booths. My favorite part of the weekend is the Sunday morning brunch at the club. They have a huge all you can eat buffet with everything you could think of and their Bloody Mary’s are to die for! (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
Dylan’s 7th birthday and pizza party – Arlington, VA.
Here are a couple of pictures from Dylan’s 7th birthday party at Dynamic Gymnastics. We had a great turnout and even the Fox Class mascot showed up for the occasion. We hope everyone had a great time… I know I did. I love pizza parties! (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
Our holiday family photo with the Grandparents – Thanksgiving 2016 – Arlington, VA.
Here is a small collection of photos from our Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. As you’ll notice, most of the photos are of Dylan, but we did have the whole family over this year to help celebrate. (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
A view of the Space Shuttle’s engines – National Air & Space Museum – Dulles, VA.
Dylan had the day off from school today due to a teacher training day, so my brother and I decided to take him on a little adventure to the Air & Space Museum in Dulles, Virginia. We all had a blast and Dylan shot down several fighter jets as my gunner in the F-18 flight simulator. I wasn’t sure how he would react to the simulator, but he really enjoyed all the barrel rolls and loops I put him through. (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
Here is a collection of some of the best photos of Dylan from his adventures over the past year. It’s hard to put into words what a treat it is to watch him grow up and to help him explore this wonderful world with him… he is truly one of a kind! Please respect our copyright notice and do not attempt to copy or distribute any of the photos on this site. (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
