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»)
Shotcrete time… our in-ground spa starting to take shape! – Arlington, VA.
This is the third installment of photos from our backyard living-space makeover project by Land Art Design and J. Proctor Pools. After several months of work on the project, we were finally ready to shoot the concrete for the in-ground spa. I’ve seen how this is done in videos before, but I’ve never seen shotcrete done in the flesh… it was very interesting to watch. (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»)
Dylan manning the rudder of the ‘Godspeed‘ – Historic Ship Museum, Jamestown, VA.
For this years annual family retreat and vacation we wanted to take in a little American history, so we decided to do the tourist thing in Colonial Williamsburg and Historic Jamestown Virginia. I visited this historic town years ago with my family when I was just a child and I thought it would be a nice way to introduce Dylan to some of our country’s early history. I’m not a history buff by nature, but I do enjoy going back in time, so to speak, and remembering the things my high school history teacher us to try to implant into my brain about this early period in American history. Seeing how well everything has been preserved and the attention to detail in the way the tours are run really make you proud to be in such a historic place.
Aside from doing the normal tourist thing and walking for miles through all the little shops and houses, we also spent an evening having a traditional Colonial-style dinner at the King’s Arms Tavern in the historic colony. They do a great job of putting on a show for the patrons and the food is excellent. Every detail, from the early 18th-century building and old original wooden floors to the servers in traditional colonial costumes, truly makes you feel as though you have traveled back in time for the evening. Jamestown was also a lot of fun except for the part where Dylan got attacked by a rouge roster at the old fort. Thankfully I was close by and was able to grab it and kick it away before it had a chance to hurt him. (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
“M/V ‘Our Pleasure’ anchored close to the shoreline” – Wades Bay, Nanjemoy, MD.
All summer we’ve been talking about making a run down river to an area where the water is a little cleaner and the ‘Hydrilla’ doesn’t grow as thick as it does in Belmont Bay. Our boating friends Charlie and Nichole made a day trip down river a couple of weeks ago and they said that Wades Bay was totally Hydrilla free and the deep water would allow for a near shore line anchorage. So this weekend we decided to make the hour long boat ride down river for some different scenery and shark tooth hunting at Wades Bay. We asked Mike and Melissa to join us for the day and they excepted making it an even more enjoyable outing. The water was a little bit on the cool side, but the weather held and it turned out to be a great day. Can’t wait to do it again next summer! (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
“Dylan and Dad snorkeling just off the beach” – Castle Island, Bermuda
As I said in my previous post, we didn’t have the best of weather this week, but our last day turned out to be perfect… for snorkeling that is! Here are some photos from our boat trip over to Castle Island for a day of snorkeling on the reef and in the shallows of Castle Harbour. I hope to post some videos of our adventures soon! (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
“Finally a beautiful sunny day to enjoy some snorkeling” – Castle Island, Bermuda
The second half of our week was also mixed as far as the weather went, but we made the best of it and spent one of the rainy days sightseeing with Carlyta at the Crystal Caves. We did have some good days hanging out at the pools drinking margaritas and watching the sun poke in and out of the clouds. I really don’t think anyone would have complained too much about the situation at hand, especially seeing it from our point of view.
On our last day, the wind finally died down and we where able to rent a boat and head over to Castle Island beach for some snorkeling. Carlyta told us she had never been snorkeling before and this would be one activity she would really like to try, so I’m happy the weather laid back enough for us to make it happen. Dylan has also become quite the little ‘Aquaman’ over the summer and he showed his skills on an hour long swim snorkeling around Castle Island reef. I’ll add another post later on with more photos and even some video from our snorkeling adventure to Castle Island. (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
