Welcome, Foolish Muggles! IoA/US/MK/SW *July 2013 Trip Report Link*

[JanetMom]

I can't believe how freakin' big this place it! It looks like the Atlantis property goes on forever. You must have spent all day on the water slides.

 

[jenseib]

Who the heck would want air

 

[natebenma]

I can't believe how freakin' big this place it! It looks like the Atlantis property goes on forever. You must have spent all day on the water slides.

The pictures don't lie. The place is ginormous!

We spent a lot of time on the slides.

Sunday, on our arrival day for a couple of hours.
Monday- most of the day.
Tuesday- afternoon, when we were done snorkeling the Ruins
Wed was a mostly dry day- we hung around the aquariums and beach and we didn't hit the slides until 5 after we returned from an afternoon city tour.
Thursday- sliding and snorkeling.

Who the heck would want air

Thrill seeking teens with inadequate parental supervision and poor judgement?

 

[HockeyMomR]

Atlantis does look ginormous but also looks like F-U-N.

Beautiful here in Maryland today. Hope it is heading your way

 

[natebenma]

Atlantis does look ginormous but also looks like F-U-N.

Beautiful here in Maryland today. Hope it is heading your way

The sun peeked out this afternoon, but not soon enough to have our Day at the Farm program- so I had the afternoon off.

Hoping the good weather continues- Ben's birthday is tomorrow and we have ten 10-11 boys coming over and 4 sleeping over. Someone scheduled this without realizing that Sunday is Mother's Day.

Have a great weekend!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Only one word for it Dee-WOW
That place is amazing-love the pictures, love the views and even better love that million dollar smile
Cant believe how alike you and Ben look in your pics
Atlantis is def on my bucket list now

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Keep meaning to say (and keep forgetting) that I love the idea of having a notepad and pen in the bag at waterparks for messages My family are very spread out in ages and this definitely provides a solution to the endless "wandering about trying to find the others" we usually endure while trying to reconnect
As always your advice is invaluable-I will def steal this tip
Thanks

 

[HockeyMomR]

Dee - Hope you survive the birthday. Hoping for excellent weather for you - is is just beautiful here again today.

Have all those boys help with making you breakfast in bed Sunday morning!

 

[DrMomof3]

Amazing pictures (as usual!)!!! It really makes me want to go to Atlantis. It just looks like fun. (I do understand that it'll be more fun when my kids can go on all the slides.)

Amanda

PS Good luck with the birthday party and Happy Mother's Day!

 

[natebenma]

Only one word for it Dee-WOW
That place is amazing-love the pictures, love the views and even better love that million dollar smile
Cant believe how alike you and Ben look in your pics
Atlantis is def on my bucket list now

Thanks! I'm so glad you are enjoying the pictures.

Yes, people have mentioned that Ben resembles me. Nate looks more like Mark.

I was told yesterday by a friend that she thinks that Mark looks like Anderson Cooper.

Mark also looks like the mayor of our city. Around 6-7 years ago, when our mayor was running for office for the first time, he was out holding a sign on election day. I knew him from a mutual friend, so I went over to say hello. Ben was with me, looked up at him and said "Daddy!"- They have the same build, hair color, etc and he was wearing jeans like Mark always does.

I can see how Ben made the mistake and fortunately, news of the scandal did not hit the presses!

Keep meaning to say (and keep forgetting) that I love the idea of having a notepad and pen in the bag at waterparks for messages My family are very spread out in ages and this definitely provides a solution to the endless "wandering about trying to find the others" we usually endure while trying to reconnect
As always your advice is invaluable-I will def steal this tip
Thanks

Glad I could help. This is one of the more helpful tips I have.

Dee - Hope you survive the birthday. Hoping for excellent weather for you - is is just beautiful here again today.

Have all those boys help with making you breakfast in bed Sunday morning!

I'll just be happy if they stay in bed!

We are going to a lazer tag/Aeroball/simulator place with 10 boys, then heading back to the house for pizza, cake and ice cream and then a few of the boys are sleeping over. Ben is OBSESSED with this birthday and party.

I'll have to post a picture of the cake (first I have to find a blank memory card, filled them all up in the Bahamas ). We got a fairly plain cake and Ben decorated it with jelly rings, candy raspberries and DOTS.

Amazing pictures (as usual!)!!! It really makes me want to go to Atlantis. It just looks like fun. (I do understand that it'll be more fun when my kids can go on all the slides.)

Amanda

PS Good luck with the birthday party and Happy Mother's Day!

You definitely need to get a trip to Atlantis in the line up someday. Boys were 10 and 7 for our first trip, and that was good. They are 13 and 10 this year and it was even better.

Thanks for the good wishes and Happy Mother's Day to you as well!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Happy Mother's Day Dee (same to all you other mums reading along)
Hope Ben and his friends had a blast last night at the party and are all soo exhausted they sleep til noon (or at least past sunrise)
Have a great day

 

[HockeyMomR]

Dee - Happy mother's day. Hope the party went well

 

[natebenma]

 

[natebenma]

Happy Mother's Day Dee (same to all you other mums reading along)
Hope Ben and his friends had a blast last night at the party and are all soo exhausted they sleep til noon (or at least past sunrise)
Have a great day

Dee - Happy mother's day. Hope the party went well

Thanks and Happy Mother's Day to you guys, too!!!

The boys had a great time at Ben's party

We took them to a laser tag place with Aeroball (Basketball on trampolines) and a simulator ride. Then back home for pizza and assorted sugar. It was a beautiful evening, so the boys ran around outside with play guns, swords, bows and arrow, hockey sticks, plastic golf clubs, wiffle bats- the whole arsenal! Came in for some Apples to Apples (really fun family game), Mark and I headed up to bed around 10. Came down at 2:30 to yell at 4 of the 5 boys to get off the Xbox and go to sleep!

All are gone now but one of Ben's friends.

Have a fantastic day, everyone!

Dee

 

[Missyrose]

Oh my gosh, that is one impressive water park! Great descriptions of all the slides and you got great photos of 'em all too! Congrats on trying the Abyss, I draw the line on any ride/slide whose description includes the word plummet. Uh-uh, not gonna happen.

Hope you're having a wonderful Mother's Day and your boys better be spoiling you rotten!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Thanks and Happy Mother's Day to you guys, too!!!

The boys had a great time at Ben's party

We took them to a laser tag place with Aeroball (Basketball on trampolines) and a simulator ride. Then back home for pizza and assorted sugar. It was a beautiful evening, so the boys ran around outside with play guns, swords, bows and arrow, hockey sticks, plastic golf clubs, wiffle bats- the whole arsenal! Came in for some Apples to Apples (really fun family game), Mark and I headed up to bed around 10. Came down at 2:30 to yell at 4 of the 5 boys to get off the Xbox and go to sleep!

All are gone now but one of Ben's friends.

Have a fantastic day, everyone!

Dee

Who planned that party??!!! the night before Mother's day
Glad you survived it. The weather was perfect yesterday and today!! what a great weekend. Basketball on a trampoline- wow that is right up DS10's alley!
He also loves Apples to Apples (we have the Disney version of course!)
Hope you had a great Mother's Day!! It's my anniversary today too- 17 yrs.

Deb

 

[eandesmom]

wow, that place does look supremely cool, although the losing the kids concept does freak me out a little!

Being a family of 5 is a drag for this option for sure!

 

[natebenma]

Oh my gosh, that is one impressive water park! Great descriptions of all the slides and you got great photos of 'em all too! Congrats on trying the Abyss, I draw the line on any ride/slide whose description includes the word plummet. Uh-uh, not gonna happen.

Hope you're having a wonderful Mother's Day and your boys better be spoiling you rotten!

Thanks so much! More to come- I think I still have two more waterpark posts before I head over to the aquarium parts of Atlantis.

Had a nice Mother's Day- thanks. I'll put up a quick post about that.

Who planned that party??!!! the night before Mother's day
Glad you survived it. The weather was perfect yesterday and today!! what a great weekend. Basketball on a trampoline- wow that is right up DS10's alley!
He also loves Apples to Apples (we have the Disney version of course!)
Hope you had a great Mother's Day!! It's my anniversary today too- 17 yrs.

Deb

Happy Anniversary!

You know, I actually talked Ben into changing the party from Friday into Saturday to Saturday into Sunday. I said it would be easier to get the kids to the house on a weekend than on a school day. Also, kids who have sports on Saturday wouldn't have to rush off Sunday morning. Plus, Daddy could come on a weekend.

Someone should have looked at a calendar before making such a strong case!

I figured a few of the kids would have to bow out of the sleepover because it was Mother's Day. But none of the other mothers seemed to mind that their sons would be waking up at another house on Mother's Day- shocker!

wow, that place does look supremely cool, although the losing the kids concept does freak me out a little!

Being a family of 5 is a drag for this option for sure!

to my advertisement- I mean trip report- for Atlantis!

In my defense, I didn't just lose a child on the previous trip. It was both a husband and a child.

 

[natebenma]

As most of you know, due to a scheduling snafu, we planned a birthday party/sleepover for Ben's 11th birthday that carried over into Mother's Day.

Except for the fact that the boys were up WAY TOO LATE and none of the families seemed all that rushed about picking up their sons (I dropped the last boy off around noon), I had a great day!

Ben had a fantastic birthday. He has declared it the best weekend ever.

He majorly scored on a birthday present. He got the Lego Star Wars Death Star.

3,803 pieces.

He has been saving up for this for almost a year, and it was really the only thing he wanted. Kind of. He has such a super year. Mom and Dad caved and got it for him.

Anyway, the boys got me chocolates and headphones for Mother's Day. I told Mark I needed the headphones then I forgot that I asked. Glad he listens.

Usually we visit with my mother-in-law and Mark's grandmother on Mother's Day, but they went someplace to play BINGO, so I had the day to stay close to home!

I decided we would go to a local park that I love- it was a former estate but is now a state park- 440 acres of walking trails in fields, the woods, near a river. Surprisingly, the boys were okay with this choice. I was going to give Nate a pass, but he said he would go. If he could bring his phone. Which he did. But got no reception!

Then we stopped at the grocery store to pick up lobsters. We purchased the last ones in the tank!

I love New England!

Here's some pictures from the park:

Ladyslippers, my favorite wildflower:

Pet Semetary

I may be 11, but I'm not too old to climb a tree or ruin my mom's photo!

 

[Missyrose]

What a lovely Mother's Day! It must have been nice to take that peaceful stroll after a night with a houseful of 11-year-old boys. I just told Franklin what Ben got for his birthday and I must report that the 30-year-old is now super envious of the 11-year-old.

Okay back to work. Breaking news dictates that I have to actually do work at work, isn't that annoying?