Atlantis, day 2

We woke up to a gorgeous morning and walked the outer perimeter of the resort property toward a buffet breakfast at Mosaic, in the Cove hotel - the sun and sea were gorgeous and it was already quite hot and humid. The spread at Mosaic was breathtaking and both kids (and we!) were overwhelmed by our choices. The landscaping outside the cove was lovely, with lily pads, koi fish, and Asian-style landscape design.

 One of our big family splurges was a meet-the-dolphins opportunity. The resort has over 40 dolphins in an enclosed cay, many of which came to them after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their sanctuary. We were able to get into the water for 45 minutes with a sweet 5-year old dolphin named Nahama, touch her as she swam by, appreciate her tricks of jumping and clapping, and ask questions of the trainer. It was so cool, something Steve had dreamed about doing as a child and finally got to do.

And then we were off to our first waterpark feature, a tube ride down a river with waves and rapids. It was surprisingly long, probably 20 minutes from start to finish, and alternated between slow drifting and crazy spinning rapids.

I went first with Seb and Liesl, and then Steve went off with the two of them.

Unfortunately, sadly, Sebastian suffered an accident in the river. A wave flipped his tube and then a much heavier person floated on top of him, pushing him to the bottom of the river and causing his back to get terribly scraped up. It's lucky he wasn't hurt worse, but it did keep him out of the water for the next two days, which was really sad. The photo below was taken back in our hotel room, where Steve and Seb retreated after the incident.

Meanwhile, Liesl and I made our way back across the property, stopping for photos and to take a dip in any pool that looked inviting. We were on the hunt for the family, particularly cousin Hana. Over the course of a single family dinner, Hana and Liesl met and bonded and were then inseparable all week long. Like Liesl, Hana was a happy fish in the water, and they spent hours playing games together in the various pools.

Found them! At the River Pool outside the Beach hotel. Liesl got into the pool with Mary and Joe and their boys (Rylan, 5, and Joseph, 6), Tom and cousin Rio (14!), and Trish, Jeff, Hana (8), and Jake (6). Sebastian read his book by the side of the pool for a good bit, and then Steve and I took him to play games in the arcade. It helped take his mind off the stinging of his back scrapes and the sadness of feeling left out and bored.

And then we went back outside to check on Liesl and to go take our first dip into the warm blue ocean. Amazing.

Dinner was a ridiculously over the top and raucous affair at Virgil's, a BBQ joint. We took a few casual family photos out on the deck and really enjoyed our waiter, the ambience, and the food. There was so much meat we had leftovers all week. The desserts were immense.