Before my husband and I went to bed we made sure that all of the black out curtains were completely closed in both suites so that no one would get up to start our day at the crack of sunlight. We wanted everyone to start the next day rested.
The girls room woke just after 7 a.m. when we thought we heard noise from the boys getting up in the room next door. The boys were already out on the balcony and ready to start the day.
I had planned breakfast for in the room. The kids knew the routine and they worked together to get the two coffee table together to create one table that they could all sit around as cousins. Since we had pizza in the boys room it was the girls turn to host breakfast in their suite.
Everyone had a bowl of cereal and some juice. I had also picked up a favorite treat of chocolate long johns to have after they had finished their cereal.
After breakfast it was time to get back into our swimming suits for the 8 a.m. opening of the pools! The kids new the routine to the pool by now and everyone got wiped down in sun screen, tubes were gathered, flip flops were put on, and we were on our way.
My two youngest back to schoolers stopped to check out one of the pools we had not been to yet. "It has an island grandma!"
We continued to get the looks as Papa and I herded our sweet and very happy grands throughout the resort.
GRRR. The gift shop again. One grandson really wanted a wind up shark toy but I could not start the gift buying at an overpriced gift shop with having six to buy for.
We picked up towels 17-24 during this trip to the pool.
The grounds were absolutely beautiful and the amenities were all very nice. As a grandma I appreciated the bathrooms and drinking fountains that were provided very close to all of the pools.
We went to check out the new pool that the little ones had spotted on our walk down. We spent a couple of hours playing there between the hot tub, diving for a dime, more bumper boat playing, and rides on Papa's back.
There was no chance of this one drowning! I think he was just being very efficient in helping to carry our flotation toys to the pool.
Papa and I would frequently glance at one another and just smile. We felt so lucky to be sharing such quality time with our grandchildren. We were not on the pools edges watching them have fun we were in the pool having fun too! Priceless!!!!!
This was a very lucky find. It was one of the sharks that he had spotted, looked at, touched, wound up, yearned for, and accepted an "I'm sorry this time" from grandma in the over priced gift shop every single time we walked through it.
I spotted the abandoned shark sitting on a ledge of one of the waterfalls and I gave it to him to play with in the pool. I did ask the workers at the pool if anyone had reported it lost. She said no and not to worry about it. He got his shark!
The dime we were diving for was also found on the bottom of the pool. It was a pretty lucky day and there was something else really special planned by the resort for the kids very soon.
Mr. efficiency again. We were moving to another pool so we would be closer to our next pool side activity.
There was a visit from the Worldlife Zoo scheduled near the pool at 10:00 am. Just before it was time for the zoo workshop we all jumped out of the pool, grabbed our towels, and we got the kids some front row seats.
The kids loved the pool side presentation. They participated well and they surprised Papa and I with their knowledge of many of the animals.
Following the presentation we headed back to our room for a snack and for another one of our back to school party traditions. Papa and I had requested a later check out time so that we could squeeze in another hour of play time with our grands. Papa and I were both feeling a little sad that our special outing was nearing it's end.
To be continued... Follow this link to part 4.
You need to catch the next posting to learn what my embarrassing moment (or minutes) were with the water slide!
That was some lovely landscaping. I enjoyed reading about your adventure. I've never done this with all of my grands, but maybe I should give it a shot!
ReplyDeleteThis was our first time doing this with the grands with "no parents allowed". The kids parents were a bit nervous for us but it really was so much fun from start to finish.
ReplyDeleteI had taken back to school games and activities to do in our down time but between the pools, the water slide, and the activities provided by the resort the kids were happy and entertained the entire time.
I will definitely be doing this again. We can get great resort room rates in AZ in the summer. I had taken our own snacks, drinks, and breakfast to keep the cost down too.