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Although she doesn’t like to concede it, Emily has turned another year older. This is where she and I differ; I’m perpetually telling people I’m older than I really am, and she is telling them that she is younger than she is! j/k
Each year for her birthday I make her a ice-cream cake, but this year is a little different. We haven’t had a break from school where we’ve left the campus for over a year, and we needed to get away. Originally I had planned for Emily’s family to drive down to Orlando and we’d all go to Disney (one of Emily’s favorite places in the whole world). The bonus of this as a birthday present is that Micah is old enough now to really enjoy the Disney experience, and if his little cousins could come too, then we’d have a bundle of fun – a “fundle!”
But the plans didn’t come together, and to keep the dream a live I remembered that we live in the Bahamas and they have “getaway resorts” right here. So, by saving a little money, we spent Emily’s birthday present in Nassau at Atlantis in Paradise Island.
It was awesome! We didn’t have any students knocking on our door every 45 minutes, we didn’t have any classes to teach, or disciplinary measure to take (except for Micah), we had rest. And Emily LOVED it. Atlantis is one of her all time favorite places in the whole world.
It was so much fun with Micah. He was big enough to ride on some of the rides, and his favorite was also my favorite: the adventure river with its rapids, currents, and wave canal. He and I rode in the same double water donut and we had a great time splashing and rocking down the river. We had to wait for Mommy to catch up occasionally, and so we affectionately called her a turtle… she didn’t like that. Then Micah found the kids section with all the water toys and small rides… that was the only place he wanted to play after that.
Emily’s birthday present was a surprise swim with the dolphins. I think its was her top item on her bucket list. She did great with the sea mammal, scratching its belly and petting its skin, the dolphin and her were flirting the whole time. Even after the instructor was finished showing them what to do, one of the baby dolphins kept on going over by her and I’m pretty sure she stopped listening to the instructor and was just playing with her new best friend.
Our trip to Atlantis was so wonderful; just long enough that I was ready to start back up at school, and just short enough that we didn’t want to leave. We are most thankful to God that He has afforded us the chance to get away for a weekend, and I am thankful for another wonderful year with my sweet wife. Perhaps the best present Emily could receive was Micah praying to receive Christ into his heart at the end of the trip. It was a sweet moment and a trip that we will never forget!