Legs, Chunder & Challenges - October 2014 - Day 15 - A Day at Bahama Bay - ''A Secret M&M Party''

[miss_mouse]

Trip Report Index

Friday 24th October 2014
A Day at Bahama Bay ….Lots of Nature & a Trip to Target

Day – 15 – A Secret M&M Party!

Just to start, I'm Lisa - the planner and reporter. Ade is my hubby and he's our driver and
there's Hollie who is 15 and Louis is 12. This is our 4th family trip.


After a late and rather stressful evening, Louis was awake at 6.30am feeling sick again.
At least we’d all had a nights sleep. It could have been so much worse. Thankfully he was fine and just feeling icky and we all went back to sleep.

We woke at 8.30am. It was so sunny and bright.

We had breakie in the lounge this morning.



My favourite villa breakie is bagels topped with cream cheese and tomatoes…..Ade goes for cereals of the florescent variety.

Louis woke feeling much better asking what we were up to today.
We’d always planned a quieter day today knowing that the previous day was a late one.
So it was shopping, Celebration and pool time.

Louis joined us in the lounge.



We flicked through the TV. So much trash! ‘Knitting Daily’ anyone?
We settled on 'The Middle'. Can’t go wrong with the Heck family.

We’d put Louis’ and my shoes in the washing machine after Louis soaked them last night with red vom.
We heard so much banging coming from the laundry room. When we went to investigate the Washing machine had jumped all the way to the door! Whoops!

We let Louis watch his TV now and we sat on the balcony with tea and the shoes.



They were Louis’ new Vans that he’d bought with his own money the week before.
First a soaking on the water rides at Universal and now being puked on and going through the washing machine…
How much more could these new shoes take?
Not too much it seemed as the rubber was starting to peel away from the fabric.
Thankfully Ade’s Dad has a glue for every occasion and fixed them so they looked new when we got home.

We tried to get water and toast in to Louis knowing that it was about building him back up again today.
There was nothing wrong with him. No bug or anything, but he can be a bit of a drama queen and very stubborn at times.
He didn’t want to leave the sofa though. We put the shopping trip off for a bit hoping that he would perk up soon.

11am and Hollie was up and studying.
Louis asked for more toast.

I started on some of the packing.
We still had a few more days but I like keeping on top of it.
The previous trip we ended up wasting the whole evening before we left packing. I was determined to not let that happen this time and packed as we went.



I love having the spare room for this.
It’s nice not having to look at the bags, but equally packing as we go and having a room for all the shopping.

Ade and I were getting cabin fever already and decided to stroll over to the Clubhouse to print off our Airboat Tickets
that we had booked for tomorrow. We only booked them a few days ago whilst we were here. Plus we still needed
to post our postcards. Every trip I end up bringing them home. I was determined to actually post them this trip.

So we left the kids in the condo with ‘Whatsapp’ to contact us if need be.
Hollie studying and Louis on the sofa in front of the TV.



Ade was briefly reunited with his beloved Tahoe.



We walked off at midday. Love this place.

We walked via the large pond looking out for wildlife.









I happened to look back at one point and spotted this huge hawk on top of the lamp that we’d just walked by.



We were so pleased to have noticed it. So beautiful.




Eyeing us up!



Until he/she flew off.



We carried on to the clubhouse, handed in the post cards. Yay! Mission accomplished!
Printed off the tickets.



This little area was really handy in the reception. I’d never noticed it before. Everything there for you to use and no charge.

Kids were fine when we got back.
We had more tea and some lunch with Hollie on the balcony realising that were weren’t shopping today.
Louis didn’t even want to go down to the pool. Didn’t even want to get off the sofa.
I was force feeding him water at this point.
Hollie was feeling frustrated as she’d had her heart set on shopping, but was actually getting a lot of GCSE work done today. She did all her R.S, Spanish and some more art.
Studying away from school is so much easier now as everything is online. All maths for example is done online.
So she found it really easy to keep on top of everything.

I caught up with my work emails.
Louis started fancying salsa…..we had none!

Ade and I wanted to get out again in the sun, so at 2.30pm decided to wander around the pond behind our condo. Neither of the kids wanted to join us again.
We got outside and spotted a baby racoon in the tree next to out condo.



So cute!



We whatsapped the kids to come and see.

They came down, but Louis was shaking and saying he felt sick and needed to get back on the sofa.
I took him back in and settled him again.
I had a talk with him explaining that there wasn’t anything wrong with him. He was now feeling sick & weak as he’d emptied the contents of yesterday’s food and had hardly eaten anything bar nibbling on a couple of pieces of toast today and wasn’t drinking enough. And until he started eating and drinking again he was only going to be feeling worse.

He was happy watching TV again and Hollie was doing school work again. I went back to Ade for our little walk.

We watched the racoon for a while. It was just the sweetest little thing.
It went down the tree and then back up.
We kept our distance so not to scare it and just zoomed up on our cameras. (Plus we know that despite looking cute and cuddly they can be rather vicious )





We’ve seen them before here and I know that they try to keep them out of the resort. They like to go through the bins.

Baby ended off wandering off into the bushes.



That made our day!

We spotted more turtles in the pond.



It was feeling a little cooler today and was really needed. For us mid 20's is the perfect temperature.
So far the October trip had been so so much hotter than that of previous October trip.
The humidity was much better today too.





It was nice getting out of the condo….



And then I spotted this….





We were so pleased.



Swimming was the furthest thing from our minds at that point!
Look at that tail!



It was happy just laid there.
We did discuss though as we were just a few feet away, wondering how fast it could chase us if it wanted to.
We know that they would usually only attack if they felt threatened.
We did ask when on the airboat trip a couple of days later and found out that they are happier in water than on ground. And their mobility isn’t great on ground. So if you are being chased to run in zig zags, as they would struggle with this. Always good to know!

We came back up to the kids.
We made the decision to cancel our airboat trip for the following day in case Louis still wasn’t 100%.
We didn’t want to risk it. We’d booked with Wild Willy’s.
The lady was so helpful on the phone and booked us in for the day after for the first trip of the day.
We needed to go back to the clubhouse to reprint the tickets.
Louis was also asking for us to rent a movie, so we thought we’d pick one up for him at the same time.
Movie rentals are also included at Bahama Bay, no charge.

4.30pm and we were out walking again.



We spotted this turtle happily sunbathing.

And lots more activity going on.



Think these guys were having a little party.
We were feeling very lucky with all the nature spottings today, just disappointed that the kids had missed out.

We printed off the tickets and rented ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’.



Upstairs in the clubhouse.

When we were choosing our movie from the machine, someone else was using the other machine. Another couple came over and asked the guy if he was... (didn’t catch the name). He was indeed this mystery person.
The couple seemed really pleased. They were all English and he mystery person had a Northern accent.
The husband from the couple laughed saying how he was only watching him on the TV the night before.
We had absolutely no idea who this guy was. Probably 40's, normal build, short dark hair. They chatted for a while, photos got taken and that was that.
I spent a while googling when we got back to the condo, but no joy.
So our mystery famous person will forever remain a mystery.

We headed back to the kids via the non pond route.



It was now 5pm and we’d felt a little sad that today had been a ‘nothing’ day.

We then spotted this little beauty.



I was really pleased after never having seen a red cardinal before. So red!

We stopped off at Tradewinds. The restaurant next to our condo to collect a take a way menu.



This is the outside part that looks out over the pool.



And walked back to the condo via the pond.



And spotted wild turkeys.



These always make me laugh. I could never imagine opening the curtains and seeing a load of turkeys outside.



Enough was enough now.
Louis was still on the sofa and Hollie having been very patient all day was wanting to get out.
Louis was still wanting salsa and the crisps that they’d seen on TV to scoop the salsa out.
So we sat down giving Louis a serious pep talk about pulling himself together.

We decided a little trip to Target would cheer everyone up. It was only 10 mins away.
Louis didn’t want to go….but went.
I wasn’t about to leave him alone and wanted him to get some fresh air and change of scenery.

It was 24c this evening and felt chilly to us and we had to take cardigans. So funny.
We’d obviously gotten use to the high temperatures. At home that would feel so hot to us.
We spotted more racoons on the drive to Target on the side of the road. (Alive not squashed).

I grabbed some more Migraine tablets at Target.
We were all shopping together and Louis suddenly felt sick.
I knew it was just because he hadn’t eaten. I sat down with him by the pharmacy whilst the other 2 shopped.

Hollie came back on her own with huge smiles.



The kids had been wanting to find white chocolate M&Ms.
They’d spotted these Halloween bags but didn’t know if they were white chocolate or not.
She’d asked a member of staff so he just opened a bag and said ‘let’s find out’.
So they stood and ate M&Ms together.
Another staff member came over and the guy told him that they were having an M&M party, so he joined them too.
So Hollie was having a little secret M&M party in Target. Made her day!
They were indeed white chocolate, so she bought plenty.

Louis suddenly perked up and we carried on shopping.
We picked up Neosporin for my bites, airplanes for Hollie’s ears (so much cheaper than at home).
More M&Ms, a Green Lantern T Shirt (£12.99) for Ade. The T Shirts are pretty good at Target.
Mini Lego Kits for $3.99, we grabbed some Christmas prezzies for Hollie without her seeing. A Grinch flask (She’s Grinch crazy). And we stocked up on Beef Jerky to take home.
Plus Louis’ salsa and crisps that he’s been craving.
Louis was feeling much better and starting to get cheeky again….always a good sign! This trip did the trick.



We didn’t buy this top but I think Ade would have had he have had his way!

We drove home at 7pm.
I ordered take out from Tradewinds from our condo.
We ordered 3 x Buffalo wings and fries to share ($33.71) as we’d also picked up picky bits in Target.

Hollie and I went to collect it.





Lovely Halloween décor.

We were looking forward to this. A bit of a carpet picnic and we put on our movie, ‘Walter Mitty’.
The food was however really disappointing.



3 of those for $33 plus tip had automatically been added when I checked the receipt …..I’m fine with tipping in the US…
but it was take out and we collected. What’s there to tip?

It didn’t feel like proper chicken and beneath the breadcrumb bits was a really spicy sauce.
I like spice, but with flavour. This was just hot, no flavour.
These were not the buffalo wings that we were expecting at all.
When I read the menu again it said they were boneless... but even still, these were awful.

We all loved the movie. Nice to see Ben Stiller playing a different kind of role for a change.
Louis had eaten and was seeming to be much better thankfully.

The kids were in bed at 10pm.
We watched TV in bed with tea until after midnight. ‘Yes Man’ & ‘Modern Family’.

Last wildlife spotting of the day.



Attached to the outside of the spare room window.

It had been a really odd day.
Looking back it was good to have a complete down day and Hollie really did have a full day of uninterrupted study and got loads done.

We just get a little frustrated with Louis as he never helps himself and is a drama queen. As Hollie had told him, if it had been anyone else in the family, they would have pulled themselves together and got on with it.
But it is what it is.
We did spot some wicked wildlife that we would have otherwise have missed……
and not to forget Hollie’s secret M&M party!

Tomorrow we are back to normal…..shopping and Celebration, here we come ……

Thank you so much for reading.
We hope you've had a lovely Christmas and we wish you a very happy and healthy 2016 xxx

[dixonsontour]

Shame your DS was still poorly but a nice chilled day and lots of wildlife seen.

[Cinderella]

Love the M & Mm party!

[twinkleshmoo]

Hi Lisa, a very chilled day but a shame Louis didn't feel better able to crack on with the day. Your breakfast looked lovely, just what I would go for and like yours the rest of my fam just love cereal that looks like it's radioactive!

Great wildlife spotting, that little raccoon was just so cute! Xx

[Redrach1903]

Amazing wildlife spots! Bahama Bay looks amazing! Your photos have made me very excited!

LOVE the M&M party! That would never happen at home!

Xx

[Fuellady]

Sometimes a chilled day is needed to recharge, hopefully that's the case and Louis is totally well for the next day. It is annoying when one person just can't seem to get going... I have one like that as well

Great wildlife spots though. The alligator is a bit close for my liking, I think I would have been zig zagging away at speed The red bird and the hawk are lovely.

That's so sweet that the Target staff had an M & M party with Hollie... great customer service

[BahamaBayLisa]

What an absolutely brilliant write up! I'm sorry your son was poorly and you weren't able to get out and about shopping, but isn't that the lovely thing about Bahama Bay that you can explore the fantastic grounds and relax in ways you don't often think of!

I would love to know who your Mystery Man hiring the DVD was!

Thank you for brightening the start of my day. Look forward to reading more.

[Pumba75]

We are really enjoying your trip report. Brilliant photos.
Thanks for sharing.

[mick]

A nice relaxing day, hope Louis is feeling fitter tomorrow

Joan

[collybird]

Poor Louis!

Hollie is really disciplined, I don't think I could be so dedicated to studying whilst on holiday.