Ahhhh... Cottage Time!!

I know we are just at the end of a acho free year... But it's always nice to officially welcome Cottage Season...

Fun in the water.... Long days on the dock.... Great riding.... And good sleep in the Muskoka Air...

It's in our Blood...

You know it's summer when the bikes come out, the tan lines appear and many hours are spent travelling to races / training... and this year is no exception.  The start of the year for the Family Team has been a good one... we had some great sessions up at Hardwood Ski and Bike with Luke's Team Hardwood Trek crew... he gets an hour of coaching before the weekly race.... and Jake has been coming to most of them to work on his skills, race strategy and endurance.  

After a good winter of training (with the exception of family Trips...) my season has started off well... and pretty much where it finished.  I'm battling it out at the front of my group... consistently turning faster times that the 30-39 aged group and many of the Elite racers.... and am building nicely towards Nationals in July.

Luke's focus this year with THT is to push a slightly bigger gear and improve his starts... he always has the ambition to be on the front line but needs to battle his way through the first 5min to keep a good position.  He is in the younger side of the 2 year age group and has some tough competition... but it's amazing to see how much skill these kids can have when you just let them ride their bikes...

Jake is racing for his first season this year and is really enjoying it.  He has a good competitive streak in his which helps him chase people down... and has also been working on skills and fitness at Hardwood on Wednesdays... and we are starting to have conversations about race strategy and tactics (ie. he doesn't like riding behind the slower rides in the singletrack... which means he has to start harder to get ahead of them before the singletrack)....

We have also convinced Sue to come out to the odd Hardwood Weekly and ride the trails with us... she is doing quite well with her log-overs and singletrack..... but still prefers the Cheering Section on race days!!!

The end of an era...

With sadness in our hearts we say goodbye to our beloved Hot Tub... Many laughs were had, much hair was frozen, numerous Polar Bear contests were enjoyed... But it's time to move on. 

With the helo of many strong backs and a dismantles fence... the Tub will be enjoyed by a good friend while we make room for patio furniture and endless hours of Pool Fun!!!

Let the summer begin!!!

Yes... Disney owns their own Island!!

The final stop on the Disney cruise was a Play Day on Disney's Castaway Cay... yes they own their own island!!!  It actually used to be a drug running island... but we prefer it this way!!  It was a beautiful day and thanks to the warning of the Crew NOT to bring fruit / snacks from the boat onto the island... apparently it's a $10,000 fine for importing fruits and food!!

Luke was being hopeful that the chest held enough cash that we could extend our trip!!!

We rented bikes and went for a tour of the island... having races on the airplane runway (yes we are competetive...) also good to move the legs again...

Tried my best to bunny hop... and make that cruiser go faster than it's ever gone before!!

Apparently the new 2014 Schwinn's come with a drink holder... nice....

To cool off, we grabbed some snorkeling gear and went for a nice long swim in the ocean.  The water was perfectly clear and warm.. although snorkels and masks are never a good look!!

Got a chance to see some cool local marine life, chased this sting ray around for a while and was impressed with how many fish were in the lagoon, and how close they came to us.

The ultimate underwater treasure.... a golden statue of Mickey Mouse.... How completely Disney!!

"Winter's a good time to stay inside and cuddle

But put me in the summer and I'll be a - Happy Snowman!!"

Thanks for singing with us Olaf... See you soon!!

Atlantis... no longer the Lost City!!

The first stop on our Disney Cruise was the Lost City of Atlantis.... nestled in the Bahamian island of Nassau.  And what a treat it was!!  This is often the destination for High Rollers and vacationers, and it's easy to see why.  Amazing water, a spectacular water park, a pretty impressive hotel and beautiful weather.... add it to the List of "I Don't Want To Leave!!"

Our Guide told us that the room that connects to 2 large sections of the hotel is over 3,000 sq feet and can be your for $25,000 per night... with a 2 night minimum.... Beiber, Jordan and Kobe have all stayed there.... a bit out of our league!!!

The water park was huge and had tons of really cool rides, including this one that was a Race Ride with timed runs and everything.... and it's view over the ocean was pretty cool too...

Hands up, baby Hands up.... Give me your heart, give me give me your heart...

The longest and least "lazy" Lazy River around.... cool rapids, about 20min to get around and a good tour of the park.... also a great way to get from one ride to another...

More Boy Shinanigans and Marco Polo in the pool...

we started our fun with the Leap of Faith... a high speed drop that takes you through the Shark Tank!!!!  Hold your breath and close your eyes!!!

A bit more Lazy River Therapy after all the screaming!!

Of course we were running late for the shuttle to get back to the boat... and had to make our way through the maze of aquariums and pools (like THAT was easy!!!)... very cool and we got really close to this sea turtle who just wanted to play....

another good Disney Day... smiles all around!!!

How does this thing Float??

So if everything in the Disney Parks was jacked up on Disney Steroids... how would a cruise on the Disney Magic be??  Even better!!!  after too many days of squeezing everything into our Park visits, it was time to relax for a while on the Magic... and it was the highlight of the trip for so many reasons!!  Being our first Cruise... it's amazing to see the size of these boats.... and how much fun they can squeeze onto them!!!  5 different restaurants, 2 full sized theatres with Broadway style performances every night, a basketball court, 3 pools, waterslides, an arcade, a small casino and 3 Clubs.... there was everthing you could ask for...
Oh and did i mention.... more food than you can "Dream" about!!!!

A Spectacular Boat that was our home for 4 days... amazing views, amazing hospitality, too much food, too much to do and we barely noticed the movement in the 20ft swells on the last night...

just a sample of the Entertainment Deck.... Fun-a-palooza!!!

Disney starts the cruise with a Character Dance Party.... great music, tons of Entertainment Staff, the fresh air, Florida disappearing in the distance.... "Keep Sailing... I don't want to go home!!"

There was also different character "Parties" each evening for the kids.... a great chance to see / meet all the characters and have some fun with them.... we walked Right Past the Princess Banquet!!!

My 2nd favorite Red Head...

Our Nightly Routine of "We've eaten too much - we need some fresh air and moderate activity..."

Our Cabin Cleaner started making us Towel Animals.... and when we told him how impressed we were, he continued to step it up a notch!!!  Snake to Elephant to Cool Monkey...

One of our fantastic Servers who not only kept up happy and fed, but entertained the kids with magic, oragami, trivia, math challenges and fun stories.... their personalities rivalled the taste of the food...

the Aqua-Dunk waterslide.... stand in a "coffin" style tube, listen to the countdown and then the floors drops out, sending you down into the darkness that hangs Over the side of the boat.... Mommy screamed again!!

Sad to have to leave but all good things must come to an end... but another Disney Cruise is definately on our Future List!!!

Disney's Typhoon Lagoon

so the weather finally warmed up in Florida... and just in time!!  We have been holding off on enjoying the water park attraction because of the weather, and the last day before taking off on our Disney Cruise, the sun finally warmed to a pleasant 22 degrees.  Not quite Florida weather (the locals still had pants and coats on) but we had a great day at the Park!!!

yay sunshine!!!  Let's have some fun!!!

a long, fast tube ride that made mommy scream so loud that the attendant laughed out loud!!!

snorkels always make you look more attractive!!!!

a neat attraction where you get to snorkel in a huge tank that has many fish... and cool Sharks!!!!

the wave pool was amazing!!!!  every minute a MASSIVE wave comes rolling down the length of the pool... crashes you into the bottom and then creates an undertow that pulls you back for more... 

OK.. seriously... the wave is like 20ft high!!!!  take a big breath before being tossed around like cast off Band-Aid.... 

the Tube Rides were amazing too.... they have water jets that actually push you back UPHILL so you can ride even further...

Family Tube ride was tons of fun too.... although it was like Russian Roulette for who got soaked under the big waterfall!!!

Another (final) great day in the World of Disney.... before packing up the room and preparing the Cast Off on the Disney Magic.... more pictures / updates of that to follow!!!