One of the reasons Serena Williams decided to take some time away from tennis was to focus on motherhood and expanding her family. The tennis icon is staying true to her word and has just kickstarted a world tour with her eldest daughter, Olympia, 7, and youngest, Adira, 1.
Williams, 43, announced the beginning of her mother-daughter travels with her Instagram followers and shared some snaps from their adventures.
“A year ago I told @olympiaohanian that we would start an epic girls trip that would include the 7 wonders of the world, and there are alot of them!” the caption began. “Natural wonders. Man made wonders. Ancient wonders. So we are going to do them all. We started with #NiagaraFalls … where to next?”
The Seven Wonders of the World include the Great Wall of China, Petra, Christ the Redeemer, Machu Picchu, Chichén Itzá, Colosseum, and Taj Mahal. Niagara Falls is considered one of the Seven Wonders of North America.
In the footage shared, the mom and former athlete posed with her girls in front of the stunning Niagara Falls. Olympia, whom many of us remember being a baby in diapers, is almost at her mom’s shoulder. The trio even went aboard Niagara City Cruises, where they sighted a rainbow in front of the waterfalls.
In a follow-up post a couple of days later, Serena posted more images from their getaway with the caption, “What can I say, still chasing waterfalls… 🤷🏾♀️.” Williams made the brave choice to depart from one of her greatest loves, tennis, in 2022 after much contemplation.
“Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair,” she wrote in an essay for Vogue at the time. “If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family.”
Although it was a tough decision, the tennis pro is happy in this chapter of her life where she focuses on entrepreneurship, wellness, and motherhood. Williams’ longtime husband, Alexis Ohanian, sang his wife’s praises, emphasizing how great of a mother she is during an appearance on the Today show in July.
“I think one of the things that’s really so commendable is — y’all don’t get to see — as amazing as she is as an athlete, you know, greatest of all time, she’s an even greater mom to our daughters Olympia and Adira,” he said.
He continued: “She’s an amazing mother on top of an amazing business woman and sports icon,” he noted. “And that’s something that I think few people understand. She’s reached the top of the mountain top, the highest of heights, things that most of us, I think on any other day would trade so much for. And yet, after being up there, the thing that gives her so much joy is the simple things, you know, family, that I think every one of us has an option, an opportunity. So don’t squander that.”
We’ll be keeping an eye out to see where the four-time Olympic gold medalist takes the girls to next!