Lions and Tigers and Dolphins...Oh My!

On Wednesday, the kids and I enjoyed another morning and afternoon at the hotel.  We watched cartoons, took naps, and went swimming again.  Good times!  But really what we were doing was passing the time until Daddy came home and we could embark on our next adventure.

As soon as Danny walked in, and I literally mean "as soon as", we were ready to head back out on the strip for another marathon walk to our next destination.  This time we were headed to the Mirage to check out The Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat.  Once again, we left ourselves barely enough time to get there before they closed for the day.  But thanks to some serious power-walking, we made it with about 8 minutes to spare.  Phew!

Ok, let me just say that this outing alone did a great deal to redeem Vegas as a whole.  It. Was. Incredible!  We came to the dolphin pools first.  I've never seen a live dolphin before, and Danny had only had a glimpse of one in the wild before.  So it wasn't only the girls that were excited this time!

  Johnny, in his stroller as usual, slept through this part...

I think I can say, hands down, that dolphins are the coolest animals I've ever seen!  The habitat consists of four research pools that the dolphins just swim in.  There are no shows.  But you can literally sit at the pool's edge, and when the dolphins swim to that edge, you're only about 3 feet away from them.  It was amazing how social they were, and there is a very strong impulse to dive in and swim with them!  We restrained ourselves.  Barely.  But I think we have a new goal to get on a future list!

We seriously could have stayed with the dolphins for the rest of the time we were there, but we had less than an hour before they closed for the night.  We had heard that the Secret Garden was pretty cool, so we headed that way next.

It was so cool!  They had 5 or 6 white tigers, and these animals were simply breathtaking.  And again, we were only about 3 feet from the fencing, and these tigers were feeling social.  Beyond awesome.

We couldn't believe how big this guy was!  Tigers are always cool to see, but this particular white tiger was just gorgeous.   And, in my opinion, unusually playful...you know, for a tiger.

We also saw a black panther, at which Claire immediately exclaimed, "Bagheera!"  This guy did look a lot like the beloved Disney character.

And then more white tigers!  Apparently, these were of different species of tiger.  They looked a lot like the other ones to me!  You can see one playing in the waterfall behind the girls and me.

A white tiger, sleeping in a tree.  So cool!

And the white lion was just...I don't know!  Incredible!  I've never seen a white lion, and we were so close to him.  He kept pacing the fence, and he would roar at me any time I stuck my camera close to the fence.  Even though he was on the other side of that fence, his growl made me nervous!

 What a handsome fella!  We also saw a cheetah...but she was sleeping.

The girls were just loving all these big cats!  Claire is at the age where she can really appreciate what she's seeing.  I can't believe our baby is almost four!

We had about a half hour before the habitat and garden closed for the day, so we decided to go spend some more time with the dolphins.  And I wanted to make sure we had enough time to hit the gift shop for some sort of souvenir.  So off we went!

On a side note, I just love Danny!  I love watching him with our kids.  I love that he not only wanted to take us along with him for this business trip, but instead of relaxing after a long day at work, he took us out on adventures almost every night.  I could search the whole world over, twice, and never find a man like him.  He's awesome!

Ok, so back to the dolphins! :)

We came back during feeding time, which was totally fun to watch.  It also made the dolphins particularly giddy.  Can't say I blame them...I get giddy at dinnertime, too! :)

Johnny woke up just before we left the Secret Garden.  I was glad, because I thought he might get a kick out of the dolphins.  I was right!

There was one place left that we hadn't been too yet, and that was the underground observation area.  It was really neat to be able to watch the dolphins swim.  Like I said, Johnny got a kick out of his water mammal friends. :)

Between our experience at the aquarium the night before, and here at the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, I learned something about Claire.  She really loves to find the pictures of the animals we're seeing.  She carried around her information booklet while we were looking at the animals, and then snagged a picture of a dolphin at the gift shop for her souvenir.  Just like with the lionfish at the aquarium, she wanted the dolphin to see its picture.  She cracks me up!

And with that, it was time to head home.  We still had an adventure ahead of us just getting back to the hotel! Not to mention we still had another day of vacation before we had to go home.  But even with the promise of more fun on the horizon, it was still hard to leave this awesome place.

Sophie wanted to stay forever. :)

#13-Go To An Aquarium

Check.

After dinner, we headed down the strip towards the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay, to complete another of our 30 Before 30 goals.  Really, we raced down the strip!  As one usually does, we underestimated the actual distance we would have to walk to get there, and the time it would take.  I mean, we could see Mandalay Bay out our hotel window, and it was just down the block, right?  WRONG!  It took us at least 45 minutes to walk there.  And we were racing to get there before they quit admitting patrons.  But we made it, panting and sweaty, with about 3 1/2 minutes to spare.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a golden crocodile and a big komodo dragon.  This didn't do much to get the girls enthusiastic!  They were a little nervous until we came to the big tanks full of tropical fish and little reef sharks.  Then they started to get into the spirit of things.

Once again, Johnny mastered the art of just taking it all in, from the relative comfort of the stroller.

After we checked out a lot of the tropical and weird fish, and saw a snake or two, we came to the sting ray pool.  Danny and I tried to get the girls to pet them, but Claire wasn't buying it.  Not even Sophie would give it a try.  But they were content enough to watch them swim around.

We moved on to see some of the other tanks that held some of the more special fish.  First were the lionfish, and the girls thought they were so cool!  Claire and Sophie had come across their picture in the little booklets we got at the door, and got to work finding said picture.

Claire thought the lionfish would appreciate seeing their picture in the book. :)  That girl is too cute...

So, the lionfish were cool, sure.  But they didn't hold a candle to the jellyfish!  It was time to take on the jellies!

There was also this way cool, and somewhat creepy, octopus.  I'm not sure I've seen a live octopus before, but I can assure you I've never seen one this big or active!  It was swimming along the side of the tank so you could see its tentacles moving along the glass, the suction cups sticking and unsticking themselves from the glassy surface.  Kind of creepy.  And if that wasn't unnerving enough, it kept looking right at me.  Ewww...

They don't call it "Shark Reef Aquarium" for nothing.  Next, we headed to Shipwreck Cove to check out the sharks.  

It was really cool!  The coolest shark we saw was a type of sawtooth shark.  It's really amazing what kind of creatures are part of this earth.  Danny and I love exposing the girls to some of the animals that Heavenly Father and Jesus created.  It's a great way to teach them.

Gotta love the random kid in the background. :)

We spent about 20 minutes in Shipwreck Cove, watching the sharks and even seeing some sea turtles!  On our way out, we tried one more time to get the girls to pet the sting rays.  Claire still had absolutely NO desire to touch those weird looking things.  But Sophie worked up the courage!  Unfortunately, her little arms were just too short to actually touch them.  She found the water to be exciting all the same. :)

And with that, we checked off another of our goals on our 30 Before 30 list.  To be honest, this aquarium, in and of itself, may not have sufficed to actually complete that goal.  But combining it with what we did the next day more than sufficed!

Curious, aren't you? :)

TDY With Daddy!

A couple of weeks ago, Danny approached me with an idea.  How would I feel about spending a week in Vegas?  Seems like a silly question, right?  But here's the thing.  I hate Vegas.  I hate the sin that is dripping from every billboard and building.  I hate the idea that people go there with the express intent to sin without inhibition.  And I REALLY hate those nasty card-flippers that hang out on the strip.

But Danny had a business trip to Vegas for a week, and we had the opportunity to go.  And really, the trip would be paid for.  Who can argue with that?  My other choice was to stay home alone with the kids for that week, and then send Danny off to Georgia for the following week.  Two weeks home alone with the kiddos?  Yeah, I think not. :)

So, we had a week or so to be ready to go, and most of that readying we procrastinated until the day before...as usual. :)  We pooped the kids out on Saturday with all the shopping.

We were fortunate (for many reasons) to have Stake Conference on Sunday.  After church we got on the road, and after a mostly uneventful drive (Sophie got carsick for the first time), we made it to Vegas at about 7:30 pm.  Danny had made our reservations at the Grand Chateau Marriott, located about a block off the strip, and I had some serious hesitation about staying so close to all the debauchery I loathe.  But it really was the most convenient for Danny (as far as work was concerned), and he assured me the room would be worth it.  And boy was he right!

The room we stayed in was a villa, and it was about 830 square feet.  That's only a little smaller than our apartment was that we lived in for almost three years!  The kids had plenty of room to play, and I had a full kitchen with all the needed appliances and cookware.  We were going to be right at home.

Only, there were a few things that were even better than home.  Like the entire bedroom/bathroom area!

Danny and I had a king size bed, complete with memory foam mattress.  Ahhh...sweet, sleeping bliss!  And probably my second most favorite feature, second only to the amazingly comfortable bed (seriously, we felt like angel babies sleeping in a cocoon of cloud candy) was the incredible garden tub LOCATED IN THE BEDROOM!  You can take a bath and watch TV at the same time.  Just kill me now.

Ah, but don't forget the vanity...

Then there was a separate bathroom, with another sink.  And this beauty:

Doth mine eyes deceive me?!  You can blink all you want, but it's true.  That is a double-headed shower.  Amazing!  The room was beyond perfect, and I was pretty confident the kids and I would be very comfortable there for a week.  As far as the girls were concerned, they would just take a bath every day and be happy as clams!  They got right in just as soon as we let them...

After the girls got nice and wrinkly, we made some dinner and sent our crazy, excited kids to bed.  After all, we had an entire week of fun ahead of us!

We all slept great that night, and Monday morning dawned bright and beautiful.  We sent Daddy off to work, which was a total downer, and then enjoyed some cartoons and sugary breakfast foods.  Gotta love vacation!  But as fun as the room was, Sophie was just dying to go outside.  She literally sat in front of the window all morning.

I was able to distract Sophie long enough to get Johnny a nap and get them all some lunch before we headed to the roof-top pool.  I was a little nervous taking all three kids swimming by myself.  But what's a Mom to do?  The girls each had life jackets, and Johnny had an awesome floaty, so what's the worse that could happen?  Oh, and the pool was only 3 1/2 feet deep at its deepest. :)  So I faced my fears and took the kids swimming.  

We had a blast!  The weather was perfect, and the pool was warm.  And can I just tell you how out of place we were?  I'm pretty sure every wrinkly, over-tanned, definitely hung-over retiree's head turned as I walked in with my three kids and got in the pool.  But there were a couple of ladies that just thought our kids were too cute, and so helped me with the girls while I swam with Johnny.  I was grateful for their help!  

After swimming, we went back to our room and had quiet time until Danny got home from work.  Then we went and got some groceries and got the kid's their beloved Happy Meals that have become expected when we travel. :)  And that was Monday.

Tuesday was an adventure of a different sort.  I was feeling courageous after taking the kids swimming by myself, so I decided that we would try an adventure out on the strip.  I figured we would be okay in broad daylight, and I knew the girls would love the Bellagio, which was relatively close to where we were staying.  As we were getting ready to go, Claire was so excited to have her hair done at the vanity.  She felt like such a big girl!  

Anyway, I was nervous to take the kids out alone, but I got the kids in the stroller and Claire in her backpack and off we went.  Just like at the pool the day before, or perhaps even more so, we turned just about every head.  We were WAY out of place on the strip!  But we pushed on true toward the Bellagio, and only had to back track a few times to find the handicap ramps I needed to maneuver the stroller.  Eventually, we made it there and waited for what I thought was an almost imminent water show.  Johnny was stoked!

But I was wrong.  The water show didn't start for another hour, so instead of waiting out in the 85 degree heat, we headed inside the casino.  It was awesome!  The kids loved all the amazing flowers at the Conservatory!  Claire and Sophie called it "Fairyland", and thought maybe we were at Disneyland again. :)

Apparently, they change the theme in the Conservatory relatively frequently.  I don't know if the butterflies are a permanent fixture, but they were pretty cool!  There was even a little glass house you could walk into, and within the walls was a butterfly habitat.  There were all kinds of big, beautiful butterflies flying from flower to flower.  It was amazing.  I had never seen real, live butterflies like that.

Then there was this really cool piece of art.  It was a landscape painted with flowers!  What a cool idea...

And, of course, the Chihuly ceiling in the lobby.  What an incredible sight!  The girls couldn't close their mouths as they looked up.

And with that, we headed home for quiet time until Danny came home.  I decided to wait on the water show until we could watch it with Daddy since he was missing all the fun. :)  Once Danny returned, we had a scrumptious meal of Rootbeer Pulled Pork which I had waiting for us in the crock-pot, and then headed off for our next adventure.  We were about to check off another goal on our 30 Before 30 list...

Stay tuned!