Brian had to work late last night, so I did what any mother in my position would do: I dragged my child to the casino.
Haha, just kidding. Well, kind of.
See, that's the weird thing about Vegas: the casinos are home to all of the fun stuff. (well, most of the fun stuff). I wanted Scotty to see Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay and our friends, the Bickler twins, were headed that way for the afternoon. So for the second time in three days, I headed down to the Strip, this time with no feathers on my head but with a Bear in tow.
He loved Shark Reef. Let me say that again: LOVED. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I thought the child might want to sleep there for the night, he had so much fun.
Scotty had never really been exposed to an aquarium before, so why not, in traditional Vegas style, start with 1.6 million gallons of salt water? Go big or go home, folks.
Haha, just kidding. Well, kind of.
See, that's the weird thing about Vegas: the casinos are home to all of the fun stuff. (well, most of the fun stuff). I wanted Scotty to see Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay and our friends, the Bickler twins, were headed that way for the afternoon. So for the second time in three days, I headed down to the Strip, this time with no feathers on my head but with a Bear in tow.
He loved Shark Reef. Let me say that again: LOVED. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I thought the child might want to sleep there for the night, he had so much fun.
Scotty had never really been exposed to an aquarium before, so why not, in traditional Vegas style, start with 1.6 million gallons of salt water? Go big or go home, folks.
Jacques Cousteau Bear
He could have spent hours at each exhibit. Seriously, his level of focus and concentration kind of unhinged me a bit, since he's only 20 months. Aren't they supposed to be attempting to dive in the tanks at this age? Not Scotty. He wanted to stare and point and jot down observations in his little notebook. (just kidding on that last one). He was like, Super Serious Bear as he watched the little fish swim.
And some not so little fish. There were some giant sharks in the tank that made me step back a bit and wonder just how thick this glass was. Of course, I was tempted to make a few lawyer/shark jokes as we stood and watch the creatures glide by, but I bit my tongue.
(Brian can thank me later.)
And some not so little fish. There were some giant sharks in the tank that made me step back a bit and wonder just how thick this glass was. Of course, I was tempted to make a few lawyer/shark jokes as we stood and watch the creatures glide by, but I bit my tongue.
(Brian can thank me later.)
Dad?
I will say, Scotty's favorite creature by far was the lizard. He does a pretty mean lizard impression, complete with the outstretched tongue, and the lizard at Shark Reef had just woken up and was flicking his tongue at Scotty (probably thinking, "Dinner!") Scotty happily flicked his tongue back. It reminded me a bit of the first Harry Potter book, but I'm guessing my child is not fluent in Parseltongue, so I'm going to chalk this one up to a fluke.
Afterward, we split off from the Bickler bunch and headed to the Burger Bar for dinner. The Burger Bar? You ask...yes, Hubert Keller's other restaurant. No, I'm not stalking him (::cough::) but I just thought that if he happened to be there, and just happened to walk by, and caught a glance at our cute little chubby Bear, than maybe he would just happened to be forced to acknowledge my presence.
And of course, he wasn't there. No dice. Oh, well.
I felt silly asking the waitress for a table for 1.5. (I quickly clarified it and said, "One and a highchair, please" after she gave me a weird look.) And in our first solo Mom-Bear dining experience, the little guy exceeded my expectations. He happily played with his bop-bops until dinner arrived, and then he noshed on his macaroni and cheese squares like a big boy. He munched on a few dill pickle spears (this is definitely my child) and snacked on some sweet potato fries, and for dessert, I ordered a scoop of chocolate ice cream - two spoons. I even let him eat the cherry.
It's really fun now that he's getting older, as he feels more like my buddy each day. I can't wait for more Mom-Bear adventures that lie ahead.
Afterward, we split off from the Bickler bunch and headed to the Burger Bar for dinner. The Burger Bar? You ask...yes, Hubert Keller's other restaurant. No, I'm not stalking him (::cough::) but I just thought that if he happened to be there, and just happened to walk by, and caught a glance at our cute little chubby Bear, than maybe he would just happened to be forced to acknowledge my presence.
And of course, he wasn't there. No dice. Oh, well.
I felt silly asking the waitress for a table for 1.5. (I quickly clarified it and said, "One and a highchair, please" after she gave me a weird look.) And in our first solo Mom-Bear dining experience, the little guy exceeded my expectations. He happily played with his bop-bops until dinner arrived, and then he noshed on his macaroni and cheese squares like a big boy. He munched on a few dill pickle spears (this is definitely my child) and snacked on some sweet potato fries, and for dessert, I ordered a scoop of chocolate ice cream - two spoons. I even let him eat the cherry.
It's really fun now that he's getting older, as he feels more like my buddy each day. I can't wait for more Mom-Bear adventures that lie ahead.
Buddies
(The image quality on this photo is terrible, as I took it with my really-messed-up camera phone, and yes, the Bear is attempting to strangle me, but I really like this picture. It captures the essence of our little relationship quite well.
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