Tuesday, July 15, 2008

SHARK REEF

We decided that it's a little embarrassing that we've lived in Vegas for over 2 years now and hardly done any Vegas-y things, so recently we did the "Big Shot" on the top of the Stratosphere and last weekend we took Caleb and went to the Shark Reef Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay Resort Casino. We were glad Caleb actually seemed to enjoy it because usually he's just unimpressed, but he seemed to like looking at the fish and sharks.
"Are you kidding me, Dad? This crown looks ridiculous!"
"MOM! Don't take pictures! Dad put this stupid crown on me!!"

Stupid crowns? Count us in.

This is a golden alligator...or crocodile...

Ladies and gentlemen...the Komodo Dragon. But he doesn't spew fire. He should be called, "The surprisingly large Komodo Lizard"


The weird thing about this fish is that it totally looked like your run-of-the-mill living room aquarium fish...only about 100 times bigger...
This guy was moving pretty fast so we didn't get the best shots of him. I think he was in a Shark version of the Indy 500 because he just kept circling the tank at top speeds.
Not as disconcerting as you might imagine a shark swimming directly over your head would be. Maybe it was the 8 inches of probably bullet proof glass in between us that made the difference...

Sharks showing off.

This one is funny because it's like, "This sweet suburban family had no idea what was awaiting them behind the coral as they paused in their day's festivities for photos."


Caleb actually seemed to care sometimes that there were things behind the glass. This might seem funny, but most of the time he is just as interested in the toilet plunger as the kitty who hangs out under the stairs in our building as the plant in the corner of our room. He seemed to pick up that this place was different.


They removed the stingers...so they say...and allowed us to touch the stingrays as long as we only touched them with one finger at a time. Imagine what a dolphin feels like---kinda rubbery/kinda slippery and you have a stingray. Except for that I touched this dude right on his spine and was sure he was going to get ticked off and lash at me like a giant scorpion...P.S...I'm a wuss.

Sea Turtles! They were trying to hide, but I got this one shot that I'm pretty sure it of two turtles. Sorry, Matt. Better luck next time.


Me and my buddy.








6 comments:

Em and Ms said...

Anyone who can do the Big Shot on the stratosphere is not a wuss! Looks like you guys had fun. I'm glad you got to see the sea turtles, even if Matt is jealous. Oh, and thanks for the soup--you're a great friend!

Anonymous said...

Cute pictures! I was worried when you said you never do Vegasy things. I think of hookers and porn when I think of Vegas, so I'm happy to hear about your innocent aquarium visit.

The Allen Family said...

Looks like a fun-filled day! You guys are such a cute family! And, seriuosly, I know I say it every time, but I LOVE the captions! Mostly because I'm sure that really is what Caleb is thinking! Haha! Love you guys!

Todd and Heidi said...

We did this with Belle and she loved it too. I thought it was great!I am always amazed at fish! Glad you had a great day. Pictures are great too.

Becca Welch said...

Hey Guys,
We still need to get together. I wish we could have got together when you came out. We hope everything is going well, little caleb is getting so big. I hope Jon is teaching him a lot about BYU football, start them off young...Love you-Becca

Carlson Clan said...

That looks like fun! We haven't made it there yet...hopefully soon! So I found this website and thought of you Becca! It has indoor activities to do with toddlers! Some are a little advanced for our youngins but some are good! Here's the website:
http://fun.familyeducation.com/early-learning/family-learning/33372.html If this is too hard to read I put a link to it on my blog!