Mermaids and jelly beans

We promised the kids two things over the holiday weekend: to take them to the Silverton Lodge casino to see the mermaids, and to take them to the Adventuredome at Circus! Circus! I had high hopes for the prior, and was disappointed, and had low expectations for the Adventuredome, and was pleasantly surprised.

The girls were just plain excited (especially Kate) to see fish, and a mermaid swimming with them. Kate tried to monopolize the swimming lady, and was mesmerized by her floating hair. The mermaid taught her how to make a heart shape with her hands (which Kate totally hearted), and even blew Kate a bubbly kiss. I was hoping to eat at the restaurant right next to the aquarium, but it turned out to be a bar and was age-restricted. We were stuck eating at the casino grease pit Johnny Rockets, instead. The mermaid tank itself was quite amazing, though, and even Luke enjoyed it. He stared open-mouthed at the giant sting rays "flying" up and down the tank. Granted, he stares open-mouthed at a lot of things.

Kate loves mermaids.

Later, Claire decided she needed to be cleaner than she usually is, and dumped approximately 3/4 of a bottle of Huggies soap into the tub before Tim caught her. I've never seen so many bubbles. She calls this her "bubble crown".

We spent Monday talking up Circus! Circus! and all the rides we would go on the next day. It even worked to keep them from misbehaving. For about an hour. I expected totally rundown facilities, gum stuck to inappropriate surfaces, screaming toddlers, and long lines. Besides the gum (which I had the distinction of accidentally sitting in)(BTW, does anyone know a good way to get gum out of your favorite pair of shorts?), everything else was pretty good. Since we went on a Tuesday, the lines were virtually non-existent, and our children even behaved well.

Kate has been talking about going on roller coasters for more than a year. Once she saw an actual for-real roller coaster, however, she fell silent. We asked her if she wanted to go on any, and she silently shook her head in a rather emphatic "no". We did manage to take them on a hot air balloon ferris wheel-type thing (twice), Tim and I each got to take Kate on the bumper cars (which she and we LOVED), Kate rode one of those airplane rides where you get to "fly" your own airplane and the planes and helicopters go up and down at the whim of the kids "flying" them (Kate didn't realize her airplane could actually rise up off the ground, but she loved it anyway, and even spent time shooting down the guy in front of her, much to her proud Daddy's delight), I took the girls on this school bus ride that was sort of like a ferris wheel on a lot of caffeine (Claire was so scared she was shaking, but she didn't cry or even utter a word of protest while we were on it), Tim and Kate rode the mini-Himalayan ride (which she thought was great until they hit the first "hill" and I saw her face go from big smile to slightly freaked out), and Tim and the girls rode the carousel twice (Claire chose to ride on the bench both times, waving gleefully at me each time she went around, and Kate picked the only horse with roses on its saddle: "I love the one with flowers and jewels, Mommy! It had yellow roses on its back!"). So, Adventuredome: success!

Roller coaster!

Luke enjoyed all the lights and sounds, and even napped for a bit.

Kate, aka the Red Baron.

Enjoying a sugary snack while I rode the big roller coaster.