Family of a NAVY dentist: "Look, it's FREAKING flamingos!"

Every morning is the same.

"Mom, What are we going to do today that is fun?" asks Afton.

Jack chimes in, "I want to go in the pool."

Afton responds, "Yeah, me too! But let's do that after we do something really fun ok?"

So they both say not exactly simultaneously, but like freaking clockwork, "Let's go do something really fun." and Afton kindly adds, "LIKE NOW!"

I reply, "UGH! Ok. Let me figure something out."

Today's adventure was the checking out some Flamingos at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino. I think to myself, "This will be fun and EASY. It's free. They watched a documentary on these birds and loved it. We always read the Baby Flamingo book that we have. The Flamingo Hotel isn't too far away and if we go early enough, we won't melt. Oh and bonus, the strip won't be too crazy at this hour. Maybe if we are lucky, we can swing by the Splash Pad afterwards just to cool down."

Despite my positive thoughts, it was not as "EASY" as I had hoped. Turns out that there is construction on the strip, right at the Las Vegas BLVD. and Flamingo intersection. Bummer. Also, there is construction into the Flamingo parking garage so you can't get there from the strip. Crap. Being the Las Vegas native that I am, I do not fret. I will just go the back way into the hotel. Ahhhhhh. No. I can't do that either. They entries to the back of the Flamingo hotel are closed due to the building a giant freaking Ferris Wheel. ARGH! Ok. No worries. I'll go over by The Quad. (The hotel just to the right of the Flamingo.) That is ALSO under major construction, but I at least was able to pull into a parking garage. However while doing that, I was driving in the wrong lane of traffic and only noticed when a car was driving right at us. Apparently I missed the 1 foot by 1 foot sign that said they changed the "normal" flow of traffic due to construction. "Pardon our mess!" Seriously? So we finally park. Now we have to find our way through this freaking maze of a hotel, the Quad. Ridiculous. Walk along the strip through a under construction type walkway, (reminded me of NYC) with cars zooming past us. Scary. Then walk through the old FLAMINGO hotel that reeked of cigarettes and I can't quite place what the other ODOR was exactly. Eeeewwwwee. But to make a long SOB story short, we finally arrived, and SURVIVED. The babies were so excited when they got to the habitat. Jack yelled in the casino as loud as I have EVER heard him yell, "Look, it's FREAKING flamingos!" Everyone around us just laughed and commented on how adorable he was! I just smiled and said, "I know!" (Just kidding, I didn't really say that, but I always wants to!)

Flamingos in the background.

You can't tell by their faces, but they really are having fun.

Giant Japanese Koi fishies and Albino Channel Catfish

Black Swan

South American Black-Necked swan

"Turtles like cousin Ashley's, but not like Aunt Allison's, because her's don't go in the water."

Breaking rules to see the animals

Duckies

You are probably wondering why these pictures look so freaking cute, and terrible at the same time. Well, freaking cute: They are pictures of my babies.

Terrible: You could get to hold the birds for free, but they don't allow personal photos to be taken. You can go check out the pictures to purchase across the way. As I ask the man, "How much to they cost?" I am snapping pictures of the picture on their computer screen because, I ABSOLUTELY REFUSE TO SPEND "$20 on ONE 5x7 or $25 for TWO 5x7s or $45 for a thumbdrive of all 17 pictures." My jaw dropped as he shared these prices with me, and he looked at me as if I was nuts. Clearly these "bootlegged" versions of the pictures will work just fine for me and our memories. :)

We had a great time looking at the "FREAKING flamingos." We survived our walk back and even had time to swing by the splash pad.