Oh-Bla-Di

Weeks ago now, we visited the Shark Reef exhibit at Mandalay Bay.  For those of you unfamiliar with Vegas, Mandalay is a big, shiny gold hotel that you can see from the highway.  We pointed out where we were going to Ava and she helped us navigate to it.  Mandalay is also close to Matt’s office, so anytime we’re down there, she asks if we’re going to see the fish.  

Ava loved the exhibit and let the way through the whole thing.  She had a great time exploring and we were happy just to go at her pace.  Can’t wait to take her to a big zoo and maybe Sea World…all that wildlife would really rock her world!

Checking out the sharks with Daddy

She was nervous about this piece of glass over the tank at first, but found a way to explore safely.

BIG starfish!

These tanks were cool, but getting close to the glass warped how the world looked. Ava was nervous to get to close...I think she was afraid to fall in.

Say cheese!

She kissed the glass for this lizard. Gross, but pretty cute.

All in all, Ava had a great time visiting the fish and sharks.  We worked on being brave on this trip.  The word “scared” has become a big part of her vocabulary lately, especially since she went to see the dinosaurs at the the Las Vegas Natural History Museum.  So, we talk a lot about how it’s ok to be careful, but we still should try things and check them out…maybe they’re not so scary after all.  I’d say she caught on to the idea when she started kissing lizards!

When Matt uploaded his post about his and Ava’s visit to the museum last week, we had a good chuckle about her dancing skills in the African hut.  Our girl has always had a really great sense of rhythm, if not the best moves on the block.  After seeing the newest video, though, Matt’s folks were kind enough to send us a throwback video to point out that Ava’s dancing really hasn’t evolved all that much over time.

At the time this video was shot, Matt was TDY to SOS at Maxwell AFB, we’d been in our new house in Vegas for less than two months, and Ava and I were just getting through each day.  While Matt was gone, Ava learned to push herself up to sitting, to crawl, and began dancing up a storm.  Reliving those days with this video really put a smile on my face today.  Ava was a fun baby and is becoming a fun, terrific kid.  I’m so looking forward to seeing her become a big sister and teach her dance moves to Dos!

So, here she is.  Ava dancing to the theme music from Grey’s Anatomy at six months old.

Ava’s truly a lover of the simpler things in life – especially when those simpler things involve a brass band and maybe some sequins.  Completely by accident, we’ve learned that Ava loves the Lawrence Welk show.  It came on and she said “Whoa.  Beautiful.”  After every song she asked, “More singing?”  Whoozy was hooked.  Needless to say, we’ve got it TiVo’d now for future non-cartoon TV opportunities.

Not only does our girl love Lawrence Welk, but ice dancing has become a huge favorite.  She just thinks it’s beautiful and her whole face lights up watching it.  Also, she likes watching the freestyle skiing where the skiers ski up a ramp and then do lots of crazy acrobatics.  Olympics are a huge hit.  We’ve got hours and hours TiVo’d.  Maybe they’ll last us until the next Summer Olympics!