Oh-Bla-Di

On Sunday, Sally left for Chicago to attend the NASPA conference. Ever since Sally’s departure, Ava has been informing everyone she meets, “That my Daddy; Mommy go ‘cago.” On Tuesday, Ava and I both skipped work and school to spend some Daddy-Daughter time together. Initially, we had considered a short hike at Lake Mead followed by a picnic, but the weather ruled that out. The weather (rain, wind, and temperatures in the low 40s) would have made picnicking at Lake Mead with a toddler more of a survival exercise than a fun outing at the park. So we turned to the Internet and discovered that Las Vegas has a Natural History Museum. (Think: Small Still-life Zoo.) The Las Vegas Natural History Museum is not glamorous, but it’s the perfect place to go with a two-year-old on a Tuesday morning. The place was nearly deserted so Ava could look at any exhibit as long as she wanted. Ava really liked the still-life giraffe and fireflies, but her favorite was the marine exhibit. The exhibit featured several small aquariums of real, live fish. One of the tanks had a “spider” [translated: lobster] just like the ones at grocery store. Ava’s favorite exhibit, however, was the “bucket-o-koi.” The exhibit consisted of a large garden tub from your local home improvement store full of koi kept company by a small turtle.

The museum also had a few exhibits that Ava was not too sure about. The Dinosaur Room featured a Triceratops which grunted and moved it’s head back and forth, and a T-Rex that produced a psyche-shredding roar when prompted by a red button. Ava’s first reaction to the sight was, “Wooo” followed by, “eeeh…want go back car.” I think my favorite, however, was the human exhibit.  In this exhibit you could go and watch a small human dance in a hut.  (Make sure to turn your volume up so you can hear the dance mix in the background.)