Three kids, a baby, and a mum + the strip on a Saturday just don't mix

Some of my (Rachael) family came down to visit me this past weekend while Job was back East auditioning with his mad skills for grad school. He invited them because he didn't want me to me all alone and lonely while he was gone (that was sweet!). He was gone for our first Valentine's Day (not so sweet) but we decided that we can celebrate any day so it was not a big deal ;)

One of the days they were here Job suggested that I take my family to the strip. I was hesitant but after searching online (everything you read online is true right?!) I found what seemed to be a cute, free, zoo-type thing at the Flamingo hotel. It boasted a large 15 acre menagerie with plants, water, fish, flamingos, other birds, penguin feeding etc... My little nephew Parr (3 years old) loves the zoo so we decided this would be fun. Little did we know...

After parking as far away as possible we started the journey up the strip. I had never been on a Saturday and probably never will go again. We were shoulder-to-shoulder with all sorts of people the whole way down. Not to mention it was pretty hot for a winter day. It took about an hour to get to our destination and we were so excited once we got there. (One of my little sisters remarked that they couldn't even look down at the sidewalk to avoid dirty pictures! So sad and so true) We burst through the casino to our intended oasis in the middle of the hotel and were met with.....

a duck, a swan, and a fish, all swimming around in a little pond. Hm...where was the luxury and fun promised? "They took it away" I was informed by a casino worker. Curses, I should have checked the date on that internet site! Sweet little Parr had wet his pants at that point, so had to hitch up his sagging pants every 3 seconds or so. We took the hour trip back to the car, tired and disappointed, and the first words out of his mouth were, "wow, we spent two hours at the zoo! Thank you for the zoo Rachael!" Awww the sweet nature of a child! I would not be thanking anyone if my Aunt had drug me around a dirty city for two hours. It taught me a good lesson to be grateful for everything I have around me.

I think I will take my guests to the park next time they are in Vegas....