And room service is quite the perk as well.
After finding a local coffee shop that served decent coffee (thank you, Chris for making me a coffee snob) we headed over to the aquarium.
I don't know what it is that makes aquariums seem so magical. I think some of it is getting to see a glimpse of something that we otherwise would never be able to see.
There is something about the mysteries of the oceans & in God's amazing creations that makes you feel small in the grand scheme of it all.
We saw a wide variety of sea creatures that day; sharks, tortoises, penguins, fish, octopus and many more.
For Landon, none of those compared to the Bat Ray touch pool. Out of the five hours that we spent at the aquarium two of them were spent at that touch pool.
Anyone who knows Landon knows that he is ALWAYS on the move. That's one of the reasons that basketball is one of his favorite sports. You are always moving & there is always action.
So you can imagine my surprise when Landon spent so much time just standing still. The majority of the time the rays would hide in the far corner of the tank where no curious hands could poke at them. Still he stayed. He waited patiently for the moment that the bat rays would finally swim in his direction.
I watched as crowds of people came & went and still he remained. An older man struck up a conversation with him & I would later hear from Landon that they discussed the best way to get the rays to come in your direction. Some of the kids would splash & flick water at the rays hoping that would lure them in their direction. Landon's approach was different. He would allow the water to calm or carefully place his arm in the water, deliberately making sure not to disturb the rays.
His diligence paid off.
We moved on to other exhibits and I think the haunting beauty of the jellyfish may have been my favorite, although the alien nature of the octopus was equally as intriguing.
In the end the other exhibits just didn't hold a candle to the bat rays and we found ourselves back at their pool.
The excitement & joy in his face whenever he got to touch one of the rays was worth all of the time spent there waiting.
Landon even commemorated our time at the aquarium with, what else, a stuffed bat ray.
He requested Bubba Gumps for dinner because he loved it so much when we ate at the one in LA on our Christmas trip.
We went back to the hotel & took advantage of some of the amenities The Hyatt has set up for kids. I think Landon's favorites were corn hole, ping pong & shuffleboard.
Of course, bottle flipping made an appearance. It wouldn't be a day with Landon if there weren't some bottle flipping involved.
One last day of our mother/son road trip to come!
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