Egyptology

Ever since we took DJ to King Putt, a local mini golf place that is both done in Egyptian and black lighting, he's been obsessed with all things Egypt. You know, normal two year old stuff (?!?!). He loves talking about how the "wrapped around mommy" (mummy) sleeps in the sarcophagus. He's pretty sure that you get the bad mummies to go away by playing a didgeridoo (that idea is 100% his) and he makes Deg play mummies with him frequently.

Well, when Aunt Amber came to visit a few weeks ago, we took her and Uncle Ryan to the aquarium so that we could do something DJ friendly. The aquarium is inside the Mandalay Bay hotel, which is right next door to the Luxor. So Uncle Ryan, who really is the best, showed DJ the pyramid, the obelisk, and the Sphynx. The Sphynx became DJ's new favorite. He made Uncle Ryan show him pictures of it on his phone and they talked about it all afternoon. We took everyone mini golfing that night, and Ryan and DJ found a Sphynx at the golf course. Best day ever!

Uncle Ryan spent a lot of time letting DJ look at pictures of the Sphynx on his phone

The two golfers with the Sphynx

DJ has been all about the Sphynx ever since: "Feenks (DJ's pronunciation of Sphynx) has the head of a person and the body of a lion! It protects the mommies (mummies) and the Las Vegas. At the Luxor." He has to play Sphynx with Deg every day and pretty much only calls Deg Sphynx anymore. It's ridiculous and amazing. I mean, the kid's two, for crying out loud! He even wanted to check out some Egyptology books at the library, and now talks about Anubis ("Mom, he has the head of a dog and the body of a person!"), Tutankhamun, Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Giza, the Nile... it goes on and on!

Our little "wrapped around mommy"

A few Saturdays ago, Deg had to go to work for a few hours. DJ and I came and got him and then we all went to the Luxor to see the pyramid, the obelisk, and most importantly, the Sphynx. DJ was so excited! He could hardly contain himself. He was jumping, fist pumping, running in circles... you would've thought it was Christmas. He loved seeing the pyramid up close, both inside and out. He was being so excited and adorable that some random tourists with a Polaroid took our picture so that he could have a picture to hold in his hands right then of himself with the small Sphynx that's inside the pyramid. We got to see lots of hieroglyphs on the walls, lots of statues of pharaohs and Egyptian gods, we got to walk up to the obelisk, and of course, there was the Sphynx. You actually get to walk through it to get from the hotel to the tram that takes you between the Luxor, Mandalay Bay, and Excalibur.

"Look, Son, a Pharaoh."

More statues and symbols inside the Luxor.

The Polaroid that some kindly tourists took for DJ

The real Luxor Temple in Egypt was built mainly by Ramesses II, whose statue was pretty much everywhere in the Las Vegas version of the Luxor.

Man, that kid was excited to walk through the Sphynx, but that doesn't even compare to his joy in seeing it up close. He was shouting and pointing out everything about it. "Mom! Look! Feenks has a beard! Mom! Look at his paw! Dad! I see the statue next to Feenks! Guys! Let's touch Feenks!" All the other tourists were dying over how excited this kid was to see everything. He was so excited to walk around it and see the whole thing, and he wanted to touch it over and over again. It's a good thing I took pictures because we look at them all the time. He even wanted to call Uncle Ryan and tell him that he got to see it up close.

"Feenks!"

Touching Sphynx's paw

We also ran over to Excalibur because they have a cool, kid-friendly arcade in the basement (they literally call it a fun dungeon) and that was really fun, but the focus of that day for that kid was the Egypt. It was glorious and hilarious. And I figured you'd want to see/read about it.

Bonus pics - DJ and Deg at Excalibur

Taming the elephants at Excalibur's arcade