Field Trip Friday

For school, I am going to try and make fridays "Fun Days." For this first week I took Oliver over to the Bellagio Conservatory to check out their summer display. Oliver has always loved flowers and there were plenty of vivid colors in this summer show.

See any cute creatures in the watery gazing ball?

Now you see him...

Now you don't...

There were giant ants everywhere...

...and little boys and snails...but no puppy dogs' tails...

Mr. Froggy

...beautiful glasswork

Then we stepped outside the Conservatory to do the *most important* thing on the day's list --- check out the World's Largest Chocolate Fountain at Jean-Philippe Patisserie. This fountain, which is enclosed in glass for climate control, circulates just under 2 tons of white, milk, and dark chocolate at a temperature of 120 degrees F! The chocolate rises 27 vertical feet from the lower level pumping room, and cascades down 14 feet (from ceiling level) through handcrafted glass vessels. It is a beautiful work-of-art, and oh-so-yummy-looking as well.

The patisserie has a crepe-making station with lots of delicious toppings to choose from, and Oliver was quite happy to stand and watch the crepe-master at work.

The dessert case made the little boy screech in delight.

And, they had a gelato bar, so Oliver and I got a scoop to share. Oliver chose Hazelnut flavor. A fine choice. We sat in back, watching people and ogling the desserts, and talking about which one we might like to take home as an edible souvenir.

This stuff was GOOD! Rich and creamy.

Glasswork everywhere.

Back to the chocolate fountain.

The cursory gurgling photo...

And the desserts...how to choose? Look how pretty -- almost too pretty to want to eat. Almost :)

I wonder which one we chose?

Afterwards, we walked a bit more through the Conservatory.

We said goodbye to the ant giants...

...and took one last shot with our souvenir in hand.

Oh, yes. This is the dessert we chose. I think the name was Nutella MilleFieux, with a bit of shaved gold leaf. Since Nutella is delicious straight from the jar, I knew this would be delectable. The mousse was made just the way I prefer - rich, thick, and creamy. It was absolutely decadent, well-worth the price, and gave us two days-worth of dessert!

We are already looking forward to going back - mainly to get more dessert!!