We realized that the summer was slipping away from us and we hadn't really taken the kids on many trips. We decided to take a mini-trip to Omaha. We left early on a Friday morning and went to the zoo as soon as we got into town. It was 99 degrees that day. I can't explain how hot it was. I was trying to take a picture of the kids. The girls couldn't even keep their eyes open.
Take 2...still can't open their eyes.
Take 3...looking good, Riley! She looks like popeye. Mia's peeking a little bit. I gave up!
These guys were pretty cute. The Omaha zoo is one of the best zoos I've ever been to. I've been to quite a few, too. I even like it better than the San Diego zoo.
I didn't think this hippo was real at first. I couldn't tell if it was breathing or not because it was so still. I saw it twitch a little bit.
The kids were so excited for the zoo. They get bored with our hometown zoo. This was definitely more exciting.
We thought we would go on a Friday thinking it wouldn't be so busy. Dead wrong. You could hardly walk through the exhibits. It was crazy! The kids were pretty well behaved and stuck near us most of the time. Mia is our slowpoke and a few times, she fell behind. Things would catch her eye and I guess she had to stop and look.
Again, trying to get a nice picture of the kids. Don't my girls look so cute? Ethan wouldn't hold still. I should photoshop him out of this picture. :)
Scary sharks. Their aquarium was really neat. Mike was in heaven walking through it.
Jelly fish always creep me out a bit. I've been stung twice by jellyfish. Once while swimming in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and once while in the Bahamas. Their stingers hurt a lot! The Cape Cod jellyfish was more painful. I must have stepped on the stupid thing. He stung me from my calf to my upper thigh. The tentacle marks stayed for 2-3 weeks after the sting too.
I liked the octopus. They're interesting creatures. I wanted Mike to get an octopus for his salt-water tank but he said they are escape artists and we'd probably find it dead on the floor one day. Okay, than.
The poor kids were melting. We drank plenty of water that day and splurged on a train ride. That helped with all of the walking. This zoo is spread out. We didn't even get out at one of the stops because we were all so tired and hot.
Even Mike and I were getting worn out from the heat. We ended up renting a stroller because the kids were getting tired of walking. They're getting way too heavy to carry!
The gorillas were one of the favorites. They are so big and cool to watch.
We had to get some $20 ice cream, of course! The kids had it gone within a minute.
We were lucky enough to see the trainers working with the tiger and lion. They put little chunks of meat on their sticks and when the tiger would react to the tennis ball, she'd give him the meat.
The zoo had five baby lions born this year. They were so cute.
Here's the momma. She was huge. It's so intriguing seeing these animals. I definitely wouldn't want to run into them in the wild.
The poor momma is still nursing. Her cubs are pretty big too. She layed on her back and they all came running. I'd probably have cut them off long ago. :)
Here's the daddy. He is enormous. I love the predator animals. The zookeeper was training him with the tennis ball as well. He was lazy and sleeping until she came over with the meat.
After the zoo, we went and checked into a hotel. The kids were so excited to be staying over. The hotel had a decent pool so after we had Cheesecake Factory for supper, we swam the rest of the night. The kids passed out and didn't wake up until the next morning. We went swimming one more time and then headed home. It was a very short trip, but we all had fun!
