June Afternoon at the Zoo

Our mornings are still full with Catholic Education, but that leaves the entire afternoon to play! Yesterday, we decided the weather sounded perfect to visit the zoo. Shoot, everyone else thought that, too! We are so used to going when it is not busy that it is really difficult to adjust when it is wildly busy. But, it was still fun.

We started out with a picnic. It took the kids over a half hour to eat, and they never did finish lunch. There were just too many people and too many things to look at to settle down to eat. Oh well, time to move on. The girls had yet to get to the aquarium, so that was our first stop. They both seemed to enjoy that. I felt like I was going to get smothered by the 1000 strollers and crowds of people in there. I guess I AM a fair weather zoo visitor. I could not wait to get out of there! (But, yes, it is still cool and I feel lucky to have such a place to visit so close to home).

We then visited the animals that each kiddo yelled they wanted to see before our 2 pm show at the IMAX. We saw To the Arctic 3D  which is quite a good show. 

After the movie,  Addi ran into one of her friends from Kindergarten. Papillion is such a small town (and so is Omaha!). The girls hugged like long lost relatives. So funny. Then, Addison wanted to see the "barn." She loves petting zoos. They played at the new dino dig before going to pet the goats. Addison could have stayed there all day, grooming all of the goats.

We went to visit the polar bears (after learning about them during the movie), then to play on the playset. Seriously, the kids had no interest in the animals, they just wanted to play after being trapped in the classroom all morning. 

We spent the entire afternoon at the zoo, ending up somehow at Zestos for ice cream. Yummy! Great ending to a fun afternoon.

Baby Sea Lion!

Mmmm...Zestos!

Marching into the Zoo

Now THAT is Love!

Yesterday Asher and I hit the zoo to enjoy the beautiful March weather we are having. We invited our friends Bonnie, Xander, and baby Ben to enjoy the day with us.

The boys led the way, seeing the animals outside. Eventually they made their way to the playset, narrowly missing injuries. It was nice to be able to enjoy some fresh air while taking in the sights of all the animals. Asher just liked being able to play with Xander.

After 20 times of asking, we finally caved and had lunch. The boys thought it was lunch at 9:30! We had lunch outside, in March! Crazy.

We took in the Sharks in 3D before calling it a day.

Love the zoo. We could go every day and never see the same thing twice.

Trip to the Zoo Birthday House

Addison was invited to a birthday party for a little boy from her preschool at the zoo birthday house. We had never been there before, so we did not know what to expect.

First of all, the zoo was, well, a zoo. The first nice weekend day is probably the worst day to head to the zoo. But, we could not have Addison miss the party! We were lucky and got a parking spot right up front and went to the birthday house. Addison was so excited and quickly accepted the animal tattoo and waved good bye to us.

Meanwhile, Daddy, Alivia, Asher and I headed out to see some animals in the warm to hot sun. We saw the tigers, the bears and the birds - oh no! Then, we had to stop by the play set for a while. We went over the bridge to feed the fish, then viewed the animals on the way back to the birthday house up the hill from the giraffes. It was weird to only have 2 kiddos. And, Chris and I were impressed that Asher walked for nearly an hour and 40 minutes with hardly a complaint! YEAH!!

When the party was over, we were all ready to go home. Another fun family afternoon!

October Morning at the Zoo

October Visit to the zoo

What a fabulous morning to be at the zoo! After the kids and I took Alivia to school, we took a peaceful (but chilly) run around Shadow Lake (the kids are all bundled with blankets and never complained!). Once at home and cleaned up, we decided to venture out and enjoy yet another beautiful fall morning.

We were ones of a handful of people at the zoo when we arrived. We checked out the jungle only seeing one other family. Then we went to the Aquarium. We love the aquarium and can stay in there all day. We then went to see the butterflies followed by the big spiders next door. Why do they have to keep the spiders OUTSIDE of the glass and above your head as you walk through there? I just do not understand that. Anyway, we then walked down the hill to the giraffes. We stayed outdoors for most of the rest of the time seeing the birds, fish, seals, and of course, playing on the playsets. We ended the morning seeing the gorillas. We wanted to take a train ride, but it is closed to weekends only now. Asher could not quite understand that.

What a fun and beautiful autumn morning spent at the zoo. It was so nice, I believe we will go back this weekend...weather permitting.

Looks like it is just us at the zoo today! Yeah!

Penguins anyone?

Big White Fish (at the bottom right)just stared at the kids

Cleaning Time

Big spiders over head! YUCK!!

Cute nest

Austin Day off of Fun!

Today Alivia had the day off of school. We tried really hard to make her day off special.

After saying good bye to Daddy (he went on an airplane trip with Grandpa Bill for a night or 2), the fun day began with Addison's school pictures. She just ran in and had the picture taken and ran out. Today was not her actual preschool day, but we wanted her to be in her class picture! Now...we just have to wait for the pictures to come back.

After pictures, it was off to the zoo. The zoo was crazy! There were so many kids clubs there between Papillion, La Vista and OPS (and those are just the schools we knew were off), that we could hardly move! We went today with our friends Kim, Nyah and Keegan. It was fun to have company while looking at all the animals. We visited the Desert Dome, monkeys, gorillas, Madagascar and then stopped near the playground to eat lunch. Then we watched the seals for a while before making our way visiting the outdoor animals on the way to the butterflies. We ended our day at the jungle. It was fun...but much too crowded. I continue to take the stroller for the kids to ride in and for me to store our stuff in. If Addison or Asher would get tired, I am not about to carry them across the zoo. As it turned out, they rode in the stroller for much of the time. Maybe next year we can go without a stroller...maybe.

After the zoo, we said good bye to our friends, jumped in the car, and went off to visit Grandma on the farm. Grandma and Grandpa just got a new dog, Kota (short for Dakota, the birth name of this female yellow lab). Kota was extra excited to see us, and the kids liked being up close to a dog (since Mommy has no interest in having a dog of our own. No, I am not that brave). After the introduction, I left the kids with mom and went up to take a nap. I had not been to sleep since Wednesday night. In addition to being totally exhausted, I had a new cold. I was done. Two hours later I felt good enough to get up and finish our visit. My favorite part of our visit was when I was playing fetch with Kota. I threw her the ball and she ran, got it, and brought it back. Then, I threw it again. She ran and got the ball, the dropped it, peed on it, and ran off. What was that?! It was too funny.

We ate dinner with Grandma before making the trek back home.

Alivia could not decide what the best part of today was. She said the entire day off of school was fun. Mission accomplished!

May at the Zoo - Expedition Madagascar!

Expedition Madagascar

When I looked outside and spotted that it was not a perfect day, I decided to make it our May day to visit Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and our first visit to Expedition Madagascar! I figured it would be super busy with school trips and with the exhibit just opening.

We arrived right at 9:30 and went in with our passes through our secret entrance (we never go in through the main gates because their is always a major line!). I ran with Addi and Asher in the stroller by the monkeys, through the lions and the gorillas to get to expedition Madagascar. I wanted to avoid any major lines if at all possible. And, we did. We arrived and stepped inside to find opening tables set up. The kids got a poster, activity passport that they had signed, and pin to wear.

The exhibit was not really what I expected. It was mostly dark with smaller animals such as lemurs, turtles, and snakes. Their was also an outdoor exhibit with similar animals on display.

After that, we went and watch the seals have breakfast. That was fun. Addison and Asher love watching the seals. We walked around to the other side checking out the various animals before stepping inside the warm butterfly exhibit (it was actually chilly outside) and then onto the aquarium. Alivia would have loved the butterflies this time because we saw many azure butterflies!

After a picnic where we all became freezing cold, we left just before it started to rain. What timing I had today!

Addison's favorite part today was the butterflies. Asher, well, he kept asking for lunch all morning. I am not clear he enjoyed anything other than the picnic!

Until next month (when Alivia will be able to come with us!)...

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