Omaha, NE- First Family Vacation (FINALE)

Our last day in Omaha was spent eating delightful donuts, getting some exercise, and splashing.

Loaded and Ready to hit the road!

 

 For breakfast that morning, we hit up a local donut store. This Momma has a sick addiction to donuts. I could easily eat 4-6 donuts in one sitting, thus we don't do donuts... ever.

 

Next we drove to the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. It is the longest pedestrian bridge to link two states and crosses the Missouri River. Since Josh and I work for a bridge contractor, we thought it would be cool to walk it, round trip.

 

In two states at one time!

 After the long windy hike, we let Easton play in the fountain. The fountains would shoot up sporadically and she would chase after them. She had a blast! Until she slipped and fell. Game over.

We were on the road and headed home by noon.

 

Overall, Omaha was a great mini vacation for us. I wished we had warmer weather, but we were still able to hit all the attractions we really wanted to see. I am sure we will be back in 5 years. 

Omaha, NE- First Family Vacation (PART 3)

By Sunday, I was scrambling for clean warm clothes for Easton and I. When I packed our bags, I was like "I always pack way too much and never wear half of it". This time I wasn't "over packing". Welp, that pretty much backfired. I didn't pack nearly enough pants for Easton and I. In fact, I packed only 1 pair of capri pants for me and like 2 pair of pants/leggings for Easton. And I hate rewearing pants. They are all stretched out and just feel dirty to me, but I had no other choice. It was cold and shorts were just not going to cut it. Damn Midwest weather. So I rocked my 2 day old pants at the zoo and Easton wore leggings with a shirt that was much too short for a leggings.

 

( I will refrain from boring you pictures with every single animal we seen, Because let's be honest everyone knows what the hell a bear, tiger, and lion looks like.)

The majority of the Omaha Zoo is indoors, so they can remain open year around. Smart thinking. Anyways the first exhibit we went through was the jungle. It was AWESOME and humid. My fro was frizzing out of control! There are paths, bridges, water, and waterfalls everywhere! It is a very open concept and I was amazed at all the wildlife that was roaming around! We were all sweating by the time we made our way to the bottom.

 Easton wasn't too sure of these dinosaurs. She didn't mind walking the path and looking at them, but refused to get too close enough to touch them. That shit really wasn't happening when they began to move and roar! It was a really cool exhibit and brought back memories of watching the movie Land Before Time!  

 Funny Story Time: So as we are walking out of the outdoor dinosaur exhibit, a 7 year old boy comes whaling, screaming, and crying down the hill behind us. "I don't want to go in! I don't want to go in!". This kid seriously can't get away fast enough. Those life like dinosaurs scared him so much that he took off running away from his parents and would not stop. Finally his Dad caught up to him and snatched him up.

 We headed back to the hotel and crashed!

 Then we headed to Stokes in the Old Market area for dinner. We weren't very impressed with that place.



Omaha, NE- First Family Vacation (PART 2)

We woke up to cold, clouds, and the potential for rain. Originally we had planned to spend Saturday at the zoo, but that was shot to shit when I looked at the forecast. On to plan B, the Children's Museum. So we grabbed a delicious breakfast at the FarmHouse Cafe and Bakery.

 

With full bellies, we drove downtown to the Museum. This place is AWESOME. I am not sure who had more fun, the adults or the kid. 

 Throughout the day there are short performance in the theater area that touch on life lessons. This one was about a princess and her lost crown. 

 

As you can tell, every aspect of the Children's Museum is hands on. Easton had a blast and just keep running around from one thing to another.

 

After grabbing some lunch at Twisted Fork, we headed back to the hotel for some much needed naps.

Then we hit up the pool.

We headed down to Old Market and ran into the horse carriages. Easton instintly wanted to ride, but, like a good dad, Josh promised her if they were still there when we were done eating we could ride.

 If you are ever in the Old Market are in Omaha, I HIGHLY recommend eating at Zio's Pizzeria! The food was amazing, but most importantly we played with pizza dough while our food was being made. Totally a great place for kiddos!

Guess what?! The horse and carriages where still there when we got done eating!





Omaha, NE- First Family Vacation (PART 1)

Friday, May 30th we loaded up the ol' Tahoe and headed north. Omaha bound for our first family vacation. We were all excited for the road trip that laid ahead! 

Ready to roll!

Thank God for DVD players!

We took a detour and hit up Squaw Creek Wildlife Refuge. Why?! Honestly, our company did some work on the radial gates there and Josh hauled equipment to the site. While there he saw a lot of bald eagles and now wanted to share their coolness with Easton. It was a total bust... not one single eagle was found. We did, however, see lots of birds and turtles. Josh even got out and picked one up so Easton could pet him.

 

We arrived at our hotel late. Of course, as we get stuck in the elevator with the Papa Johns delivery guy. 45 minutes later we had a medium pizza in our room. For the record, I did not eat a slice nor did Easton. Damn bottomless pit of a husband! Anyways, like most 2 1/2 year olds, as soon as we opened the door to our room Easton sprinted over to "her bed" and began jumping on it. "Her bed" was actually a roll-away. It cost an extra $10 per night, but was worth every penny, as we ddint' have a crazy toddler sleeping with us the entire stay. 

 

We all eventually headed to bed. After 2 trips to the potty, multiple tuck-ins, several stories, and a threat of a spanking, Easton eventually fell asleep.

 

Bring on the Zoo...