Omaha Zoo

A few weeks ago the older girls went to spend the week with my parents in Iowa.  It actually worked out perfect because I was able to go to a MOPS convention with some great friends while they were gone.  Those pictures are to come.  These pictures are from the day I meet my parents in Omaha to give them the girls.  We met at the Omaha Zoo... me on time, my parents over an hour late; imagine that.  So by the time they had gotten there we had gone through the dessert, ate lunch, and planned out our day.  They also had Ocy and Skyla (our cousins) with them visiting from Colorado.  Ironically myself and all the little girls were wearing pink so we looked like quite the crew. 

If you haven't gone to the Omaha Zoo before it is impossible to get to everything in one day, especially with kids.  So I asked the girls before we started which animals were the "mane" ones they wanted to see.  I got the suggestions of giraffes, zebras, penguins, flamingos, and sealions.  I was a little disappointed because the bears are my favorite but we planned our course accordingly and headed off. 

First stop was the warm water penguins and giraffes. 

 

 

Next were the zebras.  I have to admit, I am a zoo snob and have been to the Omaha Zoo a million times in my life but I don't remember ever going to see the zebras.  In fact, I'm not sure I knew they were there.  I have passed their turn many times but I don't think I knew they were back these so I am glad they were on the to-do list. 

After the zebras we hiked to the back of the zoo to see the flamingos, coy fish, and the sealion feeding.  One our way back to the next set of animals we found one of the extra trains they weren't using and thought it was a great photo op. 

Back home there is a bridge we always cross to drive into town and every time we drive over it my kids argue about whether they see flamingos or not.  So one of my top priorities was to show them flamingos so they know we don't have them under the bridge.  haha

We also spent what felt like five hours feeding the coy fish and watching the monkeys. 

Next, we played another waiting game so we could see the sealion feeding.  We brought out some snacks, then more snack, and more snacks.  I couldn't believe how much the kids ate.  The zoo also recently put a playground by the sealions so we visited that for a few minutes as well.  The sealion feeding wasn't a show but they did have the sealions do tricks while feeding them.  It was cute to watch.  And there was a brand new pup. 

I'm surprised we didn't get any pictures of it but after the sealions we went on the skyfari over the animals and back to the front of the zoo.  The girls were very excited about it.  The skyfari took us back to the entrance of the zoo which had the aquariam, the butterfly garden, and the rainforest. 

Mimi was adorable in the aquariam.  That was by far her favorite place.  Part of it could have been because I was finally letting her out of the stroller to walk around but I also think she loved the fish.  Here is my favorite picture of her trying to watch the fish above her in the giant aquariam. 

The big girls also went with grandma and grandpa to the butterfly garden and the rainforst.  I didn't think those were places for the likes of Mimi so we ran around the concession area while waiting for them.  I love that they got a picture of the big girls on the butterfly benches. 

By this time we had had enough, even though there was tons more to see, and the zoo was closing so we called it a day.  The girls claimed they weren't tired when they thought they still had a chance of seeing more animals but once we said it was time to go to the car they were all exhausted.  Here is how we got back to the car....

It was nice to be able to lock all the crabby tired kids in my parents car and drive away with just one baby who feel asleep right away!  haha