My husband and I decided at the beginning of the year that we would take our grand girls and son to the zoo, and decided on the Omaha Zoo. I mean if I’m being honest, I think we both needed to get out of town for a bit, and with it only being about two and a half hours away, it was doable with a 12 year old, four year old and 16 month old. So I’ll try to hit the highlights of the trip with the drive, hotel check in, zoo, etc.
Day #1 – ROAD TRIP
We hit the road about 1:00 p.m. Typical drive, nothing special, except when we had to make a pit stop to get a few snacks (what is a road trip without the proper snacks – ummm…a boring trip). We finally made it to the hotel, checked in…aaaannnnddd our room smelled like weed. Welp, that’s not gonna do for us. Finally, checked in to our second room; much better. But wait, what do you mean we can’t rest up after being in the car for so long? Oh, yeah, headed to the swimming pool. Did I mention how tired I am? No, well I’m tired and I want to go to sleep. So after we showered, we all got dressed again and headed to eat spaghetti at Spaghetti Works World Market (www.spagworks.com). If you ever get a chance to visit Omaha, stop by; you will not be disappointed.
Day #2 – ZOO DAY & RETAIL THERAPY (BECAUSE I NEED IT)
So let’s talk about the sleeping arrangements from the night before – anyone who has children and have had the privilege of sharing a bed with either one or two of them, y’all already know my story. Not only did I have two little people sleeping with me, Teagan woke up at 4:00 in the morning to tell me she had a nightmare about a duck chasing her. Huh? A duck? Where did the duck come from? It didn’t matter at that point; I just wanted to go back to sleep. Oh, and I had been tossing and turning most of the night anyway, because I had Harper sleeping under my back, and Teagan was stretched out like she was the only one in the bed, and my husband and son were snoring in the other bed. Needless to say, I did not get much rest, nor sleep. So breakfast was eaten by all, then we headed to the zoo. But first, I needed to shower; the next thing I know Harper has gone head first, fully clothed, into the shower. *SIGH* Now I have to change her clothes…can we just get to the zoo already? I must admit we had a really good time – the weather was perfect, except when the wind blew it was a little chilly. Don’t worry, it warmed up and it was so much fun. Teagan was excited to see the rhinos, zebras, sea lions, and her favorite was the aquarium. I’ll definitely go back; you definitely need to spend at an entire day or maybe two days to fully experience the fun. (www.omahazoo.com)
After the zoo, I needed a ‘lil retail therapy, so we headed down to the Nebraska Crossing Outlet Mall (https://www.nexoutlets.com). This is an outside mall, much like some in other cities who have similar stores (i.e. Ann Taylor Outlet, Nike, Michael Kors, Osh Kosh B-gosh, etc.) It wasn’t crowded outside; the stores were very clean inside and everyone wore a mask and practiced social distancing. I tried to find some new clothing items to wear, but since I had a 4 year old who told me I had too many blue and yellow things chosen to try on, I thanked her for helping me with my colors and since she was ready to leave, we left. Did I mention I was tired and needed a nap? I didn’t, well I did. So while my husband, son and Teagan went swimming – yes, again, Harper and I took a much-needed nap. Later we had dinner and it’s time for bed, so we can leave after breakfast the next day.
Day #3 – HOME BOUND
After eating an early breakfast, we had planned on staying a little later and heading to a small black owned business that sells popcorn, but opted to leave a little earlier so that my husband and I would be able to rest and get ready for work the next day. No traffic driving, but one hour outside of home the radio/satellite stopped working. I have no idea why. I’ve only had my car for two weeks, so anything malfunctioning would give me serious anxiety. Luckily, it all worked out in the end and it was something to do with my bluetooth connection. I mean who can ride in a car with no music? No one.
So I’m happy to be back home and relaxing in my own bed. We had such a wonderful time, and I’m especially happy that Brendan, Teagan and Harper had a chance to experience the zoo.
Thanks for allowing me to share my mini-vaycay adventure with you guys. I can’t thank you enough for supporting my blog. There’s still more adventures to come
NOTE: You can find Huskerland Popcorn on their Facebook page (Huskerland Popcorn – http://huskerlandpopcorn.com