Omaha, Nebraska

This week the kids and I tagged along with Jason on a business trip to Omaha Nebraska. It was great! I don't know that I've ever been to Nebraska, much less the largest city in the state. I learned a lot, and I just love road trips! We had a great drive out there on Sunday. Nobody threw-up in the car and the kids, especially Ana, slept a lot of the way. The Colorado welcome center was a bit of a highlight and the day was georgeous! I did realize when we got into Denver that I forgot to pack the camera, otherwise, all was well. Monday morning, Jason reported in for work and the kids and I conquered Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo. Soo cool. It was a zoo and aquarium combined. Both kiddos were free admission. The animals were all easy to see in their habitats and it was a georgeous day. We saw everything! Tristan even petted a couple of goats, an African millipede and rode on the carousel. Anastasia stole the heart of a friendly butterfly in the butterfly house. She's so cute when she's sleeping, she didn't know it wanted to go home with her and her camoflauge hat! I purchased a throw away camera at the gift shop on the way out of the zoo, and we were off to a good start with our trip. Monday evening I treated everyone, well... Jason paid, to Jones Brothers cafe for dinner. Yummy tomato basil soup with sandwich finished with cupcakes! We tried four flavors of mini cupcakes, they were all amazing, then we played at the playground across the street. Tuesday the kids and I visited downtown. We walked around a park/lake on the river front and saw lots of ducks, then we visited Omaha's Durham museum. It is afiliated with the Smithsonian Institute and is a great interactive museum for children about trains and westward expansion. It is located in the refurbished grand central station of Omaha. Again, both children were free admission and it was a great experience. Then, as we were getting ready to leave, the fire alarm went off and we got to see Omaha's firemen in action. Turns out it was just construction dust in a new exhibit area that set off the alarm, but it was an adventure. Wednesday, I was going to take the kids to the children's museum, but we stopped by the Fontanelle Forest visitor center on the way and ended up staying there for an hour and a half, exploring their nature discovery area for children. Then after naps, we went back to Fontanelle Forest with Jason and hiked the board walk and a side trail down to the Missouri river. We never did get to the children's museum, but exploring nature is always what we enjoy best anyway. Thursday we were on the road early and it was another beautiful day of driving, that is, after we drove out of the rain clouds flooding into Nebraska. Glad to be home, but it was a good experience. Now me and the children can say that we have been to Nebraska.