Sunday, July 24, 2011

On to Omaha

It was a longer drive than we anticipated.  We had to reroute to go around flooded areas.  We found out the day after we arrived that someone had come up the roads we had planned to take.  It took them 6 hours to make a 3 hour drive.  (This was just a portion of our drive.)

We drove most of the day and stopped to have a nice dinner at Olive Garden.  I was ready for a salad by this point in the trip.  It was yummy.  We arrived late at Roger's sisters house.  It was so good to see them!

We were up the next morning and headed out to the Henry Doorly Zoo.  It is a fabulous zoo!!!  And the first time that Eliana has ever been to a zoo!  Hard to believe with all the field trips we have been on, but zoo had not yet made the list.  Even though it was hot, there were plenty of indoor spaces to cool off.  We had a wonderful time.

We rented a stroller for Eliana so she didn't have to do so much walking and so we didn't have to do so much carrying either!  Below she is trying on a hat for sale.
 Isaiah helping to point things out to her.
 Maybe this meercat.
 Or this antelope of some kind I don't remember.
 Have I mentioned that Eliana likes to take pictures.  One of the problems at times is the angle at which she is taking photos.  They can often end up like this.
 Her sweet big brother gets down to her level - well, closer to it - and its a much better photo.
 She did great with this one.  It really helps when people are sitting down.
 There was a super large fan there with a hose/mister attached to it.  It was so nice!  We could use one of these at home.  Eliana and the others loved it!
 The goats in the petting zoo were fun as long as they didn't approach her or try to look at her in the face.
 She was very interested in trying to feed one of them.  (This is food put out by the zoo for them.)
 We took a train ride around the zoo.
Watching the monkeys is always fun.  


 Eliana hanging out with her Aunt Karen.



 Loved the close-up view we got of the giraffe.
 Its hard to see, but this is a  penguin.  I really like watching these cute little guys!

 Cousins hanging out.
We had a great day and a wonderful visit.  Karen was so sweet to make gluten-free foods for Eliana.  Their hospitality was wonderful.  I am just sorry that our visit was much too short!!!

Missing one cousin in this picture who is in California for the summer.  We missed you Christianne!  

We were also blessed to visit with some other relatives while here, though unfortunately, I didn't get pictures.  :-(

Fun visit.  Much too short.  We need to plan a return trip.  :-)  Know we'd always love to have you here too!

Love
Leslie