A Little Get Away

This month is a little crazy at the McDonald house. Eric is going to be traveling quite a bit for the next couple weeks so we planned a little get away with the kids to have some quality family time before the traveling begins. We took the kids out of school on Friday and headed to the Omaha Zoo. It is an amazing zoo and is only 2 1/2 hours from our house. We headed out Friday morning and there was quite a buzz in the back of the van. The kids knew we were going somewhere and knew we were staying over night so they were eagerly guessing what the surprise was.

As we approached the zoo Emma saw the Desert Dome from a distance. She said, "I know, we are going dancing!" No we don't frequent Dance Clubs as a family but I think she thought it looked like a Disco ball. We got a good laugh and said, "That's our Emma! Always looking to have a good time!" When she was 3 Eric and I decided that she was going to be our party girl because of her love for life and have already decided she is not going to college!

The kids were very excited when they figured out we were at the zoo. It was a beautiful day. The temps actually reached 92. That is pretty warm for a fall October day at the zoo. We expected to be in jeans and sweatshirts but we pulled the shorts out instead. It actually didn't feel that warm and there is a ton of shade trees and indoor exhibits to break up the time in the sun!

One of our first stops was to see the friendly little monkeys.

The petting zoo is always a hit!

One of my favorites was the gorilla house.

They had a new Madagascar exhibit that just recently opened.

I didn't get a picture of the sea lions but they were a huge hit with everyone. The kids had fun watching them pop up from time to time and kept trying to guess where they would appear next.

Shane stopped for a bit to watch the train go by.

Our 3 little monkeys by the giraffes.

The aquarium we saved for the end. I love the aquarium but my absolute favorite is the penguins. I could watch them for a really long time. The kids got a kick out of them too!

They had fun in this little bubble as the penguins would swim right by them.

This is called the "school of fish!"

Another highlight for the kids were the sharks.

They got a good look at the sharks teeth as he swam over the kids. Shane thought those sharp teeth were pretty cool.

The last stop of the day was the Rain Forest. The kids had fun on the bridges and tunnels. They also were pretty tempted to swing from the vines like the monkeys.

Then it was time to head to the hotel. The kids were excited to get there to do some swimming for the rest of the afternoon and the evening.

The hotel had a nice pool with a little round pool attached that had a little current that sent the kids in circles as they swam.

There was also the "big" water slide that they went down numerous times.

There was a water playground with water shooting everywhere and some smaller slides. Don't be fooled the slides were small but they were fast. The kids would shoot off them right on the mat below.

Of course there were quite a few stops at the hot tub too! On Friday afternoon and evening the kids spent about 3 1/2 hours at the pool. For the majority of the time they had the pools and slides to themselves. On Saturday morning we headed back down to the pool and there were 2 other families there. Alexa said, "Wow, it is really busy today!" I think she forgot what those busy days at Wild Water West were like or just spoiled from having the pool to themselves on Friday.

The thing I loved most about the hotel was that the double rooms had double king beds instead of double queen beds. What a great concept. Look at how cute these three look all cozy in bed together. We had some very tired kids on Friday night. Their six little eyes were shut in no time. We had a fun little family get away! It is crazy to think that in not time we will have 4 little monkeys. I can't wait!