Day 15 - If You Build It, They Will Come

Our last day.  I really wanted to see the Field of Dreams. It's one of my favorite movies, and we watched it with the boys before we left on our trip.  It's really beautiful. 
I'm not really a baseball fan, but this might be the prettiest baseball field ever.
Race to home plate~


Running the bases like her brothers~
"Is this Heaven?  No, it's Iowa."
Our friends, the Peseks, were in the quad cities visiting Jacqueline's family, so we made a detour and stopped by her parents' house.  It was fun meeting everyone and we also got to try Whitey's ice cream for the first time!

Words can not do this trip justice.  It was our first time ever taking more than a week's vacation.  The kids were all such great travelers.  We listened to tons of audiobooks.  We saw so many amazing sights!  I feel so blessed that we were privileged enough to explore our world together.  When asked, no one can come up with a favorite stop, because there were so many that we all loved.  I hope we will be able to do this again when Mary is a little older.

Day 14 - Omaha!

After an uncomfortable night in the van, we checked out the Omaha Zoo.  We've been to several zoos, but this one was really nice.  It was a little crowded, but not too bad.
In the "Kingdoms of the Night" exhibit~
 
The "Hubbard Orangutan Forest" ~

This guy was really friendly - sadly, I didn't get any pictures of him right up next to us~
Heading into the Gorilla Valley~
 
Mary's hand is a little smaller than a Diana monkey~
Charlie - a little taller than a hunched over gorilla.  He does weigh significantly less~
Sam - about the height of an orangutan~
Rosie - born two days before me~
 
This guy shares Scott's birth day, only 26 years later~
It always kind of cracks me up when they have animals like squirrels in the exhibits~
Part of the Simmons Aviary~
We finally saw a bear!


This kind of thing always makes me a little sad~
 
 

Totally not my thing.  I do not like birds in real life~

Okay - best part of this zoo?  The Skyfari!!!
By best, I mean coolest, yet most anxiety producing.  There is nothing to stop us from plummeting into an exhibit to be eaten alive by various animals~
The views are amazing!  You literally ride over tons of various exhibits, including those of dangerous animals.  I couldn't really take many pictures because I was so scared.  There were people with babies on their laps.  Ugh.
Sam thought it was funny to shake our seat.  I didn't.
Mary loves penguins~
Scott Aquarium~





 

After we left the zoo, the hunt was on for Big Mama's, a restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
It was kind of difficult to find (it's on Turning Point Campus, a youth services center in urban Omaha), but it was worth it~
The staff was friendly and the food was comforting ;) ~
 
Even though it was getting late, I wanted to stop by the (in)famous Omaha slides.  They are just big slides right in the middle of the downtown~
The kids had fun, but it was getting cold~

We spent the night at the Embassy Suites, swam in the pool and watched Nacho Libre (really lame, but we gave it a chance because we LOVE "School of Rock").  Omaha is a nice little big city.