The first day of our mini-vacation was spent at the Durham Museum, Red Mango and our hotel swimming pool. The next day, we headed to the Henry Doorly Zoo, truly one of the best zoos in the U.S.
I will say that our day at the zoo wasn’t perfect, but that was due to the 101 degree heat that threatened to do us in a time or two, which of course wasn’t the zoo’s fault. And thankfully, there were some lovely air conditioned areas we took full advantage of!
Here we are enjoying the “Desert Dome” (which our oldest said he wished was the “Dessert Dome”, because wouldn’t THAT have been fun!). We saw some really amazing birds, some (not so) cool snakes, and my favorite – a little armadillo that I totally wanted to bring home. Me, the girl who doesn’t want pets. Cutest little armadillo ever, he was. Ran so fast in his little round shell he looked like he was on wheels. Mmm, so adorable.
We only missed a few of the zoo’s great attractions, pumping our legs hard in that heat to make the rounds. We left the Desert Dome and followed our map and we were not a bit disappointed with what we saw.
Isn’t this bear a sweet one? Amazing how sweet they look when they aren’t growling in your face. Kinda sounds like me. I can be real sweet when I’m not growling in your face. It’s true. Just ask my kids.
We stood and stared at the penquins for a long, long time. Ever read Mr. Popper’s Penquins? Oh, you’ve got to read it. And then stare at some real penquins for a while. They’re fascinating.
We saw the biggest butterfly ever. Except that it was really a chair and Malachi and I sat in it to take a little break from walking.
Possibly our favorite area (although it truly is hard to say) was the Aquarium. This place is incredible, with glass all around you so that you can see all of the amazing creatures swimming. Yes, sharks swam over us and beside us, as did sting rays and sea horses. We also made friends with a big turtle, that in my opinion, had a lovely personality. I’d never seen one like him before and I named him Fred.
It was hard to walk away from this round “tube” of fish. Again, we stared and stared…
We left the zoo exhausted and fulfilled…with still enough energy to talk all the way to dinner about “Remember the monkey on that rope?” and “Are you sure we can’t go back and get the armadillo?”. Not really. I didn’t really say that. I’d never contemplate something like that. Really.
Dinner was fun at Ci-Ci’s Pizza where we’d printed off a coupon and were able to feed our family for an incredibly low price. What a treat!
Last but not least, we stopped at Whole Foods, because if I can’t have an armadillo, I at least need to have a Whole Foods fix while I’m in Omaha, right? Thanks to those of you who signed up for Shop it to Me, we had accumulated a few Whole Foods gift cards to use.
Can I tell you what a blessing those are to us, and how much we appreciate those of you who take the time to (painlessly) sign up for the Shop it to Me email? It means a lot to us, and provides us with a few gift cards to spend on wholesome groceries for our family. I hope that you too are taking advantage of the Shop it to Me referral program and telling YOUR family and friends about this so that you can earn gift cards as well!!
Here’s a picture of some of the items we grabbed at Whole Foods. We also got some chicken breasts while we were there, but they were in the freezer at the time of this photo shoot and refused to come out. Stubborn little chickens. (Should have got me an armadillo instead.)
And there you have it…our Mini Vacation. It was a wonderful getaway and I’m so thankful we were able to do this!
Now you tell me – do you have fun travel plans this summer? (And if you’re coming through Nebraska, do you think you could bring me an armadillo?)
Just a little reminder, Friday, June 10 is the final day for our Heavenly Homemakers eBook Overload sale!! Read details here!
No can do on the armadillo, but I might be persuaded to hook you up with some real Wisconsin cheese curds (or other cheese product) when the kids and I come back from there.
You look you had a great time despite the heat. I am also glad to see from the picture with your youngest, that my youngest (7yr old girl) is not the only one that wears pants even on the hottest day of the year. And with the knee hole. Too cute!!
Oh my goodness!!! You want an armadillo?! I could send you a few! But I promise they aren’t cute when they dig up everything in sight. Then again, maybe you could train a couple to do your gardening for you!
We just love the Henry Doorly Zoo! My 19-month-old was so fascinated by the aquarium. Plus the rainforest is just amazing – although the humidity does a number on my hair. :)
We figured out that to cover the price of a family pass we only had to go three times in one year so we went ahead and bit the bullet.
If you are ever in South Carolina you should definitely check out Riverbanks Zoo. It is an equally awesome zoo! One of the best!
Armadillos!?!? I love that you think they are cute because where I live they are gross, disease carrying varmints that destroy gardens. Though I guess it is kinda cute when they are dead on the side of the road on their backs with a bottle in their mouth :-) Glad you had fun and made new friends!
I was under the impression that armadillos were the only animals that carry leprosy. Anyone know?
Yuck, I just want to live in my pretend little “armadillos are cute” world. :) Armadillos behind a glass wall are apparently much cuter than on “in real life”! :)
Interesting. Good thing my cute little armadillo was behind a glass wall!
Oh, fresh ground beef!!! what a prize/thanks for chance to win..
Wahoo, the zoo! We have season passes to the Henry Doorly, so I’m glad you got to enjoy it too… BUT I do have to say, you missed out on an awesome restaurant really close by called “Pizza Ranch”… (about 6m from the zoo at Metro crossing… by Hobby Lobby, Kohl’s….) a little more pricey than Cici’s… but they had amazing pizza, along with fried chicken and mashed potatoes… an awesome salad bar, and they have a big discount night where kids eat almost free… also had Christian music pumping and a game room with a bball hoop that I bet your boys would have loved!! If you guys are by some chance still in Council Bluffs/Omaha, it’s a really great place you should try!!!
Ive been looking for good grass fed meat for awhile and would love to try this company. Winning this would be a great way to try it. Thanks!
I am dying to place a Tropical traditions order! The meat always looks wonderful, and what a great way to try it out by winning! Your trip looked fun, and relaxing, glad you all enjoyed yourselves ;) ~ Happy Summer~
I would love to find an affordable source for grass-fed beef! I’d also love to win some!!!
Did you ever think you’d have so many people interested in hearing about your vacation?! Sounds like a great time and many memories made during that time!
We used to have annual passes to the zoo when the kids were smaller. Such fun!
My husband and I are planning a vacation in September to St Louis to take our 18 month old (21 months then) to the Zoo and different things. We live about 4 hours away but he has a weeks paid vacation so we cannot wait! =]
I have never tried this product. I would very much like to see how it is and if it is affordable.
Thank you for blogging about your vacation. We don’t live too far from Omaha and are new to the midwest. Our kids would love a trip like this and now I feel like we can visit Omaha and I know they will have a good time.
Sounds like you all had a blast!!! I can’t wait for my little ones to be old enough that we can all do this! :)
LOVE your site! Thank you, thank you. :)
You know that you can make those Larabars yourself, right? Easy, easy.
We love the Henry Doorly Zoo also. We try to go each summer sometime. Glad you family had such a fun mini vacation!
I have an armadillo you are more than welcome to have!!! He’s dug holes all over my yard! Luckily I have a fence around my garden. I saw a cute one on a hiking trail one time, though – it was laying on it’s back with an empty bottle of Lone Star Beer in his grips. Maybe that’s only cute if you’re from Texas though…. : )
I would love to win the opportunity to try the beef! Looks like a lot of fun at the zoo!
We have a “tube” of fish similar to that at our aquarium, only with lookdowns instead. Beautiful and hypnotic, it’s my favorite exhibit besides the Fishes of Oklahoma.
No summer travel for us. We always do the shoulder season to avoid crowds and because it’s soooo much cheaper!
I happen to be heading from Kansas to Nebraska for a week and driving 81 to I-80…AND my friends have an armadillo that they are “done” with. I could just drop him off? ;-)
What fun!! We LOVE the Henry Doorly Zoo–between the rainforest, aquarium, desert dome, and butterfly gardens, it’s fantastic. We try to go every time we come to visit (about once a year)! Glad you enjoyed it!