The Omaha Zoo

I have to brag on the Omaha Zoo. It is hands down one of THE best zoos. It's totally amazing. I was able to go a few times in college and when we lived in Columbus before kids a couple of times as well and was totally spoiled. I am SO thankful that we finally got to take Lorelei and Makin to this zoo! We are about 1 1/2 hours from Omaha, so decided it was worth getting a membership, so there will be many more visits to come as we plan to get into "the city" once a month or so. There are also lots of buildings, so its even doable in the Nebraska winters. :)

Brad had an interview, which is why we made this trip on a Wednesday. The kids and I dropped him off at a coffee shop and then the recruiter dropped him off at the zoo that afternoon after the interview, so it was the kids and I in the morning and then the whole family in the afternoon and worked nicely.

We made sure to camp out at the bears to watch feeding time. They feed each different species of bear so it was fun to see how they reacted. This is a sun bear, which I don't think I've seen before and they were so cute! The trainer would throw the food and he would catch it in his mouth, so it was an especially fun one to watch. We were really there for the polar bear. I love watching the polar bear swim and remembered that from previous visits since they throw the food in the water. This one took his time and waited till the trainer was out of sight, then dove in for his fruit and veggies, including eating an entire cantaloupe. Another fun one to watch and glad we were patient waiting for him to dive in. :)

I don't usually spend extra on a carousel ride at the zoo, but knew Lorelei would want one, so agreed she could use some of her birthday money. She treated herself and Makin to a ride.

Another amazing aspect of this zoo is its diversity. It has a butterfly house! The kids loved walking in and seeing all the amazing butterflies as well as the chrysalis' lined up waiting to become the next batch of butterflies. :)

Annnnnd my other favorite part...the aquarium part of the zoo...

The penguin exhibit is the best I've ever seen. The zoo in general has these very kid-friendly windows into the enclosures which is awesome, but I especially love the one for the penguins. As you can see they will swim right up to the kid's faces. So fun watching them swim like this. The first thing Lorelei said when she stepped into it was, "It's cold!" :)

This is a tunnel you can walk through and have sharks and turtles swimming over your head.

There is an indoor rain forest. The kids were too scared to go across the rope bridge on their own but would do it if I carried them. :)

And what child doesn't want a field trip on their second day of preschool? ;)