Omaha!

Since the summer is quickly winding down, we really wanted to have a short getaway as a family. Carter loves being outside and also loves watching Maddie, our dog, so we thought he might enjoy the zoo. Our friend Jess was so generous and offered her place for us to stay the night in Omaha... and so the plans were made. We were going to leave Des Moines on Saturday morning, spend the afternoon at the zoo, swim in Jess's pool, walk around the city, and spend the night at Jess's apartment.

The weekend was really perfect! Although Carter didn't sleep very well on the way there, he was in such a great mood at the zoo. He loved looking at all of the animals, riding in his stroller, and of course, being carried by his mom and dad. Cary and I were both quite impressed with the zoo. Although it was crowded, we were able to see almost all of the animals in 3 hours. The weather was perfect too...a little cloudy and low 80's. The highlight of the zoo was not any of the animals, it was actually something Carter did. The three of us were waiting in line at the concession area and out of nowhere Carter said "daddy." Cary and I were both caught off guard - especially since he had not made any da, ba, or ma sounds yet. We know he didn't really mean "daddy" when he said it, and it was obviously just a fluke, but we loved it. We kept talking about how sweet his voice was and we kept trying to get him to say it again. But aparently it was a one-time-deal.

After spending the early afternoon hours at the zoo, we drove across Omaha to Jess's apartment. It was really the perfect place for us to stay. We didn't have to worry about Carter crawling around on a hotel floor or getting into strangers' germs. (So thanks Jess for giving us a great place to stay!) After a short nap for Carter and some relaxation for Cary and I, we headed out to a nice area called Village Point. It was basically an outdoor mall and we just walked up and down the sidewalks. Since the zoo hotdog and pretzel hadn't filled us up, we decided to have an early dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was definitely a little corny...but it made us feel like we were on vacation with the Jimmy Buffett music and the surf boards hanging from the ceiling. Carter sat at dinner like a good little boy. We fed him his babyfood while we waited for our meals, and he didn't fuss at all. He was really a champ. Oh and we gave him a bite of ice cream. No surprise that he LOVED it!

By the time we were finished with dinner, it was still sunny and hot, so we decided to go back to the apartment and take Carter for a swim. The water was cold, but Cary and Carter splashed around for about a half an hour. It was the perfect end to an already fun-filled day. We played at the apartment for a while and Carter finally fell asleep around 9:00. We expected that to be the end of the day, but it was not!!! We set up Carter's pack-n-play in Jess's closet which was attached to her bedroom. From 10:00 - 12:00, Cary and I kept waking up to Carter's hacking cough. He didn't seem to mind as he slept right through it...but Cary and I were getting very frustrated. We finally decided that it was worth waking him up, moving the pack-n-play to the kitchen, and getting him back to sleep so that we could sleep uninterrupted for the rest of the night. Luckily, it worked...and he slept until 8:00 am!!!

Sunday was meant to be a drive home and relax day, but actually was quite busy also! On our way home, we got off on the Guthrie exit and had lunch at my grandparents' house with my parents, brother and sister-in-law, niece Katelyn, aunt and uncles, and cousins. It was nice to have Grandma's homemade noodles. After lunch, we went back to Des Moines and let Carter sleep for a few hours. In the late afternoon we visited Cary's parents and had dinner with them. I think Carter loved seeing all four of his grandparents in one day!!

This weekend meant a lot to both Cary and I. It was just like something we would have done before Carter was born - just go away for a short weekend to enjoy each other's company. It was so nice to bring our little boy along and focus our activities around him. It also made us realize that we truly are a family...the three of us. Although it was meant for Carter to have some family time, Cary and I really enjoyed ourselves too. I know it was hard for Cary to get up and go to work this morning. He definitely didn't want to spend the day away from us. But this just proved to us that we'll have to plan more of these getaways for the future. I really want Carter to look back on his childhood and remember these outings the way that I look back on Cary and I's relationship and think of all of the fun places we've gone together! Where should we go next?