Omaha

This past weekend we took a day trip to Omaha with two major goals in mind: visit the Henry Doorly Zoo and check out the Durham Train Museum.  Carter had been to the Omaha Zoo once before...actually he was almost exactly Brynn's age at the time.  Funny how we thought we were going for his enjoyment, but this time I realized that Brynn really had no idea what we were doing. I'd heard that the train museum was good and so this was a definite must for our little train-lover.  We invited my parents to come along since they hadn't done anything like this with us since...well...probably ever. It was a really fun and full day!

The zoo was great.  The weather was really nice at first...overcast and warm with a nice breeze.  We decided to start with the zoo train because we thought it would give us a good first glimpse of the exhibits and also because Carter wouldn't stop asking about riding the train.  We checked out the monkeys, fish, zebras, prairie dogs and giraffes and then stopped for a snack.  By this time it was noon, the clouds were clearing, and it was getting HOT.  So we decided that we wanted to see the bears and check out the "Kingdom of the Night" and then leave the zoo to find an air-conditioned restaurant for lunch. By this time, Carter had had one major melt-down over a melting ice cream cone and Brynn was taking quite a bit of effort to keep happy.  So when we left the zoo shortly after 1:00, it was definitely time to go.

 Brynn fell asleep almost immediately and napped through most of lunch. (This was exactly how I'd hoped her afternoon napping schedule would go!  Yay, Brynn!)  And Carter ate lunch and talked, and talked, and talked our ears off.

Then it was off to the train museum.  This place was pretty cool.  It was actually the old train depot in the 1940's in the Old Market part of Omaha.  The first floor was beautiful with marble walls, high ceilings, and long wooden benches.  Plus there was a cute little soda fountain shop and a gift shop that Carter weaseled my mom into.  :)  In the lower level, there were model trains, lots of history exhibits (which we mostly just walked past), real train cars that we could walk through, a caboose, a train bell, and some other fun things.  Carter liked looking at the real train cars, but mostly he wanted to watch the model trains.

It was a full day and the kids were tired.  Brynn cried most of the way home until she finally fell asleep.  Carter passed out about 30 seconds after getting in the car.  As always, the sign of a great day!  I think Mom and Dad had fun, but they witnessed first-hand that Carter talks non-stop (like his mother) and doesn't want to eat (also like his mother).  Both of those things they thought were hilarious...pay-back, I guess.