We are home.
What a great weekend! I can honestly say that our first family vacation was a success and we are all plumb worn out.
We made it to Omaha by about 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning and our first stop was the Omaha Children's Museum where Kaitlin has a blast exploring the hands-on exhibits. They also had the Central Art Car Exhibit on display outside the museum which was quite the site to see as well.
Next we made a stop at Bass Pro Shops in Council Bluffs, IA. This stop was mainly for Justin, but Kaitlin still got a kick out of the indoor waterfall and huge fish tank. She and Justin also took in a game of gigantic checkers on the outdoor porch.
We took a couple hours to rest after we checked into our hotel and headed down to Heartland of America Park in the evening. We walked all the way around enjoying the scenery and then took a boat ride around the lake as well, which was very peaceful. We then headed over to the Old Market for a late dinner at Spaghetti Works. I guess it was a little too late for one little girl because she basically fell asleep at the table after two pieces of cheese pizza! :-)
Sunday took us to the Henry Doorly Zoo. We were one of the first to arrive at 8:30 a.m. and one of the last to leave at 6 p.m. Yup, that's 9 1/2 hours at the zoo. No trolly's or trains for us...we walked the whole thing and went into every building and every outdoor exhibit. We saw it ALL!
It sure was great, but we sure were pooped, so we had supper at the restaurant right next to our hotel that evening and just went swimming in the hotel pool & spa for awhile before calling it a night.
This morning, we slept in a little and made a return trip to Bass Pro Shops before going to Lauritzen Gardens. Boy, was it beautiful...and hot! Perhaps we shouldn't have slept in so long and went in the cool of the morning. But again, we walked through the whole thing enjoying the gorgeous flowers, plants and trees and Kaitlin had a blast with the Kidstructures.
Our last stop before leaving Omaha was Kenefick Park which is adjacent to Lauritzen Gardens and features 2 of the greatest locomotives ever to power Union Pacific Railroad. On display are the Centennial No. 6900 - the largest and most powerful diesel-electric locomotive ever built - and Big Boy No. 4023 - the world's largest steam locomotive. Quite a site to see!
Kaitlin slept about half of the way home and when we did go home, she said, "Mom, it's good to be home."
This vacation was certainly long overdue and we all had a wonderful time, but it is always a good feeling to come home.
Now, I have 484 digital pictures to go through and edit which may not get done for awhile considering my sister gets married this coming weekend and I have a feeling it's going to be a busy week, but hopefully I'll be sharing some visuals for some of the above soon.
In other news...
There's only ONE DAY LEFT on the items up for auction in my eBay store. Don't miss out!!
