On Day 5 of our trip, we visited Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo. This was our second visit to this zoo, and if we ever find ourselves back in Nebraska, I am sure we will make a point to visit it again. It is an awesome zoo!
We started the day with a visit to their IMAX theater. My children have never been to a movie theater, let alone an IMAX theater… (Actually, I just remembered that Captain saw a replay of Secret Garden when he was a toddler… 6 years ago!) So, for the children’s first real theater experience, we decide to “take a 3D underwater adventure” and see Dolphins and Whales! The girls were a little freaked out by the 3D effects, and hubby was not too happy about the environmentalist agenda of the film, but the boys loved seeing all the dolphins and whales.
After the movie, we headed to our favorite spot from our last visit, the Lied Jungle. It is the largest indoor rain forest in the world measuring over 80 feet in height.
Here are a few photos taken in the jungle:
Our next stop was the Scott Aquarium.
One of the highlights of the aquarium is the underwater “Shark Tunnel.” It is really neat. This tunnel allows one to experience being on the ocean floor with large sharks and rays swimming past you on both sides and overhead. We were very excited to find out that we had arrived just in time for the Shark feedings!
My hubby got a few graphic videos of the sharks eating… I just am not sure how to get the video off the camera and onto the computer. Oh well.
After checking out the Aquarium, we headed back towards the jungle for lunch at the Durham’s Tree Tops Restaurant!
Any ideas on, where Rascal gets this from?
He really enjoyed that little disposable camera we gave him!
Our next stop was the Kingdoms of the Night. It wasn’t quite as scary as I remember it being. During our last visit, Captain & I went through it alone, and I ended up picking up Captain and running through the exhibit towards the exit. I remembered it being a lot stinkier and spookier last time. But nevertheless, I still didn’t want to linger too long in this exhibit. I did get a few pictures as I hurried through the exibit…
Our next stop was much nicer! The Brand New Butterfly and Insect Pavilion. Twinkle Toes was especially excited about this exhibit, since it hadn’t been all that long since she studied Butterflies, and made her Butterfly Lap Book. It was so cool seeing all the butterflies flying around and landing on everyone!
Then it was on to see the lions and tigers and bears…
This particular lion, was not very happy… At first he was beating the door repeatedly with one paw, and then after a minute you would hear beating sounds coming from the other side… Finally he stood up on his hind legs and beat the door over and over with both paws as fast as he could. It was crazy. I went around to see what was on the other side of the door, and it was another lion. Those two were not getting along!
By the end of the day, someone was getting very tired of walking, and found a nice place to take a nap.
Before leaving though, we headed to the Carousel for a ride…
…then after a quick stop at the gift shop, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with my hubby’s parents and brothers for dinner, since they had all just arrived into town.
Thanks for sharing all those fun pictures. The bear would have freaked me out!
What a fun family trip!
those are some cool pictures! thanks for sharing them!
btw – your little “Snuggles” looks just like you!! he is adorable!
Looks like you had lots of fun,great zoo too!! B
Looks like so much fun! We are hoping to make it to the Boise zoo when we head out that way in a few days. And of course, you are all gorgeous! 🙂
What amazing pictures! I’m always impressed with your layout, too. Thanks for posting!
Thanks everyone!
Christine ~ It WAS a fun trip! And, yes, that bear freaks me out too!
Shelly ~ I agree that Snuggles looks more like me… 🙂 However, my hubby says that Snuggles looks “just like” his Grandfather… It has been an argument since he was born, lol!! I guess, he just looks Irish! 🙂
Amy ~ I hope you are able to make it to the zoo. We enjoyed our visit so much! And have a GREAT trip!!!
Aubrey ~ You are so lucky to live fairly near the zoo! I would love to have a zoo like that out our way. As for my layout… I use to own a small town telephone book, and had lots of practice laying out the “yellow page ads” for the printer. Although I am so happy to be a stay at home mom now, I do (sort of) miss the creative aspect of it, and blogging fills that void and gives me an outlet! I probably go slightly overboard, but it is so much fun! 🙂
Looks like a LOT of fun!!!
This looks like a great adventure! Your son must have been so thrilled that the bear came to him.
Can you tell I should have a more healthy fear of bears? 🙂
Funny how some of those pictures look so familiar. In the last 1-1/2 yrs we’ve visited the World Aquarium in Dallas and the Dallas Zoo and both have many of the same things. The shark tunnel is very cool and even a little eery!
We are blessed to have both within a 30 minute drive so I’m sure we’ll visit many times.
Did the IMAX make you feel “weird”. I can’t stand it. I get a little nauseous…like my equilibrium is off? I don’t know…I just close my eyes until the movie starts. 🙂
Omg, those pictures are awesome, i really like the one of you and “twinkle toes” lol 🙂
Oh – the pride of Nebraska! If we lived closer, we’d get a family pass and go much more often than we do…we haven’t even been to see the butterfly pavilion yet!
I missed this post some how!! Such awesome pics!! I just love the pic of him napping on the hippo 🙂
So neat to see all the fun you guys had, you all deserve it!
Christie ~ YES! The Imax was overwhelming… It was so HUGE! My girls were not very excited about it, and they also got nervous with the 3D glasses on, but my boys LOVED it!
Michele ~
That is where the park officials found him, after he wandered off.
Just kidding! :o)
found your blog on google. great photos. i love that zoo.
I saw your category for Nebraska Road Trip and had to have a look to see where you'd been. I saw you visited my hometown of Omaha! We absolutely love our zoo. Never get tired of it. They've added even more new things since 2008. We're so lucky to have Traditional Latin Mass here and of course all the FSSP priests are wonderful! Really enjoy your blog and all the wonderful ideas for homeschooling and celebrating the liturgical year. You have a beautiful family, Jessica! God bless you.
Oh, I would love to visit the zoo again, now that we have more children! It was such an awesome place! One of my brother-in-laws has been at the parish in Omaha for a number of years, but I can't remember if he was just moved to a new parish this summer or not… Hmmm. Anyhow, you are very blessed to have the FSSP in your area!
He is still here! We hope he can stay for a very long time. My kids really love him. The stories we hear of him growing up with his brothers are fun and he is the one who told me about your blog- and I'm glad. So many great ideas! Wish I could be so creative! God bless you. 🙂
He is wonderful with kids!! I wish mine could see him more often… And that makes me happy to hear that he shares my blog! I always wonder what those brother-in-laws of mine think about it! 😉 God bless you and your family too!