Day Five--Our Day at the Zoo

Grandpa took us to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. We'd been looking forward to this little adventure since we first planned our trip out here. I wish I could say that we enjoyed it immensely, but unfortunately, we will mostly remember how hot it was! We got to the zoo around 10 a.m. and hit the outdoor exhibits first so that we could see the ones indoors during the hottest part of the day. Actually, some of the outdoor attractions are still somewhat indoors, meaning that they are inside enclosures but are not necessarily air-conditioned, so even those really weren't all that bad. We got to see all the coolest animals, like the big cats, the "new" Gorilla Valley habitat (the last time we were there was 3 1/2 years ago when this was not ready to open), the bears, etc., before we got too hot and tired. One thing that I really enjoyed was seeing the new babies that were on display. There was a set of twin tiger cubs that were born just 2 weeks ago as well as a baby gorilla and a baby macacque (it's a type of monkey) that was just the cutest little thing. I have pictures, but of course I am still trying to figure out how to post them on this blog. Anyway, after seeing the main attractions, we had to make a circle around the park to see a lot of the other animals, and it was like walking uphill both ways! Lots and lots of exercise, considering we were pushing both kids in their strollers at a pretty steep incline. We couldn't believe how tiring it was, so we were glad when we'd seen all we wanted to see outdoors so we could hit the stuff indoors. By that point, we were all so worn out (I know, we sound like total wimps!) that we breezed past most of it just so we could feel like we'd seen everything before we left and were just glad to be able to escape the heat.

After leaving the zoo, we stopped at McDonald's for lunch. That is what our kids like best, and we thought that would be a nice way to end the outing for them. After lunch, we headed back to the house, where we spent the rest of the evening relaxing. When Grandma returned home from work, we had dinner and the kids went to bed early (Zachary at 7:30 and Ashley around 8:15). I can't believe they are still asleep, but they've both been staying up later than they should and I guess it has finally caught up with them. Chris and his mom and I played a few games of Settlers and one round of the train game before it was time for her to go to bed. I was in the middle of doing some laundry, so Chris was waiting up for his pajamas to be dry but eventually gave up and went to bed awhile ago. I was working on a card and didn't want to have to save any part of it for later. I like how it turned out, but it just seems like something is missing. I'm not sure what it is, but aside from that, I was pleased with the results. Oh, I also finished up another card that I'd started yesterday. It required a zig-zag stitch, which I asked Chris' mom if she could help me out with since I don't sew. She pulled out her machine and tried her best, but the paper was probably too thick and her machine couldn't do the trick. She ended up removing the thread one last time and just ran the needle over the card to place some holes so I could stitch it by hand with embroidery floss. The results were reminiscent of my earlier days of cross-stitching failures, but I think from the outside of the card, it doesn't look bad. It's a birthday card for my sister, so she has to love me anyway. :) I think I'll need some lessons on paper-sewing before I attempt this type of card again.