Vacation out West Part I - the driving and Omaha

At the end of June, we took a month long trip out west to Utah and Wyoming to visit our families.  We loaded up the van with bags, snacks, and lots of Disney DVDs, and braved the 36 hour drive along I-80 across the United States.  With 3 children 3 years old and younger (one of which was 2.5 months old), I wasn’t sure how the drive was going to go.  Lucky for us, our children really are great travelers, and we made it exactly as we had planned.  On the first day, we left Pennsylvania at 4:30 am.  It was amazing because the kids slept for the next 4 hours, and by the time they woke up, we were 1/3 of the way to our first day’s stop.  The down side – mom and dad were so sleepy from packing up, cleaning up, and preparing the house to leave for an entire month the day before that staying awake during this blissful quiet was the most challenging part of the day. 

When the kids woke up, we stopped at a gas station to stretch our legs, fill up the van, use the potty, dress the kids, and find the breakfast I packed for the day.  We buckled the kids back in their seats, and hit the road again a mere 20 minutes after we originally stopped.  The kids didn’t complain because they didn’t realize they had already been in the van for 4 hours.  After passing back bowls of Fruit Loops (minus the milk), Go-Gurts, apples, and sippy’s of juice, the kids happily munched on their breakfast while watching our first show of the day.  We only had to make 1 emergency pit stop alongside the rode in the portable potty we brought with us, before we stopped again to fill up the van and our bellies.  After we filled up with gas, we stopped at a pizza shop and ordered a large pizza.  The kids ran around while we waited for it to cook and I nursed the baby.  Once the pizza was ready, we loaded up kids, loaded up plates for lunch, popped in yet another movie, and hit the road.  When the movie and lunch was over, all 3 children took an afternoon nap while we were still making good time.  At 4:30 pm, we pulled into the parking lot of our hotel in Gary, Indiana – Day 1 of the drive complete.  We had all evening to unwind, find a place to eat dinner, and swim in the hotel pool.  After 12 hours of driving (when you factor in the time change), mom and dad probably fell asleep before the kids did.

Driving ratio:

Bruce: 7.5 hours
Brittney 4.5 hours

After a quick continental breakfast, we once again loaded up in the van and headed west on I-80 toward Omaha.  With only 7.5 hours ahead of us, the drive on day 2 went just as smoothly as Day 1.  We stopped for gas once, lunch once, and potty twice before pulling into the driveway of some of our best friends from our Illinois days – the Wheelers. 

Driving Ratio:

Bruce:  3 hours
Brittney: 4.5 hours

Bruce: We were so appreciative that the Wheelers so graciously let us stay at their house for a couple of days – it’s not easy to let 5 extra people interrupt your lives.  It was even more impressive to learn that they had returned from a two week vacation the day before we arrive at their doorstep.  Not only did they feed us and give us a place to sleep, they also took us around to some of the great attractions the city of Omaha has to offer.

With the membership pass of Papa Kay (who took time away from work to meet us at the entrance), we headed to the Omaha zoo.  The Omaha zoo is very unique and the perfect place to spend the afternoon with a slew of kids, especially 3 who spent the past two days driving in a minivan. 

It took some time to adequately sunscreen 7 kids and 3 adults, plus nurse a baby.  While they waited, Eliza and Zabien climbed on some rocks and watched a small pond of fish swim around. 

 

When we were finally prepared for an afternoon in the sun, we headed toward the Leid Jungle.  One cool thing about the Henry Doorly Zoo is the unique and real life like animal enclosures.  This jungle was put together in a manner that it truly felt like we had taken a step into the deepest parts of the Amazon jungle.  It was so neat.  The kids walked across rope ladders, and each got a turn to swing on the vines like a regular Tarzan.

Brooklyn Wheeler is helping to steady Miss Eliza

 

Zabien swinging in style

The poison dart frogs were cool, but the large Amazon reptiles were so not my thing - I walked past them quickly in an effort to get to the Macaws and hippopotamus.  This Pygmy Hippopotamus was much smaller than its larger counterpart, but it was neat to see. 

 

From there we headed to the aquarium.  The kids got to put their hands in a small tank and touch several starfish, sea rocks, and other ocean credits.  Apparently this exhibit isn't always open so we lucked out that we were able to participate.  I was quite surprised that both Eliza and Zabien touched the sea creatures with absolutely no hesitation.  If there is any reoccurring theme from this vacation I learned in hindsight, it is that my children became significantly more brave by the time we headed back home.

 

Other ocean critters we got to see were jelly fish, sharks, stingrays, and tropical fish.  The penguins were very neat as well.  As we walked through the shark tunnel, Eliza spotted a stingray.  She turned to be and said, "if you touch the tail, you will get stung and you could die."  I really had no idea she knew such an important fact.

 

After the aquarium, we took a lunch break.  I managed to make most everyone's lunches with one hand.  While the rest of us enjoyed our picnic, Zaby got a little bored with the long wait he had to have (seeing as there were 7 children).  He opted to climb aboard the spotted turtles - these were a much more fun place to wait until he was served than the chairs at the table. 

 

After lunch, we headed to the African section of the zoo.  They are in the process of building a multi million dollar safari exhibit to house these animals, but it is still currently under construction.  We had to view the giraffes from a different viewing center.  Before we made it down to the giraffes, we stopped to take some pictures on these cute butterfly chairs. 

The younger kids kept switching strollers which was fine and dandy until we got down to the giraffe exhibit. 

After a quick headcount, we realized that 2 year old Annie May was no longer with our party.  While we were gathering the other kids together, she jumped out of the stroller and tried to hitch a ride on the Skyfari - a ski lift type ride that gives an ariel view of the entire zoo.  Yikes!!  We were fortunate that we noticed her Houdini attempt early enough to quickly locate her. 
When everyone was safely located, we convinced a passerby to take this group photo of us all. 

We may still look a little frazzled - we were worried Annika might run off again.  We are quite the crew with 7 children ages 10, 8, 5, 3, 2, 2, and 3 months.  By this time in the afternoon, we were all very hot and somewhat exhausted.  We decided to call it a day.  As we were trying to exit, we walked past this splash pad.  Without a moment's hesitation and in typical Zabien 2 year old fashion, he removed his shoes and started running through the water fountain.  Within minutes, he was sufficiently soaked.  At least he didn't complain about being hot anymore. 

 

 

 

That evening, Kara's parents joined us for dinner - brats with sautéed peppers and baked beans.  It was very tasty.  All the kid had fun playing with each other, and we enjoyed the Wheeler's company again.  We couldn't call it an official visit without a round of Settlers, and some leftover birthday cake from Bruce's birthday.  Thanks again Wheelers for letting us crash your home, even in the midst of minor remodeling.