Henry Doorly Zoo
Written by Karen   
Wednesday, 10 June 2009 02:53

Three weeks ago we were in Omaha and visited the Henry Doorly Zoo. If you haven't been there we strongly suggest you go. It is an amazing zoo. Unlike the zoo in Denver, it has several indoor attractions, which make it a great place to visit year round. We spent the majority of our visit in the Desert Dome/Kingdoms of the Night exhibit. A friend of mine is the curator of amphibians and reptiles at the zoo and he was nice enough to offer to show us around. We got a first class behind the scenes view of the zoo. 

We started out in a small room at the Desert Dome.  You can actually see the room that we started out in when you walk up to the building. In this room we held/pet/touched snakes, turtles, alligators, and lizards. I actually held a baby alligator. They are squirmy little things. Cooper touched several of the animals but was definitely taken with the turtle, and grabbed it. Chris and I had our first panic attack of the day, as Cooper decided to throw the turtle back into it's cage. Chris was quick enough to catch the little fella and get it back home safely. After petting a few lizards it was on to the snakes. Just in case you don't know this little fact about Chris, he is terrified of snakes. So when the first snake came out of its enclosure and was handed to Chris I grabbed the camera.

From Vacation May 2009

He didn't just hold one snake but 2. I was so proud of him, facing his fear and all.

From Vacation May 2009

Right up to the point where the snake ended up around my neck. Now I am not a snake lover either. And I really am not sure how all this happened but Chris returned the favor and grabbed the camera to capture the moment.

From Vacation May 2009

My face pretty much says it all. 

After all the fun with the snakes we moved onto the interior of the Dome. This is actually a view of an exhibit 2 stories above where the public sees it. It is an exhibit of raccoons and alligators. I won't go into the dynamics of this exhibit but lets just say that it is definitely a wild kingdom in there.

From Vacation May 2009

Then it was up one more level to an area that is used to keep animals that aren't on exhibit. There we saw Chameleons.

From Vacation May 2009

More turtles.

From Vacation May 2009

And my favorite.... People

From Vacation May 2009

Honestly, this was a really cool view of the Dome. We could see everything from up above and not have to deal with the crowds of people moving around.  Then it was off to see some frogs. I never realized how different frogs feel from one to another. This was how Cooper typically touched the animals, one finger high above the animal, moving in slowly to feel behind the head. All the while watching it intently making sure it doesn't move.

From Vacation May 2009

Next it was on to Kingdoms of the Night. I should explain now that my friend is in charge of all the amphibians and reptiles in the Desert Dome and his significant other is in charge of everything else (think fur and feathers). And at this point we moved away from the slimy slithery stuff and on to the cute and warm stuff. We started out by petting an opposum, seeing a coatimundi, and seeing a wallaby with a little joey in her pouch. Then we went through some of the exhibits to see some Foosa (ok people it is confession time. Chris and I didn't know that a Foosa was an animal. We thought this was just a name made up in the animated movie Madagascar and that Foosa were actually Hyenas. We were wrong. 10 years of higher education between the 2 of us and we did not know this.) After seeing a few more animals in there exhibits we went to go pet some Aardvarks.

From Vacation May 2009

These guys are amazing. They are super friendly. They feel like a pig with very short wiry fur. And they are solid. They also had a tiny mouth and the last inch of their nose is really flexible like and elephant.

This is one of those experiences I will never forget. Not everyone can say they have pet an Aardvark.

Next up a few Armadillos. Sorry this is a really bad photo but if you have been to the Zoo this is the little guy in the big display at in the Kingdoms of the Night, that looks like he is floating all over the bottom of the exhibit because you can't see his feet.  Chris thinks they look like tiny Winnebagos zooming around.

This is actually a 3 banded Armadillo. We also saw a 7 banded one too. They are totally different.

From Vacation May 2009

We saw one last frog before heading to lunch and I have to say this is my favorite photo of the day.

This frog is as big as Cooper's head is. Cooper isn't too sure of this guy and consequently this is as close as we could get him for the photo. I think his eyes say it all.

From Vacation May 2009

After lunch it was on to the big guys. These alligators have been trained to come in to eat when they hear a cow bell. Then they are trained to follow the stick and open their mouth when it is tapped on the ground. It was amazing to see these prehistoric animals follow commands better than our dog. 

From Vacation May 2009
From Vacation May 2009

At one point in time there were 8 alligators in this area. Chris, Cooper and I were behind a fence so we never were in a position that there wasn't something between us and them. Still I have to say that being that close made me a little nervous. It was really refreshing to see alligators treated with respect instead of being wrestled, manhandled, and paraded around by some Crocodile Dundee wannabe.  Chris was really interested in all of the awesome research and endangered species work that goes on at the zoo.

From Vacation May 2009

We took a quick tour through the new Butterfly Pavilion and saw these amazing moths.

From Vacation May 2009

Then it was on to the aquarium. I don't know why I didn't take any photos while we were in there but this was totally amazing also. We actually walked across the top of the biggest aquarium and watched the sharks swimming below us with their fins breaking the water ala jaws (DUUUUUH DUM, DUUUUUUH DUM, DUH DUM, DUH DUM). Chris was very interested in all the treatment of the water and everything they do in the aquarium.

The final part of our tour of the zoo was a golf cart ride around the perimeter of the zoo. Neither Chris nor I have been out to the far part of the zoo. It is so large you kind of get caught up in all the indoor exhibits and never wander out to the elephants, rhinos and whatnot. So this was a perfect ending for our day. And the only way to see a zoo. Thanks again to our friends for taking the time to show us the zoo. We had a very memorable day.

 
Vacation Photos
Written by Karen   
Monday, 08 June 2009 03:12

A few weeks ago we went to Nebraska and Kansas for Chris's nephew's graduation. We spent time with the whole family.

We had fun feeding the fish on the lake near Chris's brothers house.

From Vacation May 2009
From Vacation May 2009

We watched some Sponge Bob Square Pants

From Vacation May 2009

We spent some time with Grandma Ginger.

From 2009_04_20

We slept.

From 2009_04_20

We drove all over the states of Nebraska and Kansas.

From Vacation May 2009

We visited the local wine store, located right next to the local gun store.

From 2009_04_20
From 2009_04_20

We drove some tractors.

From Vacation May 2009
From Vacation May 2009

Drove the Ranger.

From Vacation May 2009

And played on the trampoline.

From 2009_04_22

In other words we had a great vacation.

I did skip over our day in Omaha at the zoo and botanic gardens. Those photos will be posted later in the week.

 
Coopers Review
Written by Administrator   
Friday, 05 June 2009 02:52

We had Cooper's annual parent teacher review today. All is well, he is ready to move up to the next class room. We actually already knew this. He seems bored right now with daycare. The teacher told us he is a fast learner academically and he loves his books. He and his closest friend in his room love story time and the teachers say that they could sit for hours listening if they let them. He has some self control issues when he gets riled up and has started pouting (which is driving Chris and I mad but I guess all the kids in his room are going through this phase now). All in all he is doing very well and will move up to his new room at the beginning of the school year (mid-August). The funniest thing we heard today was a story about him.

A few months ago Cooper went to the window and looked outside and said, "Where are you God, show yourself." I guess the teacher that overheard this got a good laugh and it made it around daycare. All the teachers thought it was cute. I have to wonder what he was thinking that day and why he said it. Who knows maybe he will follow in Grandpas footsteps... 

 
Milestones
Written by Chris and Karen   
Wednesday, 03 June 2009 03:09

Today was a big day for us. Cooper wore underwear all day, no more pull ups. Yup we have hit another milestone. No more pull ups (except for over night). Since Cooper pretty much waited until he was good and ready before he used the potty to begin with, he has had very few accidents in his pull ups (the worse time being when we were on vacation a few weeks ago which was unusual and expected). So this was just the final step in the potty training process. On the plus side for us no more buying pull-ups or diapers. All that extra money will go straight toward buying clothes since the Coop is growing like a weed and eating like a horse. 3 helpings of pasta at lunch today followed by several pieces of Cinnamon Bread at snack time. When we pick him up, his feet almost touch our knees.

Actually, this has been a big week for milestones. We recieved a letter in the mail saying," CONGRATULATIONS! You have paid off your school loan in full". That's right, one more school loan paid off and $212 dollars a month that we get to spend on underoos, size 5t jeans, and Disney t-shirts. YAY US! Only one school loan left to pay, I think we have about 16 months left on that one and then Chris's education will be bought and paid for! Who would have thought that actually going to college would be the easy part and paying for it would be the challenge? Now we can't wait to get that paid if full letter from our mortgage company...  Only 336 more months and this house is ours baby!

 
Big Boy Bike
Written by Chris   
Sunday, 31 May 2009 03:41

Cooper graduated from trike to big boy bike today.  We narrowed down his choices to the Thomas the train bike and the "Gravel Blaster".  There are two big indicators that he is growing up here: stepping up to the big boy bike is a pretty obvious one, but forsaking the bike with his beloved Thomas for the "Gravel Blaster" tells me he is beginning to understand the "cool factor".  Go ahead, say "Gravel Blaster" out loud and tell me that doesn't evoke the image of a mean machine that belongs to a bad boy in a tight white t-shirt with cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve and a switch blade in his back pocket.  We put it together for him while he was napping and he was pretty excited when he came downstairs.  He took to it right away and I had some trouble keeping up with him.  My favorite moment of the day was his first wipe out.  Sounds terrible doesn't it?  It was one of those falls that lasts 45 seconds from start to finish and thankfully decorative bunch grasses and mulch effectively broke his fall.  And best of all, no tears!  We just got him right back up to ride again.

Helmet: $25.00

Bike: $40.00

Painful lessons in the physics of turning corners: Priceless

Thank You Grandma Ginger!

From 2009_04_29
From 2009_04_29
 
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