#12- Weekend Trip With Friends

Back in July I posted about my 25 Things birthday book. Over spring break we accomplished #12 by taking a roadtrip with friends. We initially had planned on a Colorado ski trip with my BFF Jobeth and her hubby, Kyle. But unfortunately Kyle's uncle was using his lodge the same days we would be... so instead of heading out west we headed north... to Omaha!

After the guys got off work and us teachers got out of inservice we were off! The 3.5 hour trip seriously felt like 30 minutes once me and Jo get going. I don't even remember what time we pulled into town and checked into our hotel, "The Camelot" (that wasn't really it's name but it should've been because the place looks like a castle... it even has a knight in shining armor riding a horse out front). We started our mini-vacay with a hotel party (cue R.Kelly and Cassidy's "Hotel" song) with some drinks and the hot tub!

Saturday we were up and at 'em for the continental breakfast, hitting the mall, then heading to the Omaha Zoo.

This is the desert dome which was AWESOME! The thing was huge.

Albino alligators creep me out.

My faves are always the monkeys/gorillas/apes... never really know the difference. This guy posed perfectly for me :)

They are so human-like it's scary!

I loved the baby monkey that was getting carried around by it's grandma (according to the signs).

This creepy guy was LOUD! No one can call me "Country Mouth" ever again after hearing this guy with his balloony-thingy he would puff up!

In the aquarium house I did indeed make Jo ride the sea turtle statue like Nemo and Dora did in Finding Nemo. I think Trent was glad that for once he didn't have to do these ridiculous things with me.

The penguin exhibit had to be my fave. They were SO cute!

Down front where there's a "Kids Zone" sign (and annoying adults like me) you can get right up to the glass and watch the penguins swim under the water and then pop back up through a hole onto their... glacier?? What do you call their ice block if it's in a building?

There's also an aquarium tunnel you walk through and all the fish swim above you. Cue "Jaws" music.

The jellyfish were pretty sweet too.

Jo and Kyle crossing into the rainforest.



These monkeys loved each other soooo much. It was the sweetest thing to watch. They would hug, kiss, groom each other, etc.

And then we had what Mike from Jersey Shore would call "A Situation." I think I'll leave it at that before I start cracking up all over again.

After 5 hours of nonstop walking and sight-seeing (and we didn't get to see it all) we said goodbye to the Omaha Zoo. We highly recommend it to anybody/everybody! Wayyy better than KC Zoo.

Next up was some bridge that was just built. Kyle wanted to see it cause his engineering firm designed it. Poor guy walked it by himself while the rest of us caught a catnap in the car. Sorry Kyle :)

We drove around for awhile exploring their downtown Plaza-like part of town and saw this. And I thought my carriage ride at Christmas time was sweet... this horse is way cooler lol.

After getting cleaned up we went back to the downtown Plaza-ish area for some Mexican food at a restaurant named Roja. We LOVED it. It had a cool atmosphere, neat decor, and lots of things that were literally on fire for decoration.

After finishing our dinner, we hit some of the unique shops and stores in the area. One store was a neat thrift store. That's when I found this beauty. If you watch Cougar Town, Courtney Cox drinks her wine from a big ole glass she calls "Carl" and I wanted one. I would've named my glass Big Red or Ruby Sue. But sadly the price tag of $25 scared me away. I didn't trust myself that I wouldn't break it... and then Trent would be really mad at me ;) If we ever go back and it's still there I'm taking it as a sign that God wants me to buy it and be happy!

To end the trip we headed back to The Camelot for our nightcap to end the trip. Poor Jo was doped up on meds so we didn't hit the bars like we planned to... there's always next time though :) Look out DJ's Dugout... we're coming at ya!