Omaha

Guest Blogger Jared here. I get to fill you in on all the fun from our Omaha trip.

We haven't been back to Omaha since just after our wedding almost three years ago. So this was Lenna's first time visiting her grandparents' house. Last time we visited, we hit a really bad thunderstorm while flying in, so Mallory has stated that she never wants to visit during the month of August again. Fortunately, our flight was much smoother this time, so March is still on the list of acceptable months to visit.

One of the things that Mallory has always wanted to do in Omaha is visit the Nebraska Furniture Mart. It's the largest furniture store in the country, and she wanted to see it. So we went for a field trip on Wednesday afternoon to wander around at the Mart. Side note -- does anyone else ever look at some of the things in furniture stores and wonder, "Who buys this stuff?" It was fun to just wander around, and Mallory and Lenna can now say they've been there.

That night, my parents were kind enough to babysit Lenna so Mallory and I could go on a date. We went to see Alice in Wonderland, in 3D. It was the first time either of us has seen a full length movie in 3D. I thought the movie was decent, but I wasn't impressed by the 3D much. I think I'll stick with boring old 2D. Omaha has had a pretty hard winter this year, so the roads are full of potholes. While driving out of the movie theater, we came across a really giant one. It was probably 3 feet wide and 6 or 8 inches deep. I didn't see it until we were close, and I couldn't back up since there were cars behind me, so I had to drive through it. I was actually a bit worried that we might get stuck, but we made it out okay.

Apparently Lenna had a good time with Nana and Grandpa. She decided to practice her dancing skills while Nana fed her dinner.

On Thursday we went to visit the zoo. The Omaha Zoo is truly awesome - it's the second best zoo in the country, after the San Diego Zoo. It's always worth a visit when you're in town. One of my favorite parts of the zoo is the indoor rain forest. Here's a shot of Mallory on the rope bridge.
And one of Nana and Grandpa with Lenna.
And you can't forget about the Pygmy Hippos. Their pool is the world's largest flushable toilet. =)
This shot is pretty great too, since Lenna is definitely a live one.On Friday we went down to the Old Market and riverfront area of Omaha and just walked around through the market and along the river. We also drove across the bridge to Iowa on our way home, since neither Lenna or Mallory had been there before. It was Lenna's 12th state. That's pretty good for a one year old.Lenna did really well during this part of our trip. She got her own room instead of having to share a hotel room with Mom and Dad, and that helped her sleep a lot better. She stayed in my old room, which is now the exercise room. You all know that having kids is a workout, right?
Lenna also got a chance to learn a new skill while at Nana and Grandpa's house - going down stairs. She learned to go up stairs a while back, but since we have no stairs, hadn't learned to go down yet. Climbing up and down the stairs, all the way from the bottom of the house to the top was one of her favorite things to do while we were there. So for your viewing pleasure, here's Lenna sliding down like a pro.