Whew! What a weekend!
Most weekends in the DeMoss household tend to be nothing short of crammed with fun activities for this family of three. Since Hubs and I both work full time, Monday through Friday, we tend to try to fit in at least one fun activity for the family to enjoy compensating for the hectic work week filled with day care drop offs and pick-ups, cooking dinner and of course working the traditional 9-5 job(in my case 8-4). One of our really good friends from high school moved to Blair, NE a few years back, and each year we make an effort to go out and visit him and his family for a weekend. They actually live only 30 minutes away from the Henry Doorly Zoo(Omaha Zoo) so after careful planning the DeMosses and Smiths decided to plan a trip out to the zoo.
I ended up being off work on Friday due to me needing to attend a memorial service for my uncle that had passed away in December during the heat of the pandemic here in Iowa. I dropped off Lou at day care around his usual time and then headed straight to the service that was located in Kamrar, IA(which was about a hour drive). I was driving solo(Hubs needed to work) so to bide my time and make my hour drive a little more bearable I put on Bailey Sarian and listened to her episode about a twisted love triangle. I always joke to Hubs that he would never be able to premeditate a murder because I would see it coming with all the true-crime shows/podcast/movies I watch.
It was a lovely memorial service, and it was nice to see how loved and celebrated my uncle was. He most certainly will be missed. After the memorial service, I ran home to finish up some last minute errands(post office, grocery store, etc.) before packing for our trip. I'm a BAD procrastinator when it comes to packing and always wait until the very last minute to pack up everything Lou and I will need for the weekend.
Luckily, Hubs got off early himself and was able to help gather everything we needed and load it up in the SUV. We opted to bring our big stroller instead of our pop-up, umbrella stroller we use at our local zoo and of course we couldn't forget the pack n' play for Liam. We also had ordered a stroller fan from Amazon due to the weather being rather steamy the past few weeks. Here is the one that we purchased, we liked it because it had a rechargeable battery and was able to wrap around the stroller(or any base) securely.
The original plan had been to pick up Lou from day care, hang out at home for about a hour, and then drive the 2.5 hours to Blair, NE. Since Josh had gotten off earlier than expected, and we were already loaded up, we saw no point of unloading Lou only to load him back up again 30-45 minutes later(and risk a nuclear toddler meltdown). So we decided it best to just drive to day care together and then head out from there. We ended up stopping at a Casey's just before we headed outside of town to pick up the essential snack items(which can be also be found on the impromptu anniversary weekend getaway post) with a few alternations(a juice for Liam and nerds rope for me-been craving them lately) and checked on our tire pressure before making our trek to Nebraska.
Honestly, I'm so surprised and happy with how good Lou did on that long car ride. Usually after about a hour in the car seat he gets a little restless and wants to be out of the car. I really can't blame him because I'm the exact same way(I've never been a fan of road trips). It probably helped that we also had his iPad charged up and plenty of snacks on hand in case he needed them. I totally recommend the following apps for the 2+ age range, they keep Lou entertained and also have some educational value to them so it feels like he's not JUST playing a video game: DuckDuckMoose's Fish School & DuckDuckMoose's Trucks are two of our favorites(and the best part is they are 100% FREE).
We made excellent time and were at our friend's house around 7 PM. By that time we were ALL ready to get out and stretch out legs as we started to lug in everything to the house and get Liam set up before we could relax and visit with our friends. Hubs and his buddy, Smitty, ended up popping out to the local grocery store to grab a frozen pizza for us, milk and some adult beverages for the weekend. While the boys were out running that errand, the girls(and Lou) hung out downstairs and just caught up(which we joked there really wasn't much to catch up on because it felt like there really hadn't been anything new or exciting happening in our lives). Lou and I ended up tucking in relatively early for the evening, opting to get some rest for our big day ahead of us.
The next morning was a fairly early one since we wanted to get to the zoo right when it opened. So after we were showered, dressed, and I had a cup of coffee in me(I cannot function without at least one) we were already to load up into our vehicles and head out to the zoo where we were meeting another set of mutual friends with their two littles. If you ever have the opportunity to go to the Omaha Zoo, DO IT! Seriously, this place is massive and they keep adding onto it with attractions and exhibits. Since we are members of the Blank Park Zoo, we got 50% off our tickets and Lou got in for free due to him being only two. We also opted to add on the String Ray package for an addition $4 per person leaving the grand total of our zoo visit to be just a little over $33(that's a steal!).
The first year that Hubs and I went to the zoo together(about three years ago) they hadn't completed the Safari Exhibit where they were getting elephants, so that was totally on my priority list to go see. We ended up working backwards through the zoo exhibits, leaving the desert dome and the aquarium for last as we left the zoo. The weather was honestly perfect, it never getting about 85 degrees, but needless to say I was happy we had purchased the stroller fan and I got a little bit of sun on my shoulders. We ended up breaking a couple of times, once around 11 AM to grab a hot dog and another time around 1 PM for the littles to have a snack break. The really cool thing about the Omaha zoo is they allow you to bring in your picnic lunches, so if you're looking for a way to cut cost that is totally the way to do it!
We ended up meeting our friend's back at their place and we grilled steaks, potatoes, corn on the cob and asparagus for dinner. After a busy, fun filled day Lou didn't even fight me to go to bed at 8 PM and I followed suit around 10 PM after visiting with our friends a little while.
Hubs and I ended up sleeping in a little later than we had wanted to(albeit the brief wake-up period at 7 AM that Lou thought we needed) and rose up around 10 AM. We showered, got dressed, and I made myself a cup of coffee as we gathered up our things and got ready to pack up for our long trip home. On the way out we ended up stopping at a gas station to fuel up(jealous of the gas prices over there!) and stocked up on some more snacks before it was time to hit the road.
We really did make excellent time, other than the brief detour we had to take to avoid construction, and all three of us were happy to be home(our dog was especially happy to see us!). I always joke that the worst part of vacation is coming home from vacation and doing all the odds and ends things to get ready for the work week ahead of us, such as: laundry, getting our house back in order and decompressing from the weekend.
Needless to say, we had an amazing time and cannot wait to visit with our Nebraska friends again!(hopefully we'll get to see them soon and not wait a whole year!).
