MOPS Henry Doorly Zoo Play Date

My MOPS group had a playdate at the Henry Doorly Zoo on September 19th.

Alden, JD, & Clair played on the Lions while we waited for the other moms to arrive!

JD, Alden, & Clair had a great time together!

Alaina has the cutes smile!

And Ashleigh (and Alaina!) are always so stylish!

We had 9 moms & 1 dad and LOTS of kids come to the playdate! Christie's husband Mike was very brave hanging out with all of us women! (Mike took the picture for us!)

Jayger, Alden, Grant, and Mikenna liked to run ahead of all of us! They had so much energy!

We hit the gorillas and then walked over the Petting Zoo. Grant & Mikenna liked the goats.

The kids always find this ball so much fun! They got very soaked this time!

JD & Alden are only a few weeks apart in age and are getting to be pretty good friends!

Alden keeps getting taller and taller and taller....

We had a fun day with our friends, but it was challenging keeping up with all the kids and making sure we didn't lose one or two! My kids slept the whole way home!

Zoo Trip with Grandma Nancy, Uncle Chris, & Melissa

On August 24th, Alden, Clair, & I went to the zoo with Grandma Nancy, Uncle Chris, & Melissa. We dropped Samantha off at school and met them all at the zoo!

We started off at the Lied Jungle! The animals were very active that morning!

This monkey kept talking us and Clair and Alden tried to figure out what he was saying!

Alden liked the waterfall in the Jungle.

Next up was the giraffes! Alden loves to sit on this giraffe statue. He was too cool to take his sunglasses all the way off on this trip!

Clair is almost big enough to hold onto the giraffe by herself, but I had to make sure she didn't fall.
We visited the Aquarium next and as always, the kids love the penguins.

Clair & Alden really enjoyed having Chris & Melissa with us. They showed them all their favorite things to do at the zoo. Alden wanted to show them the sharks!

We took a break for lunch and ate at the Omaha Steaks Grill. It was delicious and Doug was very jealous because he has always wanted to eat there!

Since Samantha wasn't with us (she doesn't like petting animals), we walked over to the petting zoo. Clair loved the goats! Clair & Melissa were inseparable. It was too cute!

On the way back to the entrance of the zoo, we walked through the gorillas. Clair wanted to get up close and personal with them, but no gorillas came over to the window to see her.

Getting taller! Alden wanted to make sure he is still growing...he want to ride some larger rides at Disney World when we take the kids in October 2012...he just wants to know his options! :)

After the gorillas, we parted ways with Chris & Melissa and took my mom back to her apartment. We had to pick up Samantha from school at 3:15 and din't want to chance being late!

Henry Doorly Zoo & Omaha Children's Museum

August 10th was the last free Wednesday that Samantha & Doug would both be home, so we decided to make it an exciting day!

First, we got up early and wet to the Henry Doorly Zoo!

We stopped at the aquarium first! Alden & Samantha got to see if they have grown over the summer! (Click here to see our last "penguin" post!) (Click here to see our first penguin picture of Samantha and a penguin post from before Alden was born of Samantha!)

Striking a pose!

So tall!

We were the only people in the aquarium for 15 minutes! It was fun!

This is Clair's "attempt" at standing still to get a picture!

They looked through the "bubble" in the glass!

We had a great view of the Loggerhead Turtle in the shark tank.

Daddy & the kids!

We walked to the top of the hill to see the new Indian Rhinos. This is what they were doing when we got there...sitting in the mud. They didn't move one inch for us!

We were all the way at the back of the park and Alden started to whine about walking and all we had was the umbrella stroller, so Doug decided it was time for him to take Alden & Samantha on the Skyfari!

Off they go! They had a blast! Meanwhile...Clair & I had to walk to the front of the park...lucky us!

On our way out, we stopped for a quick picture!

Next, we ate lunch at Fazoli's and headed to the Children's Museum for the afternoon!

The kids checked out the Ice Age exhibit upstairs first!

The kids had fun uncovering fossils!

Clair barbequed me some steak...and watermelon!

The kids enjoyed the Richmond Gordman slides once again! This is Clair's favorite!

Peek-a-boo!

All squeezed in the Hippo!

Alden enjoyed climbing on the Hippo!

Before we left, we had to stop by the Ball Room! Our friends Christie, Mike, Jayger, & Mikena met us there before we left!

We had a few more errands to run, so we had a nice supper at Cheeseburger in Paradise and headed home!

Alden & Clair's Zoo Trip With Daddy!

Doug took Alden & Clair to the zoo on August 6th while I took Samantha to see the Smurf Movie.

Alden & Clair were in good spirits at the beginning of the trip!

Doug's plan was to go to the Petting Zoo, but they got there 6 minutes after it closed! The kids did remarkably well for not getting to go in, because they were excited to pet some animals.

From the petting zoo, they walked to the Bears.

Alden saw someone who was not supposed to be feeding the bears (not a zoo employee) and called them naughty! He even knows the animals have special diets!

They they walked to the Cat Complex. Alden is a big fan of the tigers!

It was a very hot day, and Alden insisted on pushing Clair around the zoo!

Look at him go! So strong! (Keep in mind that Clair is about 30 lbs...she almost weighs as much as Alden!)

Giraffe Class for Sam

On a nice cool July 23rd afternoon Doug took Samantha to the Giraffe class at the Henry Doorly Zoo.

Samantha - looking at the Okapi.

Okapi - This is the closest relative to a giraffe. It has the same head and tongue as a giraffe, but the same butt as a zebra.

The zoo keeper talked to the kids about the giraffes and the kids got to get up close and personal with the giraffes.

Samantha was the only kid that did her entire craft on her own, the other kids had helicopter parents that drove Doug nuts.

Samantha was very proud of her craft! She had the most colorful giraffe of the day!