Omaha

I don't think I have ever been to Omaha. So, as we were looking for a weekend trip for the summer we thought, why not? 

Our kids do not pack lightly for a road trip.

"Buppy" (puppy)

All of Evy's best stuffed friends.

In downtown Omaha there is a cool old candy store. The kids were able to ride this pony for a nickel. 

He kept saying "Bumpy!"

The main objective of our trip was the Omaha Zoo. Here, Scott and the girls take the world's shortest camel ride. 

Will liked brushing the goats.

It was sooooo hot and these girls were running out of steam.

I think the tram ride was our favorite. We got to sit down and there was a nice breeze way up in the sky!

This guy was awake from Midnight to 4 a.m. in the hotel room the night before. Looks like it caught up to him. 

The next day we thought we should see more animals so we checked out a drive-through wildlife park just outside of Omaha. 

Elk

More goats!

Bison

The girls said they really liked sitting in the car and relaxing while looking for animals. 

4th of July Weekend

We packed a lot into the weekend. The weather was abnormally cool so we did not go boating or spend much time doing typical summer activities. We kicked the weekend off by taking Will's pacifiers away from him cold turkey (more on that later).

A cool Saturday night was perfect for camping out at home. Will started with a cough and cold and had about a 100 degree temperature. Typical for a holiday weekend.

Scott and the girls slept in the tent. Will was awake literally all night with a cough and missing his pacifier. I wish I would have chosen to sleep in the tent!

Could not wait for dark to do fireworks.

On July 3rd we went ice skating. This was Charlie's first time. She stuck pretty close to the wall but wanted to do it by herself. 

Grandma Joan and Papa Jake were in town for a few hours and watched fireworks with us.

It has been several years since we've watched fireworks. We decided to venture out this year with all three kids. It worked out perfectly and the cool weather was great!

Will spent most of the fireworks covering his ears and saying "Bireworks. Loud." But he didn't cry. 

We love the Coralville 4th of July parade and are grateful to our friends who get up early and set up a tent for prime real estate. 

It wasn't great pool weather but we hit the pool after the parade. It's become a fun tradition to meet up with a bunch of friends on the 4th. 

Summer Ride

The rides in City Park are one of our favorite summer traditions. For some reason we only manage to make it there once each year. Will got to ride the rides this year for the first time!

Lego Camp

Evy loves the game Minecraft where you build imaginary towns, buildings, etc. So, I signed her up for Lego camp to keep her passion for building going strong. Her best neighborhood buddies joined her. It was fun to watch her presentation at the end of the week where she had to describe what types of gears she used in her project.