Our first official family vacation is in the books. It only lasted a weekend, and we didn’t travel far, but it was the first time we headed out just as our family without a predetermined event to attend.
To test out the vacation waters, I planned a short weekend to Omaha to visit the zoo and stay at a hotel with a water park. I didn’t want to travel too far, stay too long or spend too much money for an experience we will probably do again in the next couple of years.
I had the full intention of waking up early Saturday morning and heading out by 7 a.m. to get there at about the time the zoo opened. If I have one true weakness I can pinpoint it is sleep — and sleep got the better of me.
We finally pulled out around 9 a.m. after packing up the car and making sure we had everything for the brief trip. The girls and I had just gone to the Ozarks the weekend before, so the two-ish hour drive to Nebraska seemed like a hop, skip and jump compared to where we had been.
Upon arrival at the zoo, we found it to be very busy. We splurged on the extra packages and headed to see animals the girls had only seen on television or in books.
Our first stop was the aquarium. The girls loved all of the fish, especially those resembling Nemo or Dory. The underwater tunnel showed them sharks, starfish and countless other animals and fish. They even had the chance to see an octopus.
The next destination at the zoo were the elephants. As we were making our way there, my oldest daughter saw the sky glider. Even though she is afraid of heights, she loves that ride and made sure we knew until we were on it.
The elephants were a no show, which was disappointing, but we took a train ride that gave us an up close look at a couple of rhinoceroses and some zebras. We checked out all of the big cats and monkey varieties before going to stingray beach where my youngest hesitated to stick her hand in and pet the underwater birds.
Patience was beginning to wane by then, so we grabbed a snack and hit up the bears before calling it a day at the zoo. Overall I think the girls enjoyed it. Next time we might go on any other day but Saturday and during a different season to avoid the crowds and lines.
At the hotel all the girls could think about was swimming. My husband and I hadn’t eaten anything yet so we ordered a pizza and ate before we headed down to the pool.
“Pool” might not be the best way to describe the water park. To the girls’ delight, there was a lazy river, 10 or more slides, a water castle to climb and a pool to show off their new swimming skills.
They spent several hours doing anything and everything they could at the water park. My oldest got especially brave going down all of the slides by herself multiple times.
The girls had just finished swim lessons the day before and were eager to show off their ability to swim under water. Without any fear, both plunged under and swim a yard or two, popping up with huge smiles on their faces.
As the sun began to set, we called it a night and headed back up to get washed up. On the way out, their girls noticed a game room/arcade similar to Chuck E. Cheese’s so we made that our nightcap before heading to bed.
For a first trip, I think it went pretty well. I know we continually need to work on patience with the girls, especially my oldest, and waiting for special treats instead of instant gratification.
Now to figure out where to go next year.
Contact Jamee A. Pierson at
jpierson@newtondailynews.com