For Thanksgiving this year, Wade was needed in Omaha. So the crazies and I tagged along to familiarize ourselves with a new city. Omaha is, according to the GPS, six and a half hours from Swansea. For a family of five, it takes a little over eight hours. Wade spent five days at the various Best Buys in Omaha. The crazies and I did a lot of sightseeing and swimming.
On our first morning at the hotel pool, something happened that Rylan has been wondering about for years. When would he meet another Rylan? Noah and Sofia meet people that have their names all the time. But never another Rylan. Why? The other Rylan was also five. And he is from South Dakota. His sisters heard us talking to Rylan and thought he had the same name as their brother. So they asked him and sure enough, it was a match. It turns out that, he also goes by Ry-Ry and Ry. Both Rylans' got a kick out of greeting their name twin. Every "Goodbye Rylan", or "Hello Rylan" was met by fits of laughter. It was quite cute.
On Thanksgiving, Wade and I took the kids to see "A Christmas Carol". And then we ate at the hotel restaurant for our Thanksgiving meal. The food was really good. And it was nice to have a whole day of rest and relaxation with our family. But, it was sad to miss out on the traditional holiday festivities. I really would have liked to have seen my step-brothers new twins (Carter and Jillian) and visit with Natalie. And the food. I missed all of it too!
As far as our stay in Nebraska was concerned... We saw a lot of Cornhuskers. It was like a sea of red. I would have to say that Nebraskans (If that is what they're called?) really support their sports' teams. We saw one family brave enough to wear head to toe Mizzou gear. Just one...
On Friday, the crazies and I took a cab to the Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo. It's a really neat zoo. One of the smaller ones that we have been to, but it is a really great set up. And we were able to see a few new animals that we had never seen before. Namely, a fossa. Which is the mean animal that eats lemurs in the cartoon movie "Madagascar". Beautiful animals. The also have a large collection of gorillas. Including a six month old baby gorilla, Hadari. For whatever reason, he was being taken care of by the zookeepers. He had on a little diaper and he had his own rocking chair. He was the cutest little thing.
On Saturday, the crazies and I went to Omaha's Children's Mueseum. A smaller version of St Louis's Magic House. The kids particularly loved the ball room and the craft stations. Sofia made herself a princess crown, while Rylan and Noah made treasures out of recyclables.
