Omaha Zoo

Today in history, the CIA declassified some documents and officially ruined the fun with Area 51. Evidently, that's where Eisenhower set us to making the U-2 spy plane in 1955. I read the BBC's version of the story.

Clear photos exist, but the blurry ones are more legit.

I'm sure the serious conspiracy theorists and UFO enthusiasts won't be deterred, but I wish government would have held something back so the likes of me - people who just like there to be some magic in the world - would have something to cling to. Sigh. Bright side: now we need to re-make Independence Day.

Today in Manhattan, we visited the pet store and helped Daisy pick out a new toy.

A wary Daisy watches Greg re-cart her toy.

They have Greg-sized carts and puppies are welcome. The entire operation was adorable.

Yesterday, we weren't in Manhattan. Yesterday, we were in a zoo. A zoo in Omaha, NE.

Julie and Greg are near, but not completely inside, a zoo.

We'd heard good things about Omaha's zoo and I wanted to start getting back into the habit of taking trips. In the spirit of taking it small we drove up to Omaha, spent the night, went zoo-ing the following morning, and then drove home during nap time.

Greg sees the camera, but I actually always smile like that in zoos.

It was a cool, rainy morning and the zoo was all but abandoned. After a brief visit with the monkeys, Greg let us know that monkeys weren't very fun and we diverted to a sure thing: the big cats.

Up close, lions look very big and very strong.

After a respectfully long visit with the lions and a colorful range of tigers, the monkeys got loud and we drifted toward the kid-friendly part of the zoo. Immediately, we began to see peacocks. Fortunately, the birds were disinterested and we made our way though lots of neat kid-oriented stuff (I met a chinchilla!), and Greg found his way onto the carousel.

Greg was enthusiastic to ride a rabbit.

After the carousel, we enjoyed many wonderful animals and - thanks to some careful route choices - went largely unmolested by birds. Despite the collection of very fine animal photos I assure you that we totally didn't not take, the photos that follow are all of Greg climbing on stuff.

Rhino. It was wet. Soon, Greg's pants and my shoulders were also wet.

Sea turtle. Their aquarium had a beautiful collection of jellyfish (not shown).

An exhausted Greg gleefully runs to the exit and the sleepy comfort of his car seat.

The official Greg report is:

• Birds - avian horrors. Observe carefully from great distances. No barrier (glass, fence, Dad, etc) offers any worthwhile protection. Exception: hummingbirds are fine as long as they are pretty.
• Monkeys - obnoxious and creepy. Sometimes they make scary noises.
• Fish - okay as long as you can keep your distance. "More, more, more, more, NO NO NO!" There is a distance threshold and it matters. Glass shark tunnels are not okay (I can't blame him there).
• Snakes and lizards: same as fish.
• Everything else is amazing! Also, when no actual birds are around, peacocks are his favorite thing ever.

The official Charlie report is:

• Is there a beaver? I want to see a beaver! Maybe an elephant! Coming soon?! I want to see an elephant now! Giraffes are amazing! There's an animal called a "bongo"?! There's trains! Do the trains scare the animals? Can I pet a duck? Corn dogs? Why yes, yes I love corn dogs. Thank you very much. Penguins! Is Greg as tall as a penguin? Yes, but the Emperor penguin is taller.
  ...
  It just goes on and on like that.

I like zoo :-)