Fun at the zoo and the eternally long dinner

The Henry Doorly Zoo of Omaha was jampacked with vacationing people, but it was a wide, spacious and beautiful animal sanctuary. The first activity was the carousel - Emma really wanted the horse with the red roses on it, and she got it! Next was the bears and the gorillas. We really enjoyed the gorillas, they were walking about, playing, eating, relaxing and other stuff. It was also fun seeing the wrinkly old elephants and the docile rhinocerous. Aunt Faye really liked the monkeys and Emma really wanted to see the birds. It was so hot and humid that Eli needed to be carried, to get some fresh air and catch a breeze. But because we didn't have any suntan lotion for him, I had to find shadowy places to walk - in the grass, on the sidewalk, on the street, up along buildings, wherever trees cast their shadows.

For a late lunch we squeezed into a nearby McDonalds, it was packed in there but we found enough space to munch our food. Then it was off to Iowa City for our last hotel stay. We made really good time there, got stuff unloaded quickly and got ready for dinner. The adjoining restaurant seemed nice enough, but once again, the place was mostly empty. We have noticed this pattern very often...on the upside, we thought that we could get quick service, get in and out and into the pool for a long time - and maybe even get the kids to bed early so that we'd be rested for our last travel day. Alas, it was the longest meal ever. We waited thirty minutes to place orders for our drinks and meals. We waited another twenty minutes for our drinks. Another thirty minutes for our salad and appetizer, and another twenty minutes for our main dish. It was ridiculous. There was one cook and one waitress for three families, and two of the families were our whole clan. When the Iowa ribeye did come out, it was very delicious. But we scarfed our food because it was 9pm and we were very hungry, and because the pool was calling our name.

Emma went all the way under the water with her goggles on! She did it so many times that she made herself sick and had to get out of the pool for a couple minutes. But then she was ready to jump back in again! She's a fish! Levi, Isaac and Eva had fun sharing the goggles and playing the pool as well. Now we're in bed and getting ready for the last day of vacation. We're ready to be home, since we miss home - but we've loved being on vacation with Aunt Faye and the clan, and we'll miss all the fun - but we'll never forget the memories. Tara has taken over a thousand photo's of the trip! We'll have lots of fun remembering our trip for decades to come.