At the Zoo

Last weekend Nate and I went up to Omaha to see my mom and the Colorado Springs Children's Chorale. The Children's Chorale was on their way to Chicago (via bus) for a music festival and stopped off in Omaha for a concert and a trip to the awesome Omaha Zoo. So Nate and I decided that this was a great chance to take a trip to Omaha, go to Winter Quarters, hear the chorale perform, visit the zoo, and most importantly hang out with my mom.

Below are some of the interesting creatures we saw at the zoo.

In the Desert Dome, the world's largest indoor desert, we saw this small, deer-like creature, and 2 day old ducklings. The ducklings were tiny, but they were swimming around like crazy.






The Henry Doorly Zoo is the home of this White Alligator. Apparently, there are only 13 white alligators in the world, and they are not albinos. This alligator's skin is white as a result of a rare genetic mutation called leucism. Leucistic animals have no melanin in their skin so they look white. The alligator is 19-years old, 8-feet long, and 180 pounds.


We made a stop in the aquarium to watch the penguins and see the sharks.


Even though I had some food on a stick too, the parakeets in the Budgie Experience liked my mom a lot more than they liked me.


On the way into the largest indoor rainforest in North America we stopped to say hi to Bob, Judy, and Phyllis.


Here we are in the rainforest.


Huge, lazy Asian Tapirs. They kind of remind me of the pigs at the farm.


Crossing the bridge on the canopy tour.


A Clouded Leopard.

A Gibbon.


A Red Parrot


The Sloth poses for his close up.


The giraffe wants us to come back soon.

Who Knew Shredded Wheat Could Be So Fun?!

Perhaps there's a reason Dad enjoys his shredded wheat so much, but he just hasn't been able to express it the way Savannah did!
She spent about 45 minutes eating Dad's cereal, following every bite with a giggle and a crash landing on the bed.
As a side note, Rod is very proud of the "perfect form" Savannah is demonstrating in the second picture (notice the pointed toe).

Zephyr is a Crazy, Jumping Cat

Ok, so I know I already posted some pictures of Zephyr jumping, but these pictures are even better than the first! Look how high she can jump.



As you can see, not only will Zephyr jump for her toy, but she also often gets it. And I love how she has her mouth open in this second picture.

Overland Park Voted In Top 10 Places To Live

I know that a lot of people out there think that Kansas is the strangest place a person could live. However, most of the people I know in Kansas like living here. That's why it was nice to see that Overland Park showed up in CNN's Money as one of the top 10 places to live in 2006. This is what they had to say:

Office buildings in downtown Overland Park.

6. Overland Park, Kansas

Population: 164,800
Typical single-family home: $250,000
Est. property taxes: $3,500
Pros: Abundant high-paying jobs and affordable housing
Cons: Feels like it was designed by the folks who invented cubicles

Envisioned as a "parklike" bedroom community on the outskirts of Kansas City more than 100 years ago, Overland Park has gone to the second-biggest city in Kansas, with more than 160,000 people spread over 57 square miles. A third of Fortune 500 companies have offices in the area, including Sprint-Nextel, which employs 14,500 locally. Competitive salaries (the average income is nearly six figures) can buy you a whole lot of house: Existing homes sell for half (or less) of the cost on the coasts.

You can read more about the report here: Best Places to Live.

It also should be mentioned that: Nearby Olathe, Kansas came in at #13; Coming in at #11 was Jenny's former home of Plano, TX; Jim's old home of Cary, NC came in at #5; And the number one "Best Big City" was JoLee's home town of Colorado Springs, CO.

Air Force Academy Chapel in Colorado Springs.

mom is learning how to post pictures on the blog!

Happy memories of cookie making at Trajan. 

Hoops and Yoyo

Hoops and Yoyo dropped by for my birthday, which was awfully nice of them. Also, thanks to everyone who gave me a birthday shout-out. It was fun to hear from all of you.

Savannah in Arkansas

We just got back from a vacation in Hot Springs, Arkansas!
We stayed at the Price's condo & had a fabulous time relaxing, biking, hiking, swimming, and playing. You can check out our entire photo album on my shutterfly account!! 

The Mazes at Powell Gardens

For my birthday I requested that we go see the Powell Botanical Gardens. The Powell Gardens are about 40 minutes east of our house. They had an exhibit of mazes. Several artists build the mazes, which are scattered throughout the gardens.


This was probably my favorite maze. It was really fun to walk through these tall, flower-like, bendable poles.


We didn't really get this maze, but it made for a funny photo opportunity. We were sad there wasn't anyone else around so that they could take the picture for us.


Navigating more fun mazes.

This maze was set up like a laundry line. It was one of our favorites.




This maze may not look like much, but it sung in the wind.


The gardens were really nice too. We especially liked the water garden. It has a really cool waterfall and the largest living wall in the country.






There is also a chapel on the garden grounds. Its architectural design is absolutely stunning.




I guess a trip to rural Missouri wouldn't be complete without a tractor. They were doing some work on the gardens.

Zephyr Does Tricks and Likes Small Spaces

Need I say more?