Omaha

No this post has nothing to do with Peyton Manning...

On the Saturday after Christmas we got to go to Omaha for the wedding of a family friend and childhood neighbor of Justin's.  We left relatively early in the morning and made the surprisingly easy drive out there.  We arrived a little after noon and it was 60 degrees...weird!

It was a super fancy wedding, so we got all dressed up!

Seriously, it was probably the fanciest wedding I've been to.  It was in a humongous cathedral in downtown Omaha and the reception was at a fancy art gallery.  Aria got her own kid's plate of food that included mac and cheese plus a cool kid package of fun things to do.  It was assigned seating with fancy name tags and beautiful decorations.  It was quite the occasion and was fun to be around a lot of Justin's childhood friends!

We decided to stay an extra day because how can a family go to Omaha and not go to the zoo?  Even if Sunday, the day after the 60 degree weather, was a lovely -5.  We ran from building to building and took our time inside enjoying the animals.  There was still a lot to see.  Our favorites of the day were the 5 lion cubs who turned one year old that day

the awesome giraffes

a silly orangutan

and of course, the penguins!  Especially this one that just hung out by us in this bubble.

We also stayed an extra day because our hotel had a mini waterpark in it, but it was soooooooo cold!  Of course the play structure had one of those ridiculous buckets that Aria won't go near, so we spent our time in the frigid pool.

But the main reason we stayed an extra day was to see these people.

I wish I would have taken a better picture, but I was too busy catching up with my very dear friend, Gina.  She brought her family over to swim with us and we let the dads swim while we chatted and stayed where it was warmer with her one month old baby.  Then we got to go out for lunch with them, too.  It was so fun to connect with them!  It never matters how much time passes or what is going on in our life, we are always able to pick up right where we left off in college.  It does still seem a bit weird that we are all grown up with kids and stuff.  :)

So glad we got to have a fun little trip during Christmas vacation!