We got a car full of folks together to see the sights and sounds of Omaha. Turns out much of the nation's college baseball fans felt the same way (thanks, NCAA World Series for the awesome traffic/parking/tailgaters!)
On the agenda: temple, zoo, then dining with raccoons. Yes, dining with raccoons. Come, watch the magic unfold:
Here is Stan, i.e. Kristan, my old roomie. She's the bomb dot com. The Omaha Zoo is pretty off the chain. It has won loads of awards for things like its desert enclosure--and its amazingly well preserved cave paintings! Pumba is much more hirsute in real life. This kookaburra was not loving his glass cage. He flew into the window several times in an attempt to break free. Here, you can also see Warren's creepy special friend: Doppleganger. Check out this bird's body/foot ratio. Totally unnatural. This dude is pretty much my hero. In the butterfly enclosure, Judy's six inch Waterfall of Imagination left much to the imagination.
The jungle dome had some super great spy moments. Stan, Cole, and large tropical bird on the jungle path--where they just let animals roam free! Rope bridges = still a good idea Family portrait with the lions, obvi. Biggest regret of dropping of Girl Scouts: no shark tunnel sleepover.
Biggest grad school achievement: shaking hands with a fake octopus. Biggest grad school fail: trying to perch a top a small giraffe statue. Sometimes dreams just don't come true.
On to Dining With Raccoons. A girl told me about this restaurant two years ago and it was almost as difficult to believe her as it was to actually witness it. But, true story, the Alpine Inn serves its trash to raccoons. And you can watch them eat while you eat a massive spread of fried chicken. It's just about as foul as you can imagine. But also, in the weirdest way, pretty freaking cool.
I call this image "Raccoon Boy."
Unfortunately, this was the only raccoon that dined with us. Afterwards, the feral cats moved in. They were pretty mangy.
Here is the treehouse in all its glory. Notice the bones piling up around it. Disgusting. So, friends, Omaha is pretty freaky. But also awesome.
Thank you so, very much for all your love and support!
Very special thanks to Mrs. Megan Ruth Stay--our fabulous and gifted photographer/all around wicked cool woman! To see more of her work, click here! My sister posted a few more images on her delightful blog, The Meanest Mom.