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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Omaha - Zoo/Museum
We are taking the kids to Omaha over Labor Day Weekend. Any tips on what to see at the Zoo or a certain path to take? My kiddos won't make it all day - so I'd like to focus on the "hot spots" first to ensure they get to see them.
Also - same goes for the Children's Museum. Any tips? I'm not so much worried about the museum as it will just be us and G - my mom is going to stay with D at the hotel. But, any tips are welcome!
Thanks!
www.babiesandbroccoli.blogspot.com
Re: Omaha - Zoo/Museum
I LOVE the Omaha Zoo!! I agree that the gorilla and orangatang house is great and right now they have some babies in there to see, too. The bears are fun to watch as well as the cat house. Children always seem to love the rainforest and desert. The basement of the desert is the swamp area which is very cool but it is dark down there so if your kids are really young and afraid of the dark it might not be so much fun. The aquarium is neat, too. It has lots of penguins and also has one of the aquarium tanks that you walk under and the animals swim over you.
Although not the most exotic of animals or things to do but I have always loved feeding the huge koi fish that swim under the big bridge. The zoo sells food you can buy a handful of out of the little candy-like vending machines but we always took a loaf of sandwich bread in the wagon or stroller to tear up and throw at the fish.
I haven't been to the children's museum for a few years but it depends on what the traveling exhibits are set up. They have a nice website that should help you pick out some exhibits to go through!
Skip the desert dome...it is lame and takes a long time to get through.
The museum is so much fun! I took my 4 year old DS and my 20 month old DS this summer and they had a blast! It's not a huge overwhelming size. We played in all the rooms, spent more time in one then the others, but we were done in 2-3 hours. There is one room, the science room, that is a bunch of tubes and balls. We spent most of the time in there. The kids can put the plastic balls into the tubes and watch them get sucked up and spit out somewhere else. There is also a gathering spot for the balls in the middle of the room up high where you can stand under and every few minutes it opens up and drops balls all over the place. I had never been to a children's museum before so I had no idea what to expect and we had tons of fun.
Upstairs is the traveling dinosaur exhibit. It costs $2 extra dollars to go see it. If you kiddo isn't that into dinosaurs then save your bucks. It's neat but not worth $2 in my opinion. My kid is really into dinosaurs right now. He liked it but wasn't totally wowed by it.
As for the zoo...... Our favorite things were the rain forest, gorilla house, the bears, cats and the aquariam. Under the desert dome is a night animal exhibit, complete with a swamp which is really neat but if your little ones don't like the dark then they wouldn't care for his exhibit. Some of the park seems really spread out while other areas aren't so much. We walked way out of our way to go see the rhinos, which turned out not to impress anyone in our group to much. It was all up hill too. When they get their elephants back up there then it would be worth it I think. So I guess my best advice would be is to check out the map and figure out what you want to see before you go. That way you can make a plan and not feel rushed.
Have fun!
You must, must, must go through the aquarium. It is my favorite! We also enjoy the new gorilla exhibit. I think the Rainforest is neat, but it's also humid and tough with a stroller. Skip the Desert Dome. It's dull, in my opinion. If the polar bears are swimming, that is another must see... they were cleaning the cage when we were there in June
The petting zoo is nice, too. I enjoyed the Skyfari as well.
I've only been to the museum once. The dino exhibit (not sure if it is still up) is very similar to the one at Blank Park Zoo right now.