Spring break started out with a road trip to Atwood to visit Eunice and the rest of the Braxmeyer clan. We decided to flip Eli around hoping that riding forward-facing would provide some built-in novelty for the 4 hour drive. Silly me tried to snap a quick picture which had him requesting 'pitchers' before we were even out of the driveway.
Road trips with an almost-two-year old go something like this. 'Truck!' 'Big Truck!', Sing-along, book, book, book, 'pitchers', 'sock' (snack), iPah, repeat. Ryan recently purchased Eli his favorite MusicColor app for $4.99.
$4.99?!? 600 miles later...totally worth it. Other favorites include Peek-a-Boo vehicles, GoodNight Safari, and did I mention 'pitchers'?
While in Atwood we hit up the park, the store, and (while Eli was sleeping) the shooting range. I have a bit of an optical condition that makes it rather difficult for me to aim at anything. However, after some expert instruction from the little brother, and the foresight to not shoot with both eyes open, I hit the targets! The ones I was aiming for!
Later in the week we hopped back in the car for a little family trip to Omaha. We headed straight to the Omaha Children's Museum which was great for Eli! They had an entire area that was perfect for his age and interest. A fire truck to climb on, a lawn mower to push around, and balls to play with. What more does a little boy need? He also loved running through the 'maze' and I loved that all of the 'exits' came out in the same spot so I didn't have to worry about him sneaking out the back. They also had a few other areas that he can definitely grow into in the future.
After a nice long nap (for all of us) and a little bracket strategizing, we headed down to the Old Market to meet up with our good friend, Mike, for dinner.
The next morning started out with some truck watching out the window (arguably Eli's favorite part), a hot breakfast (hands down Ryan's favorite part), then a trip to the pool (probably my favorite part). Eli did great in the pool and hot tub. He practiced blowing bubbles (kind of), floating on his back (kind of) and fulfilling my dream of having my very own cutie-patootie in a swimming suit (all those years of teaching 3 year olds while dreaming of one day having my very own).
After a little power nap we headed to the Omaha Zoo
(along with the entire state of Nebraska) to enjoy the animals and the 70 degree weather . Eli loved the animals - especially the monkeys and the lion. Eli did not love having to hold our hands or be held. Unfortunately, we heard No! loud and clear a few more times than we would have liked. Needless to say we were exhausted by the time we exited the Desert Dome and headed out of the zoo (anyone else feel like they entered the Hunger Games or The Truman Show in that thing?).
We finished up Spring Break with a visit from Aunt Katelyn. Eli escorted the girls to Library storytime on Saturday morning where he worked the crowd (he literally shook a little girl's hand) and meandered around the carpet until I convinced him that story time was meant for sitting and listening not wandering. He could have done without Andy, but all in all it was a pretty successful trip.
