Road Trip South

The weekend that kicked-off autumn, Rachel made the executive decision to go down to the Omaha Zoo for Sawyer's 1st birthday. I had never been there, and we figured we could kill two birds with one stone and visit some of our friends as well. We traveled down Friday night, hung out with Warren and Company, and enjoyed the craziness that is children. Though exhausting at times, its worth every minute.

Saturday morning, we loaded Jr up and blasted down to the zoo. Pun intended, it was a fricken zoo.
I handled it far better than most would anticipate but drugs are good. Nick on the other hand was a twitchy mess. It was like herding cats. Hungry, whiny, cats. But in a good way......

The group tooled around the zoo checking out every nook and cranny that we could. The aquarium was very cool and a claustrophobic nightmare. Even Rachel put on the gas and got us out of there. I'm sure everyone was enjoying themselves just fine, but....PEOPLE....EVERYWHERE.....

It was a joy to carry around my little buddy and watch him look for stuff. He changes every day, and each week there is something new. He has become so aware of things around him and his eyes are sharp. This alone kept me forging ahead.

As the afternoon waned, our trip came to an end. In true Luca fashion, once he was done, he was done. We said quick goodbyes and I carried him all the back to the car. The poor little bugger was hungry, tired, and more tired. Thankfully, he slept the vast majority of the drive back and we were able to get back to Nate and Em's to get him fed and let him stretch out. It was a delight to spend an evening with friends again. We don't have friends in Clark and get a bit starved at times. I hope we didn't come off too strong.....


Sunday was a leisure day. Get up at a reasonable time, enjoy a great breakfast from Em, and take a walk around the pond. Nate and Warren are two peas-in-a-pod, and they will do just about anything together if given the chance.

Rachel wanted some family pics with the nice prairie background while we were out there. They went about as well as she should ever expect from the Livermore's.

I love these two to death.

A little bit more walking, and wiping up barp, this was the Dad life.

As we all dreaded, we eventually had to call it, and make our way back home to the tundra. We said our goodbyes, told Warren we would be back, and headed north.

With each visit back to Iowa, I feel our time in Clark is limited. We miss our family and friends, and we get occasional visits from some of them. It won't be long and we will find our way back to Iowa unless something crazy happens; but I like my odds.


Stay Tuned