Henry Doorly Zoo

On the way back to Minnesota we made a stop at the zoo in Omaha.

winter camping, desert style

We spent three nights camping. Beautiful, but chilly (20-30* at night). By day it was sunny and 50*, perfect hiking weather.

playmates...everyday!

Conrad rediscovered how much he loves and adores Sam and Alison.

Snow Day 3 - cross country skiing

Actually, Sam and Tim hit the slopes again, this time Snowbird instead of Alta. Alison and I went to Solitude because I needed a place that would rent out a chariot for me to pull Conrad. What a cool contraption! I'll be saving my pennies to get one of these for next winter. Who needs four wheel drive or a tractor when we could use this to get up and down the driveway with a kiddo?

Snow Day 2 - snowshoeing

The journey was as beautiful or maybe even better than the view at the top. After so many hours of climbing though, we were tired and ready to get down to the car as quickly as possible!

Snow Day 1 - downhill skiing

Our first day of outdoor fun was spent downhill skiing at Alta near Salt Lake City. I can't even describe how perfect the day was.

how to pass 21 hours in the car...

(sleeping)

(eating)

(watching DVD)

.

.

(watching for and counting trains)

(playing tractors)

We had several shorter days in the car, but our new record of traveling with a kid is 21 hours in one day. We were actually anticipating 17 hours, but our route took longer than expected between Moab and Omaha. (scenic route in Colorado + lots of snow!) Not pictured is Conrad reading books - I love peeking behind me to see him looking at a book. Lately, he's been "reading" them to us by telling us the story about the pictures he sees.

we're not alone...

wow - in one day I came across two articles that encouraged me in our lifestyle choices. One from TwinCities.com (http://www.twincities.com/newsletter-morning/ci_11713016?nclick_check=1) and one in the NYTimes (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/garden/05fridge.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1&ref=science)

In other news, we just returned from a fabulous trip that included winter fun in the mountains and warm days in the desert, plus a day in a zoo. Pictures coming later...