Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium

Good morning, my friends. Are you ready to spend a few days at the zoo? That's how many pictures I took, despite my attempt to reign in my shutter finger. Once again, I took so many pictures it isn't even funny. Rather than show them all in one post, I'll show them to you a few at a time over the next several days even as we move on to new pastures. 

Let's just start with a map of the zoo. I took a picture with my phone as we walked by, and it helped us find our way around. It was a long day of walking and standing. My Fitbit logged nearly 10,000 steps by the time we left.

For today's batch of pictures, I'm going to show you the things we saw in the butterfly exhibit and the aquarium. The butterflies were magical, flitting all around. It was important to watch where we stepped, and we couldn't leave the exhibit without first checking all over ourselves for hitchhikers. There were full-length mirrors set up at the exit for this purpose. 

So let's take a look, shall we? I won't be identifying most things I'm going to show you because, frankly, I can't remember all of it.

This next image shows what the blue guys above look like when they close their wings.

Back outside, having rid ourselves of hitchhikers, we admired their beautiful gardens. Everything both inside and outside the exhibits was beautifully landscaped. The roses below were very fragrant.

There was much to see inside the aquarium as well. I wondered what a land-locked state would show us in their aquarium. It was like the rest of the zoo...divided up into regions of the world with appropriate species to see. We love these full-wall exhibits that can make you feel as if you're under water.

This little duck seemed interested in whatever Mike had to say.

This Emperor Penguin looks as if he's about to lead his friends on a march. This was an interesting exhibit, all glassed in, and apparently very cold inside. There were two areas where snow was falling and piling up, and the penguins were standing in the shower, enjoying themselves.

The rest are fish we might see diving in the Caribbean, and indeed, we have seen a lot of these fish on our scuba diving adventures.

They also had a wonderful jellyfish exhibit. Here's a video of one of the enclosures. I'll show more over the next couple of days. (If you can't see the video, click on the title of this post to be taken to the actual blog. You'll find the video there.)

Okay, so that's all I have for you today. I'll keep posting day by day until I get through them. We were particularly interested in the Lied Jungle (pronounced "leed"), and I'll show you those pictures in tomorrow's post. 

To finish off today's post, I was finally able to wash the Sticky Fabri-Solvy out of the fifth block for the Stitchin' Wisdom quilt. These are so much fun to stitch for the message they convey and also for the variety of stitches.

Today we have a short day ahead, although we'll be stopping in Lincoln for the International Quilt Museum about an hour down the road. I'm not sure what their policy is about photography, but look for my shutter finger to get another workout if it is allowed. If not, I'll tell you what I can. After the museum, we'll drive about another hour down the road, hoping to find a campsite. There are lots of options, but none of them accept reservations. It's all first come, first serve, and so we're hoping we'll be the first to arrive.

And that means their no time to waste getting under way this morning. The museum is open at 10:00 a.m., and we're hoping to be among the first through the doors.