let the benderday vacation begin!

every summer we meet up with our cousins and take a little vacation. this year it was our turn to head to nebraska (where the bender's reside). these six were pretty excited. well...five out of six were...look at rebel frannie's face! ;)

our first stop was university of nebraska's stadium. it was so pretty and well put together. there were two boys that were especially excited. ahem...

yeah...these little boys were too! ;) here they are with the national championship trophies.

check out that crew concentration!

even these two pretty girls love football!

ahhh....now there is a good picture!

and another.

and ANOTHER!

i'd say we've got his vacation off to a good start! :)

museums, playground & cousins...oh my!

no trip to lincoln is complete without a few stops at morrill hall and play parks.

vivian knows how much a despise birds...so here, of course, she is petting a stuffed one (even that freaks me out!).

sweet spider bauer.

all the cousins checking out the big fossil.

nat and frances.

now vivian is a prairie dog...that silly girl!

littles checking out a snake.

spider bauer is now joined by spider nicky.

the first exhibit is about bison, mammoths, and other large skeletal creatures. frances wasn't too sure. ;)

but everyone loved the excavation site.

this is just funny to me...mr. build it.

everyone checking out the mountain lion...

and the bison.

big girls imitating that funny bird.

and sweet girls smiling.

and three years ago we took this exact same photo. (frances wasn't even in utero then!) look how much they have all grown!!

henry dorley zoo

in case you didn't know (because i surely didn't) the omaha zoo has just been voted the #1 zoo in america. no joke. and now that i have been...i can totally see why. it is amazing...and truly these pictures don't even do it justice.

this was taken in the jungle. a multi-story complex where vines hung everywhere and all the animals were just a mere touch away...too cool!

the aquarium was this girls favorite!

admiring a teeny bird in the butterfly sanctuary.

pretty girl wanted her picture taken in the vine swing too...

i obliged, twice! :)

silly kiddos thought he dessert/caves were scary...or at least they pretended so.

like i said...pete and repeat.

big girl cousins.

vivian petting a starfish. she looks a little proud, no?

the shark tank crew.

frannie and nattie with the butterflies.

muscle men.

LOVE this boy!

i was totally mesmerized by the wonderful jellyfish exhibit.

petting a purple starfish.

all six (ages 2,4,6,8,10,12) checking out the new baby giraffe.

the two littles.

i have no idea what this is called but it is the size of my hand and looks like a hippo, a butterfly, and a jellyfish had a baby. i was STUNNED!

awwww....love this silly girl too!

climbing and clowning around.

waterfall and the kids.

monkey exhibit.

inside the bubble to see the monkeys.

bauer helping frances practice her smile for pictures. haha!

favorite picture ever!