I made a very wise purchase yesterday morning. I bought a 2010 membership to the zoo! I took the boys to the zoo a couple of times last year and they had fun. The most recent time we went was early last fall when my parents were in town and they really had fun then (of course Pop Pop bought us all tickets to ride the little train, so the boys thought that was super cool).
This week I started thinking about the zoo again (especially yesterday after I posted that picture of us in t-shirts at the zoo in February 2009) and realized it would be extremely convenient to have a membership to the zoo this year. After all, the zoo is only about 15 minutes away, the boys are getting to the point where they'd rather walk than ride in their Choo Choo (which is fine by me - hauling 100 pounds around behind me is no longer fun!) and our favorite petting zoo type place is going to start charging for out-or-towners (us) this year.
So yesterday morning at about 10 I looked outside and saw the sun shining. I looked on weather.com and saw a projected high of 45. I looked at my kids, slowly going crazy in the living room and then I had an idea.
"Do you boys want to go to the zoo?"
A chorus of "yeahs!" came back at me, along with some jumping up and down. We all quickly used the bathroom, put on socks, shoes and coats and headed out the door. We pulled in to the parking lot and I turned and asked the boys if they'd like to ride in the Choo Choo or walk like big boys. They all excitedly chose walk, which I was fine as long as they obeyed me and didn't collapse on the ground in a tantrum when I said it was time to leave. I told them that and they all nodded.
Can I just tell you what an enjoyable experience yesterday was? They all held hands through the parking lot like I asked. They all sat in big chairs while I bought our zoo membership (which I paid $80 for and includes a guest with me each time and unlimited train, tram and carousel rides!). They all stayed with me when we were walking around. When I said it was time to leave one building and head to the only other indoor exhibit in the zoo they all willingly agreed. And there were ZERO tantrums!
We practically had the place to ourselves, which was great! We only stayed for about 90 minutes, but considering we have a membership now and can go whenever I wasn't worried about the waste of money like I would have been last year.
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9 comments:
That's awesome! Glad it was a success. Hope your guys get their (your) money's worth. Maybe you've got some future zoo-keepers in your crew.
Yay! Wish we had thought of that for a Christmas gift - it would have been a gift that keeps on giving. Can't wait to go with you guys in April.
ZM (I'll post this on my zoo post too!): I bought the individual plus gold membership. My boys are still free and will be for much of the year, so really I only need to worry about myself. I originally was going to just get the individual plus ($57) so that my husband or my sister (or anyone else!) could get in for free with me. They talked me into the extra $22 for the unlimited rides addition when I found out the boys were free right now anyway (under 3)!
Great pictures! It looks like you all had a wonderful time at the zoo. Isn't it wonderful when outings go so perfectly?!?!?
We got a zoo membership last year and I have to agree...it was some of our best money spent. It was great to be able to throw the kids in the car and spend some time wandering around the zoo. You'll definitely get your money's worth!
Oh, I LOVE zoos!
Your post just reminded me that I need to check into a season pass to our local pool though. LOL
I think we're going to follow suit and get zoo passes here! Thanks for the great tip! And hopefully we can check out your zoo next month :)
We have a zoo membership to our local zoo too, and we just love it. We spend a lot of days there in the summer, and just like you said, if there's a day where we're just not loving it, we leave, and don't feel bad about an entrance fee gone.
And here I thought we had it good with 35 today--I'm jealous of your 45!
We are in NY and we have a membership to the zoo also- it includes 4 zoos and an aquarium. It is sooooo worth it, especially when you start getting stir crazy from winter. We were actually thinking of going tomorrow!
I know your life is totally crazy some days, but this post (especially the pictures) capture the incredible joy you must feel on some days to be the mom of 3 great little boys. Makes me long for the days when mine was that age. Enjoy these times, they pass by too quickly.
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