Today I broke out my zoo pass to take the kids to the local zoo. They had a day off from school and it seemed a good day for it. I was frustrated and dismayed to discover that the local zoo does not honor the zoo pass that I have. Grr. That completely derails my plans for taking the kids to the zoo regularly all summer long. Fortunately the local aviary DOES honor the pass, so it isn’t completely wasted. I would not have minded this discovery so much if I’d made it by phone rather than at the zoo entrance with 4 children hyper to see the animals. I decided to just spend money on admission and let the kids see the zoo. I then had to prevent myself from spending the rest of the afternoon making mental price/fun ratio comparisons.
Fortunately the kids had no such mental arithmetic to disturb their enjoyment. They ran gleefully from exhibit to exhibit admiring animals. They also got joy from the running I think. Each trip to a zoo has a different highlight from previous visits even if the zoo is exactly the same. The highlight this time was the small animal and reptile house. I think part of the reason we spent so much time there was that the kids were worn out from all the running. They were ready to stand still and watch squirrel sized monkeys at play. Also it was warm inside the building and outside was a bit chilly. Patches favorite exhibit was the one labelled “This exhibit is empty”, to further emphasize the emptiness of the exhibit some employee had placed a toy godzilla, a toy airplane, and a toy car on the rocks. Patches thought the purple car was the coolest exhibit in the zoo. He likes animals, but he lights up for machines. I need to take him to the aerospace museum.
The kids all had a great time. I did too once I managed to let go the frustration. The museum had an art exhibit that completely wowed Kiki. Some of the art was done by children her age and we spent a few moments learning how to submit art for next year’s exhibit. Kiki is fully capable of doing something show worthy if she decides to devote herself to it. Kiki was also much struck by the old houses in Salt Lake City that we drove past on the way to the zoo. She has decided that she never wants to live in an apartment. Instead she wants to move into a little house like the ones that we saw. In fact she intends to start saving money for a down payment so that she can achieve this goal.
I’ve definitely come away from today’s trip feeling inspired to take my kids to more zoos, museums, and other cultural places. They think new thoughts after seeing such things. And I’ve discovered that my crew have reached ages where it is possible for me to keep track of them all without feeling frantic the whole time. I love that my older kids help me keep track of my younger kids.
1. Sorry about the zoo, but, don’t forget that during the winter every last Wednesday of the month is free zoo day! You can check it out on the internet. March might be the last month, I can’t remember.
2. Do you have spring break? We are going to St. George for my brother’s wedding that is luckily coinciding with our spring break.
13th through the 24th. We’ve been wanting to go to the Children’s Museum or some such place. I’ll have to write an official e-mail.
3. LOVE that his favorite display at the zoo was a plane and car!
4. I like to think that every time I walk with my kids to and from school it’s like walking through a big world exhibit. Today we stopped to watch the weird behavior of 4 cats sitting on a porch. The other day we watched a pair of Bush Jays and wondered if they were a couple. 🙂
…Museums and zoos are WAY cooler…
If you ever find yourself in St. George go to the International Wildlife Museum. (it’s a museum full of almost every animal (taxidermied) that you can think of.)
5. Tell Kiki that she will need to start saving NOW if she wants one of those really great cute little old houses that she saw… 🙂 those houses are EXPENSIVE now, by the time she wants one, who knows how much they’ll be!
1. Sorry about the zoo, but, don’t forget that during the winter every last Wednesday of the month is free zoo day! You can check it out on the internet. March might be the last month, I can’t remember.
2. Do you have spring break? We are going to St. George for my brother’s wedding that is luckily coinciding with our spring break.
13th through the 24th. We’ve been wanting to go to the Children’s Museum or some such place. I’ll have to write an official e-mail.
3. LOVE that his favorite display at the zoo was a plane and car!
4. I like to think that every time I walk with my kids to and from school it’s like walking through a big world exhibit. Today we stopped to watch the weird behavior of 4 cats sitting on a porch. The other day we watched a pair of Bush Jays and wondered if they were a couple. 🙂
…Museums and zoos are WAY cooler…
If you ever find yourself in St. George go to the International Wildlife Museum. (it’s a museum full of almost every animal (taxidermied) that you can think of.)
5. Tell Kiki that she will need to start saving NOW if she wants one of those really great cute little old houses that she saw… 🙂 those houses are EXPENSIVE now, by the time she wants one, who knows how much they’ll be!
The little car exhibit is so cute, and so like my son. He enjoys the animals, sure, but wheels are his thing.
With my oldest nephew, we ended up buying a museum membership to the Museum of Natural Science here in Houston every year. That boy could spend an hour gazing up at the dinosaur bones every Saturday of his life… and did, whenever he could get us to drive him. Museums and zoos are totally cool, and a much better investment than a movie.
The fun thing about taking kids to the zoo, etc., is their fascination with things we, as adults, tend to avoid looking at. We took my son to the giant Livestock Show here in Houston last week, and had to stop walking several times so he could watch a cow.. “go.” Yuuuck. But he was totally fascinated, and grossed-out in that “fun” kids’ way.
The little car exhibit is so cute, and so like my son. He enjoys the animals, sure, but wheels are his thing.
With my oldest nephew, we ended up buying a museum membership to the Museum of Natural Science here in Houston every year. That boy could spend an hour gazing up at the dinosaur bones every Saturday of his life… and did, whenever he could get us to drive him. Museums and zoos are totally cool, and a much better investment than a movie.
The fun thing about taking kids to the zoo, etc., is their fascination with things we, as adults, tend to avoid looking at. We took my son to the giant Livestock Show here in Houston last week, and had to stop walking several times so he could watch a cow.. “go.” Yuuuck. But he was totally fascinated, and grossed-out in that “fun” kids’ way.
Yeah, I was going to chime in with saying that where I live, the last weds of the month is free day for children and their adults at a number of museums, including the SF Zoo, and the Aquarium. (And, most importantly, the exploratorium.)
Actually, speaking of, if you and your children are ever in the SF Bay area, and you want to take them to one of the coolest museums ever, lemme know. I get half a dozen passes a year for them (I’m a member) and I’d be more then willing to give ’em to you.
Yeah, I was going to chime in with saying that where I live, the last weds of the month is free day for children and their adults at a number of museums, including the SF Zoo, and the Aquarium. (And, most importantly, the exploratorium.)
Actually, speaking of, if you and your children are ever in the SF Bay area, and you want to take them to one of the coolest museums ever, lemme know. I get half a dozen passes a year for them (I’m a member) and I’d be more then willing to give ’em to you.
I’m obviously spoiled
Here in St. Louis, our primary museums and zoo are free. They charge like crazy for anything you buy, but you don’t have to buy unless you want to…I guess I’m spoiled. The thought of paying for going to the zoo just never crosses my mind. “let’s go to the zoo” is an unscheduled event, something to just pop off and spend a few hours doing. It boggles the mind that you have a “zoo pass” that isn’t valid for zoo admission.
Oh, and I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back to you, real life has been taking up an unwonted amount of time.
I’m obviously spoiled
Here in St. Louis, our primary museums and zoo are free. They charge like crazy for anything you buy, but you don’t have to buy unless you want to…I guess I’m spoiled. The thought of paying for going to the zoo just never crosses my mind. “let’s go to the zoo” is an unscheduled event, something to just pop off and spend a few hours doing. It boggles the mind that you have a “zoo pass” that isn’t valid for zoo admission.
Oh, and I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back to you, real life has been taking up an unwonted amount of time.