Family Entertainment...

Here's a picture of my little family... much larger than the tiny little thumbnail on my profile. This is the first decent picture of all of us together since my nephew, Justin, moved in with us and Charlie was born. And it is recent! It was taken on Saturday, November 7th on a swing in the botanical gardens, which is just a short tram ride (or walk if you are up to it) across the Saluda River and up the hill from our zoo.

Here's a cheap tip... become members at the zoo near you! It's a great deal and loads of family fun (or single fun, as it may be--I used to go alone all the time!) that is unlimited throughout the year! Since we live close to our zoo (15-20 minutes and we are there!) and don't have to pay to get in, we go often! We rarely go to see everything every time because we don't have to! If one of our favorite animals is being shy (the gorillas & tigers really like to hide), we aren't too disappointed because we know we'll be back again soon! Two trips a year would pay for the membership for our family, but sometimes we go twice a week! And the benefits that come with membership are awesome!

Our membership fee gets us unlimited FREE admission to the zoo for our whole family. It also comes with a dozen FREE guest passes for friends we invite. Those alone are worth more than the membership fee! We get in FREE to see the Christmas lights. We get a zoo magazine 6 times a year (my girls go crazy over these!). And we get to go to the zoo after hours a few times a year to see animals "behind the scenes." Our zoo also has a botanical garden, so we can enjoy that year round without any extra expense! The fun doesn't end...

With the reciprocal agreements between AZA zoos and aquariums, we have been able to get cheap (usually FREE) entertainment in places we've visited. We've been to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago (always free), the National Zoo in Washington, DC (always free), the Philadelphia Zoo (nation's oldest zoo!), the Oregon Zoo (my personal favorite as I grew up going there on school field trips....yet, strangely, it isn't as big as I remembered from my childhood), the Virginia Zoo and our own Riverbanks Zoo... for FREE! We have also been to Zoo Atlanta and the South Carolina Aquarium (in Charleston--much nicer than the one in Myrtle Beach in my honest opinion) for half off! We always check to see if there is a zoo nearby when we plan our travels. Maybe someday we'll be able to say we have visited all the zoos on the list!

Have I sold you on the idea yet? If not, you must not like animals... or live hundreds of miles from your nearest zoo (I was going to say in Antarctica, but that would be a little exaggerated). Check out the zoo near you for cheap family fun. Here's a link to our zoo where you can read for yourself the benefits of membership...http://www.riverbanks.org/membership/ , but you can look up your zoo if you don't live in South Carolina...