Helpful Mom

I’m so excited, we’ve decided to take the kids to African Lion Safari next weekend.  I was doing research for a trip to Syracuse to visit a friend there and the zoo and found out that with Seneca Park Zoos membership the African Lion Safari this summer is 100% free as a reciprocal zoo.  You see I’m so excited because in the past the most off they offered was 15% off the tickets which run from $25-$30 per person so 100% off is an amazing steal not to be missed.  So off we go…

I’m such a huge fan of memberships and season passports, we have memberships nearly everywhere because it saves us so much money.  My kids aren’t huge fans of staying at home so we go somewhere nearly everyday, sometimes more than one place in one day.  Like Monday we are going to go to the library for a program, then they are going to the Y for an afternoon camp and then who knows what we’ll do before heading home for the day.  By the time we head home they are ready to settle in with a  movie and some cuddling.  Anyways we use our memberships quite a lot as you may have noticed and part of the reason we have the memberships is because of the reciprocal programs that we can take advantage of on vacations.  Last year we went to Virginia Beach and we were able to go to at least 5 different museums and they were all free using our science and zoo memberships.  Plus part of the cost of the memberships is tax deductible, they will usually send you a receipt telling you what amount is deductible.

We have gone to African Lion Safari a few times before and it’s one of my favorites.  We are big fans of animals around here and any chance to see them so up close is just too fun.  See the unique thing about the Safari is their drive thru wildlife park.  Our favorite is the monkeys who literally climb all over your car and hang on your windows.  But you also see lions, zebras, rhinos, giraffes, ostriches, and many more different animals from around the world.  You can either drive your own car through or pay to ride their buses for an additional fee.  We like to drive our own car so we can go at our speed and take great photos, but the monkeys like to eat the glue that holds the trim around the windows in place so if you are concerned about your cars safety the bus is the way to go.

They have numerous animal shows as well as play areas for the kids, including their new water park area.  The park is about a 3 1/2hr drive from Rochester and not hard to find.  We have done it 2 different ways in the past, either getting up early and driving straight there, spend the day and then drive home; or what we are going to do this time, drive to the falls, spend the night beforehand at a hotel and spend the whole day at the park before driving home that evening.  It just depends on the ages of your kids and their tolerance of long drives and how well they travel.  But most important to note is that African Lion Safari is in Canada so you do need passports for everyone in your family to be able to go.   Or if you only ever plan on going into Canada and Mexico you can opt for the less expensive ID card.  Either way be prepared.  And have fun.

Obstacle course the kids just loved

Get to know what’s under your skin at Sesame Street Presents: The Body. This amazing educational exhibition teaches children how their bodies work and how to stay healthy as they hop, jump, run and dance their way through this hands-on Sesame Street adventure!

This is a very hands on exhibit for kids at the Buffalo Science Museum.  We visited there yesterday afternoon and we spent the majority of our afternoon in this one display.  It’s very engaging for young kids.  The science museum itself I find to be kind of small even though it’s in a huge building.  And it’s geared more for adults than kids although what they do have for kids is very well done and will entertain your kids for quite a while.  It’s just when comparing it to the Rochester Science Museum which has hands on exhibits for kids throughout the museum this one doesn’t, it’s more compartmentalized.  Of course it depends on what your kids are interested in too, mine are touchy feely. 

This special exhibit is on it’s way out!  June 9th is it’s last day there before moving on to another museum.  The museum is open 7 days a week from 10am-4pm.  Children 2-17yr are $6, so are students and military with ID.  Adults 18+ are $8, and Seniors are $7.  Museum members are free.  This is where being a member of your local science museum is a bonus because you can use that to get in here free too.  Parking is free as well.

Playground outside the museum

After a day inside and before the long drive home we took our kids outside to run off some energy on the playground.  You have to walk around to the backside of the building on the far side of the basketball court.

Military Members Get In FREE May 31
BMS is offering free admission to military members on May 31 with the presentation of military ID, veterans ID or discharge papers and photo ID at the admissions desk.

ROARING BACK TO BUFFALO!
June 26 – October 10, 2010: Kokoro’s dinosaurs don’t just LOOK like real dinosaurs, they BEHAVE like real dinosaurs! Included with museum admission and FREE for Museum Members.

Science Playhouse at the MOST

A couple months ago I went to the MOST in Syracuse, NY for the first time to visit a friend who was moving away. It won’t be the last time I take the girls either, they just loved it.  The MOST is the Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse, NY.   It is much smaller in size compared to the Rochester Science Museum but it is packed with hands on displays and great play areas.  The girls absolute favorite is the Science Playhouse which is this enormous climbing structure that is about three stories tall and big enough in scale for adults to climb through too; think a McDonald play center structure on steriods.  (Don’t forget your socks)  This museum is definitely geared more toward the preK-grade school set of kids, although teens would probably still get a kick out of the Playhouse if they aren’t already too cool for that kind of thing.  In addition to the Playhouse there are giant models of body parts, a Discovery cave which includes a dinosaur dig site, and the most amazing replicas made entirely of toothpicks.

Dinosaur Dig at the MOST

The museum is open Wednesday-Sunday from 10am-5pm with extended hours on Saturday for the IMAX theater.  During some holidays and school breaks the museum may be open on Monday or Tuesdays, check their website for dates and hours. Admission for adults is $5, kids 2-11 are $4, and Seniors 65+ are $4.  Members for the museum are free and they are part of the Science museum receprical program so we were able to get in free with our Rochester Science museum membership.

They do offer a variety of Omni movies on their IMAX screen which cost $9 for adults, kids and seniors are $7.  Or you can do a combo of admission to the museum and a movie for $11 for adults, kids and seniors are $9.  This museum has an interesting membership perk you can sign up for for only $15.  It’s their IMAX Passport which allows you to watch all the regular IMAX movies as many times as you want all year long.

Toothpick Replicas

If you are planning a visit here you need to make note that there is not a cafeteria or restaurant onsite.  There is a small cafe area which offers a number of vending machine but these are only stocked with drinks and snacks no actual food.  There is a small microwave provided though along with plenty of tables and chairs.  You are permitted re-entry if you want to leave to eat and come back as long as you keep you receipt.

Also the museum does not have it’s own parking lot so you have to either find a parking lot, which costs about $6-7 for the day, or find on street parking which is limited to 2 hrs. And meters are free on Sundays.

We loved it so much the girls begged for days afterwards to go back again.  It is an easy hour and a half drive from our home in Henrietta, NY.  But even though we get in free with our membership we do still have to pay gas and tolls to get there so we haven’t gone back til this last week when we took along friends.  I bet they will be going back too.

Well while I’m already recommending you sign up for memberships in the vein of saving money I’ll tell you about this deal that I received in the mail yesterday.  The Rochester Museum and Science Center is offering if you sign up by the end of January 2009 you can save $10 on your membership(new ones only)  and if you are already a member you can sign up to have your yearly membership automatically renewed by credit card and they will take 10% off the annual fee.  That would mean that if you are a new member signing up for a family membership you will only pay $69 for the year which will allow your and your husband and ALL your kids in for free unlimited admissions to the Museum and Science Center, all the Giant-screen films, Strasenburgh Planetarium star shows, Cummings Nature Center, and over 250 other science museums.  Also you will receive a $5 discount on all RMSC adult and youth classes and 10% off all purchases at the gift shop.  And part of your membership may be tax deductible.

When you compare that to admission prices of $9 for adults and $7 for kids 3-18 yrs old.  You can see how after only 2 visits you will break even, or if you were going to add a planetarium show to that perhaps in one vist depending on how many of you there are.

My kids love going to the Science Center.  There are lots of fun hands on activities for kids of all ages to play with wheither they like science or not.  It’s a great way to sneak in a little learning while having fun and getting out of the house, and it’s a great refuge in the winter weather.  A couple of the kids favorite things to do there is the water and sand table.  It’s this raised metal table just full of sand and sand toys with various spickets to run water through it so you can create rivers and moats and ponds to your hearts content.  And they have these water proof type vests for the kids to put on over their clothes, and there is a handwashing station right there to clean up when you are finished.  Katrina loves the climbing structure they have which goes up from the first floor up to a second floor loft where they can play and then come down the stairs to where you are waiting.  I personally don’t like the way they can be out of your sight even though I know there is no other way out for them and the room at the top has a clear glass wall so you can see in, but you can’t see in the stairwell unless you are in there waiting, but with two kids… And one of their other favorites and mine is the dinosuar dig.  It is supposed to be a replication of what a real dig would be like.  The kids have to wear goggles(they look hysterical which is why I love it) and they are given brushes to discover bones buried in dirt(looks like kitty litter).  The girls love it and is definitely their favorite thing to do since they both love dinosuars.  (I recommend wearing sneakers because with sandals the kids keep wanting me to empty the rocks out over and over and over)  We usually only go for 1-1 1/2 hrs and we rarely make it off the first floor because they love playing with the things there so much!  There is a lot more to discover upstairs too.  We have made it to the Mezzanine level which has a great room for those of the younger set.  The room has all kids of hands on exhibits about electricity but also has an area dedicated to KNex which you can build with and purchase your creation if you wish when you are finished or you can just put it all back if you like.  That way you can play with KNex without having to purchase them for home, or see if your kids like them enough to buy for home or not ;P  Or if your kids are younger like mine they have giant sized tinker toys and various other building toys to place with.

Ahhh…Vacation erh, Staycation has come to an abrupt end.  Preschool starts tomorrow and my moms group, WOW-Women of Worth, starts up again.  But back to the point, we had an awesome week.  In fact we have decided to try and do this every year.  Joel gets three weeks vacation and of course we can’t afford to go away for three weeks so if we take an at home vacation for a week we can still go away somewhere too!  We spent almost nothing for the entire week which was fun because when the kids asked for fries or something we were able to say yes because it would end up being our only expense for the day.  How did we manage that you ask?  It’s because we have memberships for the kids museum(Strong Museum of Play), Seneca Park Zoo, and the Science Museum which allow us unlimited visits for free for an entire year.  We always join because not only can we get into our local museums but also hundreds of reciprocal museums, zoos, and aquariums around the country.  So we very quickly save hundreds of dollars.  And to cut down on the cost of those memberships we request from family members that instead of buying Birthday or Christmas presents that they would chip in on our memberships so it’s a gift the entire family can enjoy and it’s sure to be used.  Also there are discounts on a number of the membership fees such as employee discounts or membership drives that offer % off the annual rate, and some will offer a discount on rejoining by a certain date to cut down on those reminder mailings.  Memberships also give you discounts off extra tickets if you bring friends and family, you can purchase add a guest memberships when you sign up which allow you to bring one extra person with you each time you go if you like, discounts in the souvenir shops and restaurants.

So for example earlier this summer we went to Boston to visit a friend and we were able to use our Strongs membership to get into the kids museum there for free.  And we were able to use our Science membership to get in free there as well, likewise we used our zoo membership there too.  Which means on those days we only had to pay for meals and lodging.  It’s a great deal and we have been using it for years.  What can I say we are thrifty nerds ;P

Anyways over the week we did the corn maze, beach, zoo, science museum, my mom watched them for a day, and on Saturday we went to Seabreeze Amusement Park for the day.  It was Xerox employee days so it only cost us $10 each and Mikayla was free because she’s still 2.  It was so much fun, Joel has never been to Seabreeze ever!  And I grew up going there every summer.  I loved how much fun it was for the girls to get to ride and ride and the giggles of glee made it totally worth it.  We are talking about getting season passes in the years to come because we would definitely get our moneys worth out of it.  It’s a smaller park but that means lines aren’t that long so you can ride and get right back in line and ride again.  And when the kids get bigger you can go two different directions without being that far apart.  I was disappointed that some of my favorite things to do like the fun house are no longer there and have been replaced with newer rides.  It’s funny going back for the first time in over ten years to realize how much smaller it really is than I remember as a kid.

Staycation was a smashing success.  Yes I still did the cleaning, laundry, and dishes, and most of the cooking.  Although I was able to guilt free order dinner a few nights since we were on vacation.  I’d say we spent less than $200 for the entire week, including gas.  And there are still a number of things we had talked about doing that we didn’t fit in, so we are already working on a list for next summer.  Maybe we’ll send you a postcard.