Helpful Mom

Have you been to the Seneca Park Zoo yet this summer?  Well if you’ve been putting it off   here  is an incentive to go before summer ends.  With this coupon you get one free child’s admission when you buy one adult’s admission.  Coupon is good through Sept. 5, 2011.

If you haven’t been before you are missing out!  We are members and we go a couple times a month.  I admit that our zoo is not the biggest, although it is bigger than Buffalo’s and Syracuse’s, but it is beautiful and offers some great fun for the little ones.  My girls absolute favorite is the creekbed where they can play in the water, so make sure you either bring clothes they don’t mind getting wet or a change of clothes.  (We bring swimsuits and aquasocks) Yep they are that into it.  Of course their other favorite is the Zot Zone building where they get to pretend to be vets and take care of stuffed animals.  And then there are all the animals to see of course!

Take 590 North to 104 West (Keeler Expressway) at exit 10A. Take the Seneca/Clinton exit from 104. Following the zoo signs, turn right on Clinton Ave, turn left on East Ridge Road to Saint Paul Street. Turn right on Saint Paul Street and then the first left into the Zoo.

Regular Rates-Adults 12-62   $10       Seniors 63+ $9           Kids 3-11  $7     2 and younger free            Members free

Open 10am-5pm, gates close at 4pm.

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.

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.