Sunday, June 29, 2008

Put Me in the Zoo


(The photo is one I took in the butterfly garden. I believe it's called a Cynthia. You can correct me if I'm wrong.)

I am a little ashamed to admit that my children had not been to the Minnesota Zoo since Abby was 1 and Emily was a newborn. (Yes, do the math; that means Nathan's never been there at all.) In my defense, they haven't been completely zoo deprived, though. They have been to the Como Zoo (for those not from around here--that's the free one) a couple of times, and once to the Potowotami Zoo in South Bend, IN.

So today we changed that. My sister Bria is leaving in August to teach in China for a year. (Sniff Sniff.) She wanted to spend a family day at the zoo before she leaves, and insisted on treating everyone--including our folks and my family of 5. (Thanks so much, Bria!) Well, then we did the math, and it wasn't much more to purchase a membership good for a year. Then we even decided to upgrade to the "Household Plus" for just $6 more; then we can bring an additional guest along too each time we go.

Alright. So I'm bound and determined to get good use out of this membership! Those of you who frequent the zoo...what are your favorite things to see? What about your kids?

Anybody else who wants to go with us--either with your own membership, or as our guest (you'd just have to then pay for any kids over age 3)--let us know. We'd love to go again soon!



16 comments:

theswamphare said...

#1 thing when you go to a zoo: Bring a nice-sized hand mirror for visiting the monkeys. The monkeys will completely ignore all other zoo-goers and crowd to see themselves in your mirror. It's hysterical!

Kara Jo said...

Swampy--I'd never thought of that! I'll let you know how it works out.

Katie R. said...

Don't feel bad about the MN zoo frequency, last time we were there was about 5 years ago... I don't think I can even remember what I liked.

Looks like you all had a great time. What a good idea.

Katie R. said...

..oh I forgot to tell ya, clever title. :)

Kara Jo said...

Thanks, Katie. (Did you like that book when you were little? The one about the leopard whose spots change colors--who wants to be in the zoo?)

erin said...

Me, me, me!!!
We wanna go!

Kara Jo said...

You got it, Erin. Let's pick a date! When are you around?

Unknown said...

We did a membership there too once. But, I'm actually not a big fan of the zoo. And since we have opportunity to go to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, we find the MN zoo sadly lacking. I've actually never been to the Como Zoo, but have heard it's really nice.

Kara Jo said...

The Como Zoo is pretty nice. It's definitely been improved over the years.

erin said...

The Henry Doorly Zoo is FANTASTIC! I rode an elephant there once.
KJ, let's shoot for the middle of July. Sound good?

Katie R. said...

Kara Jo Matthew's folks have that book at their home and we always read it to the kids when we're there. :)

LadyD said...

You know, KaraJo, I was gonna come over here and leave you a comment but you already have 11, so I figured that is enough.

:)
HahahaHaaaaaa

NoOtherName said...

Swampy, I thought you had issues with monkeys. ?

NoOtherName said...

Hey, KJ--this is the only online way I know how to reach you since I can't access my email account, for some reason. Could you possibly put E and V's itinerary (in rough form, at least) on my blog as a comment in the most recent post? Then I can know what's going down. Can't stop thinking of them.

And don't you dare feel guilty about not taking Gumpy to the MN Zoo--it's all the way over in Golden Valley, for pete's sake!

Love you!

swirlingeddy said...

Hooray for the zoo!

Yes, this comment is from the other side of the earth. Check Jen's blog, in the comments area of the latest post, for more information.

Kara Jo said...

Yes, check out NoOtherName's (Jen) blog (linked also on my list as One Life One God) to see info & Ed & Vonda's itinerary as they are traveling as I type, to pick up their newly adopted daughter Eva from India!