The Gardens (day trip)

  Do you have a membership anywhere?  Have you contemplated getting one but decided against it after doing the math.  Thinking it wasn't worth it.  You wouldn't go enough times for it to pay itself off.  Didn't like the place enough to come back.  Or just thought maybe later.

  I currently have only one membership.  In the past it has been several but at the moment just one.  My current still active membership is for the local botanical gardens.

  This year for the first time I took advantage of bike night.  Of course the gardens opened their hours and days up to more opportunities so that helped.

  The gardens allows you to ride through most of the grounds as long as you stay on the path which is great for little ones.  My kids thoroughly enjoyed riding through and sometimes we took advantage of the splash park.

  Riding around the park may change up your miles and time but for the most part.  You can at least get a few miles of trails accomplished.  There are plenty of benches to take a break and a few water fountains if you need one.

  These are just a few of the activities you can do at the gardens in addition to seeing all the beautiful flowers in bloom.  When you have a membership you get the privilege of seeing multiple flowers in bloom at any given time.  Throughout the year different flowers, bushes or trees go in bloom randomly.  Even in the colder winter months you are presented with something to look at.  The Rose garden blooms twice a year once in the spring and once in fall.

  They have a beautiful butterfly exhibit open a few months in the summer.  In here you can take advantage of seeing the complete life cycle.  You can ask the staff about what flowers to plant in your own garden to invite and feed the caterpillars and butterflies.

  Over all membership does have its benefits.  I also receive discounts in the store as well as on various classes and tours they offer. Norfolk Botanical Gardens never gets old as the scenery is always changing.  Grab you family and get outside.  Get moving, get fresh air and discover something new at the gardens.

Not quite Wordless Wednesday

  You know one place that we go that doesn't get old is the zoo.  We do have a membership there which does help and encourage us to go but it's always different.  The animals may not change.  Most of the time.  Sometimes the zoo likes to change it up and relocate them to a different part of the zoo but usually everything is the same.

  However after having gone several times and days you get the opportunity to experience different things!  Sometimes the animals are more active in the morning, you might catch a zookeeper feeding the animals, interacting with the animals, or even seeing an animal in motion.  We rarely catch our tiger walking around.  He is usually in the farthest corner and slightly difficult to see but one day he was pacing back and forth growling.  That was neat to witness.  I would love to hear more noises from animals!  What kind of noise does a giraffe make or a kangaroo?

  I want to share with you some of the animals we have at our zoo!

The Bald Eagle sitting proud in his area.  I like this exhibit as there are no bars or windows.  Your view of this bird is clean and clear.

  These little fellas are fun to watch!  They are also a nice sight to see after you have finished with the small reptiles and nocturnal sections.

One day we went to story hour for the children and they read a book about armadillos and even had a real one there for the kids to see.  Needless to say my daughter loves to see them when she goes because she had such a up close encounter with them.

Ahh, the red panda.  This is one exhibit we always see if nothing else.  We have two areas with them.  One area is so neat as it has branches above your head where sometimes your lucky enough to catch them walking on.  The other area is spacious with a lot of things for them to go up, down and through.

  These two monkeys cracked me up this day.  It was as if they were siblings and one wanted to get down but the other just wouldn't move.  They were like this for awhile. I don't know who held out longer

The zoo has a few turtles in the lion area.  I have never seen a sign declaring them as residents so I think they are free loaders.  

The zoo is also home to a small blooming garden.  It is spring so it was nice to see after months of brown and barely green.

Last month we got to see the baby tigers.  The zoo always has something going on.  Unfortunately we are saying good bye to our elephants soon as they are being transferred to another zoo.

Hopefully this move will bring us another exciting animal to learn and view.

  Our membership provides us with many opportunities: discounts on meals and drinks as well as children's camps. We receive a newsletter and also receive invites and discounts to special events.

Check out your local zoo for a great family experience.

My local zoo is the virginiazoo!

Wordless Wednesday

  We bought a pass the last time we stayed in Williamsburg for +Colonial Williamsburg  so we decided to go one last time for the year.  I like this time of year as much as the spring.  When you visit Colonial Williamsburg multiple times you get the opportunity to see different things, performances, entry into a different home and even how the spruce up the homes be it wreaths in the winter or beautiful blossoms in the garden in the spring.

  So today I am sharing with you the variety of door displays to include wreaths and trimmings.  If you look closely you will see so many varieties of items.  From shoes, to iceskates, artichokes, apples, peppers and oranges.

  My family had a great time walking around looking at the sights and catching a little bit of history in action.  We even might have walked away with a bit more knowledge then what we arrived knowing.

What's in your wallet? membership cards part 3

  The last card in this series of membership cards was initially given to my daughters as a gift which made us (the adults) get them to fully utilize the whole experience.  My mother visiting from out of town purchased 2 memberships for Colonial Williamsburg for my daughters as something to do together while she was here and talk about the gift that keeps on giving.  After we picked up our passes we went back  for several visits.

  There are two ways to get there from the official Colonial Williamsburg visitor center.   You may take the tram and ride it directly into the area or a nice 15-20 minute walk.  On the walk you will be able to read some facts as you cross over the walking path from the building. Catch some scenic sights along path.  The path is a mix of curves, hills and flat areas.

Don't forget to grab a map so you can get an idea of all the buildings you can visit and the schedule of events for the day.  You don't want to miss when the "redcoats" are coming or if the president is coming to sign an important document!

In conclusion to my membership cards I just hope I have planted a seed of their importance in your entertainment and learning experience.  A yearly pass provides you so many opportunities with minimal restrictions.  These places I visit also do not charge for parking so your expenses are controllable.  So grab a membership and take the opportunity to explore year round to see what else is going on.  There will still be events and activities and a different perspective you may not have expected.

http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/

What is in your wallet? Membership cards part 2

  Continuing on my series of what's in your wallet.  My second card is almost as loved as my first card with the Botanical Gardens.  This is my card to the Norfolk virginiazoo.

This card was the second year of a 2 year subscription.  Again with all these membership cards come perks that are only privy to the members.  The zoo offers special discounts throughout the park to include the gift shop, and restaurant.  Another zoo perk is early or extended admission.  Special night programs after the zoo is closed are a great benefit.  Summer camps or school holiday camps are offered at a discount to members as well.  They also have a special story and an animal hour not just for members that my daughter loved she had her first up close encounter with an

  We hold a family plus one visit to this establishment.  Meaning we can bring our entire family plus an additional person.  This is great for when an out of town visitor is with us.  It is good for anyone and not any particular one.  From grandma to cousin or even a friend of one of the children. (One friend is plenty since I have 4 kids I can't imagine everyone taking someone).

  This zoo has several areas to explore.  There is the nocturnal area where you may catch sight of a sloth or porcupine.  The reptiles building where the snakes

 are slithering on an unlucky day.  I prefer to see them just laying around and less active.  Outside areas are spread out where you travel to areas such as Asia to see a tiger

or to spy an Ostrich

 in Africa.

  Pick up a token for the train that takes you around the grounds and through a tunnel for an exciting time!

  There is a lot of information on the website and from several visits and the ever lovely pinterest.  I made up several different scavenger hunts for my youngest to do throughout the park.  She enjoyed the zoo more that day as she was able to check things off.

  I printed off hunts for finding different colors,  keeping track of quantities such as 1 fire hydrant, 2 flowers, 3 camels.  There was one for animals and it was still fun even if all the animals were not at our zoo.


  As I stated with my gardens pass I have gotten so much more from this membership well past the price of the pass.  This is another membership that just keeps on giving.  Check out your zoo and see what kind of rates they have and then think about it.  You have all year to use, throughout the seasons and the learning that comes from a visit regardless of the ages.