How Our Zoo Membership Saves Us Money!

My kids love animals and we are very fortunate to have a wonderful zoo in our town, Riverbanks Zoo, about 15 minutes from our house. We have had a zoo membership since the day Molly was born.... literally my parents bought it when they were in town for her birth. They wanted to do a fun activity with my niece and the zoo was very close to the hospital. The ticket line was extremely long but the membership line was empty. My mom purchased a basic family membership in my name, used some of the guest passes and we got to enjoy the benefits for the rest of the year. We have renewed it each year and always talk about what a great deal it is.

Yesterday Dan and I took the girls to the zoo together. I enjoy taking them on weekday but Dan is usually working. He happened to have the day off and Molly doesn't have preschool on Tuesdays so off to the zoo we went. We have the Family Explorer pass which allows each member a wrist band to enjoy all of the attractions at no additional cost. The membership is $189 and we get 12 guest passes with that which is a $192 value. In the past 4 years I have never run out of guest passes. The membership price has recently gone up a bit... I have always paid $159 but the extra money is totally worth it. We got the basic family membership for the first 2 years since Molly was too young to really enjoy the rides. The membership fee is also partially tax deductible. 

To see how much money we save by having a membership I like to keep a tally in my head of what each visit would have cost us without a membership. Below is the breakdown from today's visit:

Admission for 2 adults and 1 child, Lucy is free- $45.50 

4 tickets for carousel- $8

1 pony ride- $5

3 train riders- $6

2 handfuls of lettuce for the giraffes- $4

total- $68.50

3 Visits to the Zoo per year and our membership has paid for itself and we got way more than that. We usually keep our trips under 2 hours, just enough to check out the animals, enjoy a carousel ride, and then head home for long naps!

To add to our savings we also have a souvenir cup. It allows us drinks for only $1 and they are pretty big. The zoo has stopped using straws so if you get a regular drink it doesn't come with a lid or straw. The souvenir cup is the way to go! 

I have also been able to use my zoo membership card to get a 50% discount at the Aquarium in Charleston. We've only been a few times but with adult tickets being $25 saving 50% is a pretty good deal!

If you have a zoo in your area and don't have a membership you should really check it out. We started taking both girls at about 6 months old and they both loved it.

We love the beautiful hand painted carousel. 

The train rides are always fun and if you are lucky Santa will be the driver 😉

Molly was confused today when she saw his Santa picture on his ID card but I explained that he needed something to keep him busy when it wasn't Christmas season. 

Feeding the giraffes is always fun and the girls giggle so loud when they stick out their long tongues. They recently added the vertical bars to the feeding platform. The giraffes used to be able to get right up next to you! I will admit it was a little frightening at times. 

The gorillas are my favorite. We have 5 total, 4 that are a family and then a larger male that doesn't like to socialize with the others. If you look carefully at the gorilla in the front you can see her pregnant belly. They are estimating her due date any time in the next 3 weeks. The baby will stay with the family so we will soon have a baby gorilla joining the group! 

Molly loves the reptile house/ aquarium. 

I like the fish but don't like to spend too much time looking at the snakes. 

And a few throwback pictures to baby Molly at the zoo!

Five On Friday

One
The weather is warming up and boat season has begun. Molly loves being out on the boat and swimming in the lake. While we haven't taken a swim yet we did take a little cruise last weekend and enjoyed a picnic on the boat. Dan's parents live on the lake and have a boat some most summer weekends are spent in the water! Lucy looked so cute in her puddle jumper and enjoyed the ride. Hopefully she is a fan of swimming like her big sister. Nana took the girls for nap time and I got a good hour of quiet time in the sun.

Lucy kept her hat on the entire ride. 

Two

Molly got some seed kits for her birthday and we have been watching them grow (most of them) for the past few weeks. They finally got big enough to plant in the ground so I ran to Lowes to grab some good soil for plating them. I stopped to check out the clearance plant section and couldn't help but buy a car load of plants. Whoops! I picked up 15 purple fountain grass plants and 7 perennial flowers to add to the backyard. After planting those and helping Molly with her garden I am tired of digging. 

Trying to add some color to the hill! 

Hopefully these grow and fill in this area!

Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Squash, and Pumpkin

Three

Yesterday the girls and I went to Chick Fila for lunch after picking Molly up from school. Molly always trades in her toy for ice cream and it is so cute to see her walk to the counter by herself and ask for it. She is so sweet to share it with Lucy too! Pretty soon they wont be able to split a kids meal...

Four

I went to Old Navy this week to try and find some new white pants/jeans. I have one pair that I really like but with 2 kids they are dirty within a few hours. I didn't find any jeans but I did find a cute button down tunic and a super comfortable dress. Both are very lightweight and great for spring/summer!

Dress

Button Down Shirt

Five

My sister and I love this drink combo for a little summer happy hour. I might have to take the girls to the store to pick up some blueberry lemonade for this weekend!

Happy Friday!

GOING OUT BEFORE KIDS VS GOING OUT AFTER KIDS

Last Friday night we got a babysitter and went out to dinner with some friends. We had a giftcard from Christmas we had been wanting to use and finally found time to go out. When we finally got to dinner I was already exhausted and started to think about what going out was like before we had kids. 

Lets compare:

Before having kids I was teaching at an online school, working from home. My work day ended at 3:30 and on Fridays I made sure to get everything wrapped up on time. After work I may have run out shopping for a new shirt to wear out or run a few errands. About an hour before we needed to leave I would take a shower, blowdry and straighten my hair, apply makeup, and make sure my flared seven jeans fit just right with my "going out" shirt and heels. Dan would ask me what shirt he should wear and I would roll my eyes because I didn't really care what he wore. We'd hop in the car and head somewhere for dinner, have a few beers, and then probably head back to our house with some friends and continue to drink until about 2am. The next morning we would sleep late, make pancakes for breakfast and then lay on the couch all day sleeping off our hangovers.

Pre- kids... out at a pub in Ireland!

Now that we have 2 kids things are a little different...

At 2:30pm I took a shower because both girls were napping and I could actually find 5 minutes to shave my legs. I had to monitor on full blast within reach of the shower because if you don't respond to Molly when she wakes up she will start screaming and wake up Lucy.

At 3:30pm I quickly (and very poorly) painted my toe nails and convinced Molly we were having a pedicure party. While my toes were drying I dried my hair and ran a straightener through it. 

At 4:30 I got Lucy up from nap and put some makeup on. I tried to distract Molly in the other room so she didn't insist on doing her makeup as well but that plan failed. She tired her hardest to get me to pull out my big bag of old makeup to find the good color eye shadows (from a good 10 years ago) but I won that battle and she settled for some boring nude shades.

At 5:30 I made the girls some quesadillas and got bath and bedtime stuff set out for the babysitter. Since I am used to eating dinner at 6pm I made myself a little quesadilla appetizer so I didn't die from hunger before we ate at 8pm.

At 7pm the babysitter arrived and I had just taken the girls out of the tub. I ran over their bedtime routine and we scooted out the door before Lucy noticed we had left. Scratch that... Molly screamed and chased me down for one more hug and a kiss. We made it out of the house without any kids crying and headed downtown for dinner. At this point I was already yawning...

We had a great dinner and it was nice to be out with friends. By 9:30 we were all done with our food and ready for bed. Dan was the only one who wanted to go somewhere else but he's a night owl. We were home by 10pm and I was in my pajamas by 10:15. Saturday started with a 6:30am alarm clock, 7:45am soccer pictures and a 8:30am soccer game. As I sat watching Molly play soccer I couldn't help but think back to what Saturday mornings were like 5 years ago... 10 years ago... and which type of morning would I prefer???

Post Kids... out for 2 hours to celebrate our 13 year dating anniversary

Dark circles and bags under my eyes!

I can honestly say life is so much better with kids! I think back to all of the Saturday mornings that were spent laying hungover on the couch and don't want to relive those days. Just thinking about them makes me tired! We have fun and sometimes... very rarely... we stay up past 11pm! 

Five on Friday!

This week has seemed so busy but we really have not done all that much. Dan had a weird work schedule this week and was off Tuesday, got home at 3pm on Wednesday, and went into work late both Thursday and Friday so our days have been a little different. We love spending more time with Daddy but it does throw our normal routine a little off track. I enjoy it because momma gets to sneak out for a little extra time without kids!

One-
This week I completed a few tasks for my mother in law. She knows I am an expert shopper so she often sends me on missions to find certain things. The first mission was to find soft ladyfingers. No grocery stores around here carried them. I looked and called a few places with no luck. I remember my stepmom having these around growing up so I asked for her help. She knew exactly where to find them! Note to self- ask mom first! My mother in law was so happy she could make her trifle.
The next mission was to find some special things for my sister in laws wedding in a few weeks. I had spotted some things in the Target dollar spot earlier this week but only took pictures and didn't purchase anything. Sure enough they were all gone 2 days later. Luckily I know the Target shipment schedule and was practically unpacking the dollar spot boxes this morning to find them. Mission accomplished!

My mother in law is our #1 babysitter and takes the girls one day a week and for overnights when needed so when she asks me to jump I basically ask "How high?" Also, I just love going shopping!

Two-
Lucy has been super adorable this week trying to be like her big sister. She loves brushing her teeth in the morning and tries her hardest to reach the water. Even with the spout extender she can't quite reach so Molly helps her out. It is adorable to watch and makes me so happy to see them working together.

Molly set all of her snuggly animals to watch them brush their teeth. 

Three-

Molly had one of her cavities filled this week. My uncle is our dentist and I was a little worried not taking her to a children's dentist but she didn't need any of the distractions I brought her. He used a new product for numbing that is a nasal spray so she didn't get a shot. She sat perfectly still for the filling...it was amazing. We were in and out of the office in 20 minutes and headed out to lunch. She picked Rush's where she devoured a burger with extra pickles, slaw, and most of her fries. I ate Rush's at least once a week when I was pregnant with her so she was born with a love for their burgers!

Four- 

While Dan was home this week he spent some time playing outside with Lucy. He thought it would be a great idea to teach her to climb the ladder to the big swing set. I hadn't let her play on that yet and she seemed happy on her little climber/ slide. Now I can't sit down for 2 seconds when the girls are playing outside in fear she'll fall off the ladder or jump off the rock wall. I used to love when the girls played out back because I could sit and enjoy an iced coffee or glass of wine while they played.... not anymore. 

She is just in a diaper because they were playing in the baby pool after popsicles!

Five-

And just a few more pictures from our week-

Seeing if a puddle jumper will fit her for this summer on the boat

Trying so hard to shoot the basketball

First time eating her own popsicle! 

Happy Friday!

Girls Spring/ Summer shoes

I feel like I am constantly on the search for new shoes for my girls. Although Lucy has all of Molly's shoe hand me downs she still seems to need more for certain occasions. Both of my kids have chubby feet, not wide, just chubby. I have a difficult time finding shoes for Molly that I can actually get on her feet. I have rounded up a few of my spring/summer favorites for toddlers and little girls!

Glittery Birkenstock like sandals-
Molly has had these sandals for the past 2 summers and I got her 2 more pairs for this year. They have them in silver and gold. They are great for chubby or wide feet and are super easy to put on. Molly could put them on herself at 2. We love these with play clothes and with dresses! I usually wait for Target to run a Buy 1 get 1 50% off sale to purchase a few pairs!

Glittery Sandal

Mary Jane Jellies-

I purchased a gold pair of these for both Molly and Lucy to wear in a wedding in a few weeks. The Old Navy pair runs a little small and Lucy was able to wear the 5 even though she wears a 4 in other shoes. Molly has already worn hers a few times and hasn't complained that her feet hurt. 

I recently saw some similar shoes at Walmart for 1/2 the price. The colors and pattern were a little different but also very cute. 

Old Navy Jelly Mary Jane

Walmart Jelly Mary Jane

White Lace up sneakers-

I like for Molly to have a pair of white sneakers to wear to school with her dresses. She has to wear close toed shoes and something about a pair of athletic shoes with a cute dress just bugs me. She wore keds until this year. I had a pair of wide keds for her and I cant even close the velcro strap. We recently found these at Target and I ordered them in 2 sizes. When I find shoes that I like I generally order more than one pair. These have a cute flower detail, glittery laces, and a little sparkle!

White sneakers

Natives Jefferson-

Molly loves these shoes and I love that she can put them on and get them as dirty as she wants and I just wash them in the sink. Her feet do get pretty dirty wearing them but she doesn't mind rinsing them off after playing. They are great for boating since they can get wet and they float! I ordered the pair she is currently wearing on amazon prime day for only $23. If they have them again this year I will definately be stocking up.

Natives

Keds- 

Although Molly doesnt wear these anymore Lucy still looks adorable in little white keds. I love that they go with just about everything and they are easy to clean. I think I have them in every size and half size from 4-9. We love the little sandals too!

Keds Daphne

Keds Adelle

Fisherman Sandals-

Lucy has these in a few sizes. They are easy to put on and fit her chubby feet comfortably. Molly wore these when she was younger and they still look great. You can't beat getting 2 kids worth of wear out of a pair of $11 sandals!

Fisherman Sandals

Five on Friday

This week Molly has been home from school for Spring Break and I feel like I have accomplished nothing. She has been such a handful when I have tried to go to a store with her that I have given up on trying to run errands. This summer is going to be interesting if I don't get her back on track! Anywho....on to my 5 for the week....

One-
One of the best things about having two daughters is getting to see all of Molly's clothes being worn again. Molly had mostly hand me downs from her older cousin (who got them from yet another cousin) so it is REALLY fun to see things worn by the 3rd, 4th, or even 5th child! I love how some stores have dates on the tags. Lucy will wear things that are 10 years old and they still look new. This dress was one I bought for Molly at Target and just loved. They are almost the exact same age in the pictures.
Molly had thicker hair at 17 months but they have a lot of similarities.

Two-
On Monday we went to Passover Seder at my aunts house. It was fun to share some Jewish traditions with Molly and see that she actually remembers things from the books we have read about Passover. She ate her weight in matzo and Charoset. Earlier this week I shared 2 passover dessert recipes. We finished off the last of the matzo toffee last night. Yum Yum Yum

Three-

A few weeks ago we got a window bird feeder. We put it near our breakfast room and waited and waited and waited but never saw any birds. Yesterday I finally caught a bird eating. 

Four-

This weekend my sister and her family are coming to stay with us. Our kids always have so much fun playing together and we enjoy catching up and drinking lot and lots of wine to stay sane! We always try to plan atleast one fun activity and this weekend we are going to check out the splash pad at the zoo. It actually opened last spring but we never went. We are excited to check it out. Hopefully the crowds won't be insane but I think it is going to be packed. 

If it looks like this I might not even get out of the car!

Five-

This week my husband has decided he needs some new clothes. He gave me a super specific list of the exact boxers from Target. I was so proud that I got exactly what he asked for. Well.... they were wrong. Apparently they changed their waist sizing so now I have to take them back and try again. Next he spent 2 hours looks at board shorts online. Last night I ordered him 4 new pairs from Nordstrom. Shopping for men is not fun. I am sure all 4 of the board shorts will go back and we will be back at square one. 

Hope everyone enjoys a nice Easter weekend!

Passover Desserts

This week is Passover and for the past few years I have been in charge of making desserts for our family seder. Growing up I never remember having good desserts at Seder. I remember jelly slices and chocolate lollipops both purchased from the synagogue gift shop. Maybe we have just gotten more creative over the years!

The first thing I made this year was matzo toffee. This can be made with so many different topping but I just looked at what I had in my pantry and went with it. You start with the matzo/toffee/chocolate base and then add whatever topping you please! I went with heath bar, walnuts and sea salt, and craisins with a white chocolate drizzle. 

Matzo Toffee

Recipe from Onceuponachef.com-

Servings: 35 2-inch squares

Total Time: 1 Hour

Ingredients

4-5 lightly salted matzos

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 (12-ounce) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips 

1 heaping cup chopped pecans (toasted if desired, for maximum flavor - see note below)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes or kosher salt

Instructions-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil, making sure the foil goes up and over the edges, and top with sheet of parchment paper.

Cover baking sheet with matzos, cutting and piecing together as necessary to fill the entire pan.

Make toffee: Combine butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, until mixture comes to a boil. (If it looks like it’s separating, just keep stirring; it will come together.) Once mixture comes to a boil, continue cooking and stirring for another 3 minutes until foamy and thickened. (Be extra careful -- toffee will be very hot!) Immediately pour toffee over matzos and, using a spatula, spread into an even layer.

Put the pan into the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the toffee topping is crackled and bubbling all over. Remove pan and place on wire cooling rack on the counter. Immediately scatter chocolate chips evenly over top. Wait 3-5 minutes for the chips to soften, then use a thin spatula to spread chocolate into an even layer.

*Sprinkle with pecans and sea salt. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 45 minutes. Don't leave it in the fridge too much longer, otherwise it will be hard to cut.

Lift foil overhang to transfer matzo crack onto a large cutting board. Using a large sharp knife, cut into 2-inch squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge and serve cold.

*Substitute other topping as you like!

I used parchment paper instead of foil.

I also made a recipe and a half so we would have some extras.

The second recipe I made was for passover Apple Cake.

Passover Apple Cake-

Ingredients-

5 granny smith apples, peeled and thin sliced

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 tsp sugar + 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Batter-

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup matzo cake meal

1/2 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine ingredients to make a thin batter. Drizzle 3 tbsp of batter in the bottom of a pie pan. Layer apples, raisins, walnuts, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Top each layer with a drizzle of batter. continue layering until you have used all of your ingredients and have filled you pie pan to about 1" above the top. 

Bake for 40 minutes until lightly brown. Best served warm!

My apple corer, peeler, slicer was my friend for this recipe!

I made a little extra and used an aluminum pan.

The presentation on this isn't great but it tastes delicious!