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We're going to the zoo today!  We've been looking forward to it all week.

Having a membership to the zoo has proven to be a cost-saving, strategic way to handle this favorite destination.

Today, we want to see how much the baby giraffes have grown, and with the membership, we don't feel pressured to go to the zoo and see absolutely everything.  So, today, we'll see just the giraffes and maybe the zebras.  We simply pick the things we'd like to see that day, and then we feel relaxed when we get there -- unless the girls pick the snakes that day. That's not so relaxing for me.

Many times museums and attractions like the zoo will put that day's admission toward your membership, making the whole deal even more attractive.  The first time we went to the Los Angeles Zoo, I liked it well enough (even though my heart really belongs to the Philadelphia Zoo).  I figured out how many times my family would have to return to the zoo to make the membership pay off.  I realized that with that day's admission included, we would only have to come back a few times in a whole year!

Now, you'd think that with a membership, the destination would be "regular" enough that we wouldn't have to visit the all-appealing gift shop every time.  My husband and I have different opinions on that one, so for now, we do go to the gift shop and let the girls pick out something very small.  They add to their collection of plastic animals.  I do have to admit that they play with every single one they have, making huge trains of animals.  Additionally, I also have to admit that when they pick out an animal they then ask for a book about that animal the next time we visit the library.  This is how I learned about the okapi.  Who knew?

Our zoo admission pays off in lots of ways.