Tuesday Tip: Go to the zoo. (in the off season!)

For today's tip, I thought I'd share a recent post from Irish Central, where I write routinely about the whimsy of parenting -- or, more accurately put, the ups and downs of life here in the Lyons Den... or any other humble abode that happens to be crawling (at times, quite literally!) with little ones.

Last weekend, I took several of our tots to the zoo and was reminded once again of the joy of visiting the zoo in the off-season; there were no lines, no crowds, and easy access to the things that matter most to us... animals, bathrooms and snacks -- not necessarily in that order!  In a nutshell, the morale of this story is to take your tykes out and about when other folks are lazing about inside.  Sure, it might be a bit brisk but that's easily resolved with a cup of hot chocolate and I can assure you that the simple pleasures of zoos (and aquariums, museums, parks and playgrounds!) are all the better when you can enjoy them without a crowd... and, without the fear of losing your children in that crowd!  Should you wish to read on, here is a tale of two zoos as I recently told it to my pals over at Irish Central...


I am a zoo-lover.  To me, one of the gratifications of having children is the ability to share my love of animals and wildlife and create little zoo-lovers to follow in my footsteps.  With five tykes seven and under, we've been quite busy exploring every zoo within reasonable -- and not so reasonable --distance from our home in the suburbs of New York City.  To date, we've been lucky enough to visit the   National Zoo in Washington D.C., the San Francisco Zoo ...

The Bronx Zoo (on numerous occasions) and, on one stellar day, the Dublin Zoo.

Our visit to the Dublin Zoo was last October, during a whirlwind family trip to visit our roots in Ireland.  Since then, we have visited our "local" zoo in the Bronx twice -- once on New Year's Eve (yes, I did choose to ring in the new year with all our children and the sights, sound and smells of zoo animals!) and once this past weekend.   On Sunday, my husband Des took our seven year old, Liam, to see the Ireland vs. France rugby match and, given the choice of staying home alone with our four other tykes or heading to the zoo, I did what any other sane, tired 40-year old mum would do, I took them to the zoo!  Again!  And, once again, I was reminded of a tale of two zoos... 

"Our" zoo, the Bronx Zoo, is the zoo of my childhood.  The zoo I visited on class trips.  The zoo I first shared with my children.  But "your" zoo, the Dublin Zoo, is truly a zoo of many wonders.  It is the zoo where my one and only little lady turned five.  It is the zoo where I could swear we experienced four seasons in a day as the wind blew and the weather turned from sunny to cloudy to rainy to frigid to sunny once again.  It is the only zoo (and, as I've now established, I've seen many a zoo!) where we saw an elephant take a bath, a herd of giraffes happily mingle with several zebras, and truly, more animals than people!  

Don't get me wrong, I love our zoo here in the Bronx and am pleased to report that membership has its privileges; last Sunday, we parked, visited and rode the merry-go-round for free, thanks to our annual family membership.  We got up close and personal with tigers, gorillas, sea lions, a polar bear and more than a few "friendly" peacocks.

At the end of the day, it's hard to say which zoo would win the battle of the zoos... personally, I just feel blessed to have visited them all and to have five fab kids to share them with.

Tales from San Francisco: Part 2: Kid-Friendly City Outings

Our oversized sense of adventure took us to San Francisco to visit my sister and her family for the week between Christmas and New Year's.  After roughly 36 hours of celebrating Christmas, we popped our five kids on a plane for six day stay in my sister's two bedroom apartment.  As my Dad so eloquently put it, "Well Ker, I'm sure it will be quite an experience."  And indeed it was!

We survived the six hour flight with very few hiccups; we sailed through security (who else would be traveling at 8:00 on Christmas night?), changed the kids into their PJs before boarding (much to the horror of our fellow travelers in the Continental lounge that night - sorry folks and really, I swear, there was nothing but pee in those diapers I tossed in the pail on my way out!), caught a few z's while inflight (thank you to our Christmas angel who let Ciara sleep on her lap!) and even found our luggage when we landed (God knows they better get your bag there if they're going to charge you $25 for it!). 

With our bags and sense of adventure in tact, we were ready to see all San Francisco had to offer and, while we most certainly didn't do it all, I thought I'd share a few highlights that anyone heading to San Francisco with tots on board shouldn't miss:

Fisherman's Wharf.  Sure it's cheesy and touristy but hell, when you're making the rounds with five kids in a city that's not your own, why not be a cheesy tourist?!  When we woke up to the shining sun on Day One, we hit the streets -- quite possibly looking more like a Stroller Strides class than a family on vacation!  In any case, we had a great morning that included a walk through Fort Mason and a romp on the beach.  We had a great lunch at Boudin Bakery (http://www.boudinbakery.com/) followed by a personal necessity pitstop... you guessed it, potty break!  As I've mentioned in prior posts, hotels make for the perfect rest area and should you ever find yourself in the area and needing to change a diaper (or two or three!), visit The Argonaut Hotel (http://www.argonauthotel.com/) -- we took turns on diaper duty and warming our hands by the fire, all the while pretening to be guests... which I one day aspire to be! 

With the potty break behind us, we did what any tourist in close proximity would do and walked over to Pier 39, where the sea lions did not disappoint and held the tots rapt attention for longer than any Baby Einstein video ever could! 

The San Francisco Zoo (www.sfzoo.org) is sure to be a crowd pleaser and is a great way to spend a day... or half a day, at least! Located on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, you can hear the waves crashing from the parking lot and feel the ocean breeze (or, gale force winds, depending on the day!) as you wander past Madagascar-worthy lemurs and kid-pleasing penguins, giraffes and lions -- try to catch the feedings if you can!

 Stay tuned for Part 3:  Road Trips!  Yes, it's true... after a 3,000 mile flight and with only five true days in San Francisco, we did spend two of them on the road... I mentioned our sense of adventure, right?  More to follow! 

The Discovery Musuem (http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/), located in Fort Baker just over the Golden Gate Bridge, was another day out that did not disappoint.  There was an interactive, hands-on playroom for the toddler set while the "big kids" were happy outside on the pirate playground.  There were more exhibits than we had time to take in but you could spend a whole day here if you wanted to... especially since the cafe had moderately priced, majorly tasty organic entrees for lunch and the views were simply stunning.