we bought a zoo (membership)!

In late February (Charlotte was 3 weeks old!) Joel's brother came to visit on an unseasonably warm, sunny weekend. We wanted to do something different while he was here, but we weren't interested in wandering around a dark museum or seeing a movie or show when the weather was so gorgeous.

Knowing that Joel loves animals, I suggested we visit the Philadelphia Zoo. Neither of us had been before, even though I've lived in the Philly suburbs for over 5 years and Joel's lived here almost 9 years. Joel went online to figure out ticket prices and parking, then announced that it was almost the same price to buy a year's family membership as it would be for the three of us (plus baby Charlotte) to go for the day. We decided immediately to get a membership, thinking we'd take Charlotte a few more times as the year went by.

We were right; we've taken Charlotte four times already, but it's funny to justify buying such a thing for a baby who at the time wasn't even a month old. :) She hasn't shown much interest in the animals yet, but she loves sitting up in her big girl stroller, watching the people walk around, and listening to all the commotion going on.

There are two really awesome aspects to the zoo membership package:
1.  We get free parking, every time. Parking alone costs $15 so having that included every time makes a big difference in the cost.
2. We can bring two guests, every time. This is such a great deal! 

I decided recently that I wanted to document each of Charlotte's visits to the zoo with a photograph, even if it's a hand-held selfie, taken at the very last second before we leave. 

Visit one: 3 weeks old. You can barely see her head inside the Ergo, where she slept the entire time, except for waking up to nurse once.

Visit two: 2.5 months old. She slept a lot this trip, too, but was often jostled around by junior high kids pushing her stroller precariously.

Visit 3: almost 5 months old. We went as a family shortly after school got out.  Charlotte looks HUGE to me, especially in comparison to the first photo!

Visit 4: almost 6 months old. We went with our friends and spent most of the watching their little boy run around and have fun! Charlotte was awake the entire time, but napped in the car both coming and going :)These pictures show her sleepy self right before we left the zoo (note the ear pulling in the first picture... definitely a sleep cue!).