Well, we were planning an exciting trip to Springfield, IL, for next week, while Brian takes some much deserved time off of work. But then we got to thinking about how NOT FUN it would be to sit in a hotel room for a few hours every day while Connor tries to take his naps, and how NOT FUN it would be for the whole family to have to play the hold-still-and-be-completely-silent-because-we’re-all-in-the-same-room game when Connor tries to go to bed at 8pm. So, we threw Springfield out the window. (Seriously, how do families with babies/toddlers go on vacations??)
Sitting around the house didn’t sound like a total blast either (though it is the first week in a LOOOOOOONG time that Connor has NO appointments), so we started planning our stay-cation (I totally hate that phrase, and can’t believe I just wrote it!) here in Chicago… a place loads more exciting than Blago’s old stomping grounds.
Of course, there aren’t too many places that can easily accommodate all ages… except for… THE ZOO!
Visiting a real zoo like Brookfield Zoo means real ticket prices… a minimum of $13.50 per adult. Ugh.
So, I googled discount tickets… and lo and behold, a Christmas miracle!
If you’re a local, you’ve got to check out Museum Adventure Pass! 
On Tuesday, I visited my local library branch to inquire about the passes. (Lucky for us, Brookfield Zoo is one of the participating “cultural destinations”.) I was curtly informed by the crotchety librarians at the childrens’ reference desk, that they were all out, and that passes to the zoo were extremely hard to come by. I asked when they would have more passes available (Wednesday), and what time they opened (9am).
Like a dork, I was there at 8:45am the next morning, stalking the locked front doors to the library… after all, I had been warned they were in high demand, and I was determined!
Yes, I was the only crazy person waiting for the library to open on Wednesday morning, but guess what… I got my Museum Adventure Pass! So, we’ll be visiting the zoo next week FOR FREE.
Brookfield, here we come!!
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1 comments:
Awesome! We have that same type of program here called "culture passes." Although I haven't been lucky enough to score the zoo passes yet, we've been to the Phoenix Children's Museum a few times for free! It's a great program, and glad you were able to score some good passes! So worth waiting for the library to open and dealing with the moody librarians. :)
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