You will pay more in the beginning, but in the end, you are SAVING money. If you purchase a zoo membership, it will usually pay for itself within 2 visits, and then you can visit any time you want. If you live close enough to a place the kids will love and enjoy, use it to your advantage to keeping them entertained this summer.
Yesterday, I took my kids to the Roger Williams Park Zoo, we went in a large group of moms and kids, looking to do something fun for the day. We all had memberships, except for 1 mom, and because I had purchased the 'family plus' membership, I am allowed to take guests in on my card, I was able to get her in for free. Her baby is less than a year old so he was free anyway. Our kids have a great time, there is a brand new baby giraffe at the zoo, he is only 2 weeks old and adorable!! For something so 'big', compared to the rest of the giraffes, he was tiny! (Pictured above) He was laying on the ground with his mom, and we enjoyed watching him for a few minutes. Going with a large group of young kids is always a bit hard because they run from exhibit to exhibit, but when the rest of the group went home, we stayed behind and went through the zoo again by ourselves to see more stuff.
I will admit I wasn't prepared as I should have been snack wise. I only have a small hard igloo cooler that I packed waters, juice boxes and yogurts in. I had to leave it in the car because I didn't feel like carrying it around all day. All the rest of the moms had brought these great soft sided coolers
, like this one: This was so much more convenient for what we were doing for the day, and they were able to sling it over their shoulders. I NEED to get one of these! I did not have enough snacks for my kids for the time we spent there.
By the end of the day, my son was having a meltdown, so I knew it was time to leave. That's the sign of a good day, when one of them has a tantrum about leaving. LOL But we had a full day, we were up early, we stayed for 5 hours, it was HOT, it was time to go. But we will do it again soon!
Have a great day!
shows all summer long? Here in 
, 
, the annual July 4th fireworks were moved to Dodd Stadium and you had to have a ticket to get in. People showed up early in the morning to make sure they got their tickets, even though they were free, but it was a first come, first serve basis. Many weren't willing to live without seeing the fireworks, even if you had to make a plan to get there. 
. You don't need to be close, you can sit where ever you want and its always the best seat in the house. Bring your blanket, and games for the kids to pass some time while they wait. I have found that Free Fireworks displays are some of the best frugal family fun time our family has had. Now remember the fun you had as a kid, and make those memories for you own kids. All for free. Sometimes the best memories don't have a price.