Central Park Zoo

Last week, us here on the East Coast were treated to Spring-like weather.  I happened to be in NYC for the weekend so I decided to take the kids to the Central Park Zoo.  Its a great small zoo and has an additional children's zoo, where they can see farm animals also.  After maneuvering through the subway with the stroller (I give it up to you NYC moms who deal with that on a daily basis), we made our way streetside again and checked out the zoo.

It's priced pretty reasonable ($12 for adults and $9 for children over 2 years old, $8 for seniors) and that includes admission into the children's zoo.  We checked out the petting zoo first and Mena was excited to see the animals from afar.  Idris, whose not afraid of anything, decided to introduce Mena to the goats, which was the sweetest sight to see.  Lots of people commented when I was pregnant that I was crazy to have my children so far apart.  I have to say, its actually been nice because he helps out so much and she really looks up to him.  They have this cute little relationship and he loves being able to show her new things.

Anyway, we fed the animals and then moved on to the main zoo.  There are a few exhibits, our favorites include the sea lions, the rain forest, the snow leopards and the red pandas.  Unfortunately, the polar bears were closed.  The weather was awesome.  I actually got to walk around without my coat on and rock my shades.

If you're in the city, definitely check it out.

Natural Review #2

So the mosquitos are out and about!  I always get eaten alive, so I normally carry a bottle of repellant in my bags during this season.  I used to use OFF, but it contains an ingredient called DEET, which can have side effects like rashes, hives, muscle spasms, seizures and death.  Children are more susceptible.

So I tried out Jason quit bugging me! natural insect repellant spray.  The active ingredients are Soybean oil and Geranium oil.  It is DEET, PABA and paraben free.  What I like is that it isn't greasy, it has an easy to use pump-spray nozzle and while it doesn't smell great, the scent is tolerable and of course it doesn't have the chemicals.  I have used it 3 times and the first 2 times it worked great.  This last time I got 2 mosquito bites.  I am going to give it another try and if that happens again I think I will try something different.  On my rating scale of Bad-Fair-Good-Excellent, I give this a Good rating.