I Love Boston Project: Southwick Zoo

I'm back with another post for the I Love Boston Project. If you are interested in reading about my other I Love Boston adventures, they are listed below: 

I Love Boston Project: Museum of Natural History

I Love Boston Project: Day Trip to Ogunquit, Maine

I Love Boston Project: Blue Hills

 

Eric and I have visited a few zoos over the years, but we had never visited what most people say is the best zoo in Massachusetts, the Southwick Zoo. It's only about an hour away, but there are some times when you are driving through yet another random small town near Rhode Island that it feels much farther. 

 

Southwick Zoo Info

Location: 2 Southwick Street, Mendon MA

Cost: $20 for an adult, $15 for a child, discounts for military, teachers and AAA

Hours: 10:00am-5:00pm (April-October)

 

When it comes to the Southwick Zoo, I think the pictures tell the story better than I can: 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved how close I was able to get to most of the animals, and the animal selection was pretty cool as well. Another awesome feature of Southwick Zoo is the sky ride. It's basically a chairlift that goes around the zoo. We did it right at the beginning of our visit so that we saw everything from above and knew where to go after the ride. My only complaint about it is that it costs another $5 and I feel like the price is already pretty high, so I think it should be included. But oh well. 

Another cool aspect of Southwick Zoo is that they have rides for little kids, and also a couple of playground areas. It's definitely a place that a child could be entertained for hours. 

 

Do you like to visit the zoo? Where is your favorite zoo? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is up?

First of all, if you grew up in the age of away messages and currently have twitter, please follow @YourAwayMessage it will bring you back to the hilarious away messages people used to leave, especially ones that tell everything the person is up to no matter how boring (shower, class, lunch, class…). I also literally laughed out loud when I saw the ones that end "leave me some love"- I totally used to write that at the end of most of my away messages. Very few things crack me up more than reliving hilarious teenage moments. And hilarious 5 year old stories. 

 

Lots of fun in Kelly land since I last blogged. I did my third sprint triathlon on Sunday! 1/4 mile swim, 10 mile bike, and a 5K. It was by far my favorite so far because I did the whole things with friends. I was super proud of my swim (as Lisa said, I was faster than 85% of people!)- We were middle of the pack on running, but I am so happy about my time because it's fast for me especially after a bike and swim! Our biking was slow, and I loved every minute of my slow biking. Haha. Well not every minute, every minute that was not uphill. I'm sad the tri is over because training was so fun but I do plan to swim and run still- we shall see about biking! 

 

School started last week. My class is… interesting? I'm trying not to say bad, yet. I always forget what babies they are at the beginning of K and usually spend the first two weeks plotting my eventual move to fourth grade (which I'm not even certified to teach, ha). Of course I always end up loving K by the end of the year, so the cycle continues. I can't wait until it's not too early in the year to take away a few minutes of recess and get rid of the use of the word potty, two mutually exclusive events- I don't take away recess for using the word potty, I just hate it. I swear my kids are going to be "potty trained" using the word bathroom. The word potty makes me shudder. 

 

That's it from me. What has been up with you? 

Music, Books, Miles of August/Goals for Sept.

I loved stealing Music, Books and Miles from Lisa in July, so why not do it again in August? 

Music

Well, I still love all the songs I loved last month. Don't worry, I have a few more to add- all brought to you by the satellite radio station The Highway which my family can attest to the importance of this satellite station in our Yellowstone rental car. Thank you fantastic country station for calming us all down on the days of driving, sometimes right next to cliffs. 

Cruise, Florida Georgia Line- I like to call this song "you make me wanna roll my windows down" because that is a more fun name, I think. 

Take a Little Ride, Jason Aldean 

Time is Love, Josh Turner

 

Books

I had a great month of reading, which I will credit to summer vacation, and the fact that I really liked all the books I read so I wanted to keep reading them. I read 7 books this month (and finished another on September 1st), and I gave ALL of them 4 stars. I swear I didn't do that on purpose!

 

 

                      

 

     

 

Like I said, I really liked all of these books. Gone Girl was crazy, but definitely held my attention, especially in the second half. Bossypants and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? were similar, both funny and better than I expected. I'm pretty sure I laughed out loud several times during Bossypants, sometimes in public. Hotel on the Corner is a book I have been meaning to read for awhile and it was a great, historical fiction, love-story/coming of age book. Great month of reading. 

 

Miles

Total miles running and biking: 97 (up from 70 in July)

Swimming accomplishment: Swam 1 mile!

Biking accomplishment: Did every single bike ride with a friend!

Running accomplishment: Worked back up to a 5K with no knee pain! 

 

August Goals Recap

I managed to surpass my reading goal and keep up with my foam rolling (which my knee appreciates). I also incorporated abs a lot, but did not do any yoga. My biggest accomplishment of this month was definitely staying calm about school starting. This was my favorite August I can remember in awhile and there was no August breakdown at all. Wahoo. 

September Goals

1. Keep up with running, swimming and abs. I'm not promising biking. My bike and I are in a fight right now. 

2. See at least two friends per week and e-mail/call or text with one faraway friend per week. Caroline counts as a sister/friend. Working out with friends counts and earns bonus points. I love how social I am in the summer and I know I'll have less time but I still want to make it a priority. 

3. Read 4 books. Again, I'll have less time but I'd like to keep up with my ultimate relaxation. 

4. Stay calm and positive. This goal could be rephrased as: when in doubt, drink wine. There is no problem a Bud Light cannot solve. 

 

Tell me some great music, books or miles for you this month.