Today I had a wonderful time with my friend Molly, her 2 daughters and my little boy Wesley at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. Molly has a membership and several guest passes and was kind enough to let us tag along. We could only stay for about 2 hours but Wesley and I had such a good time. We saw goats, llamas, pigs, monkeys, storks, wallabies, chickens, giraffes, elephants, penguins, a tiger and a tapir.

Here are some tips for your next visit to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa.

1. Wear sunscreen! Many of the exhibits have no shade.
2. Visit the manatees when you’re ready to cool down. Their exhibit is below ground away from the burning hot sun.
3. Save your plastic cup and bring it back for 54 cent refills on your next visit. A bottle of Gatorade is $2.50!!
4. Bring water shoes, a towel and a change of clothes for the kids. There are a few places for the kids to play in the water. You know your kids get cranky when they’re out in the sun too much. Cooling them down in the fountains could save your trip!
5. Bring $3 to feed the giraffes. You’ll get a giant banana leaf to feed them. Buy one and split it among your kids.
6. Pack a lunch. No surprise, the food is expensive there. You can leave the park and go to your car to eat. Get a stamp on your hand on the way out.
7. Bring your camera! There are so many great photo ops at the zoo.

Thankfully Nikon finally sent my D5100 back after 2 months. They ended up replacing it instead of repairing it. Today was the first day using it again. I’m pretty pleased with my photos. They sure beat the ones I’ve been taking with my iPhone. I also shot some quick videos to show Alistair, since he was in school all day. Here are a few of my favorite shots from our visit.

I really need to get an annual Zoo Pass for Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. I love that it gets you into 150 other zoos nationwide, as well as free admission to the Florida Aquarium and MOSI in September. I think I’ll put it on Alistair’s birthday wish list. Grandparents love giving memberships as gifts.

To see even more photos of our Lowry Park Zoo trip, go to my Facebook page. To keep up with all of my adventures follow me on Twitter @JennLikesIt. I use the hashtag #familydayfun when I’m out hanging out at family-friendly Tampa Bay locations and you should too!

Go to the Lowry Park Zoo website for more information about their annual Zoo Pass. Follow them…

• on the Lowry Park Zoo Facebook page,
• on Twitter @LowryParkZoo,
• on the Lowry Park Zoo YouTube channel,
• the Lowry Park Zoo Flickr photostream,
• and their new Google+ page