We had gone to the wonderful Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Conn., with one of my wife’s best friends and her son. The aquarium is small but nice: they have seals, sharks and even sea jellies you can pet.

Honestly, if you get a chance to pet sea jellies in a controlled environment, I totally recommend it. The staff at the aquarium was very knowledgeable, explaining why they kept the jellies in a frigidly cold tank and about their life cycles. Though no one had an answer to the sea jelly versus jellyfish debate. Seriously, does that look like a fish?

After a nice lunch at a local Greek restaurant, we walked back to where we had parked our cars just down the block from the aquarium. It turned out to be next to a playground that seemed very modern with nice new equipment.

The sign at the entrance to the park explained that it was a “Sandy Ground” project. This one was sponsored by Goldfish crackers, hence the goldfish icons all over the place (turns out Pepperidge Farms, makers of Goldfish crackers, is headquartered in town). But what exactly is a “Sandy Ground”?

This Sandy Ground is one of 26 playgrounds built in areas devastated by the October 2012 Hurricane Sandy in honor of the 26 lives lost in Sandy Hook elementary school shooting a few month’s later just about 19 miles from this particular playground.

This playground was built in honor of Allison Wyatt, a 6-year-old killed by a gunman with an assault weapon in her own first grade classroom. The playground that day was filled with kids running, swinging and laughing. The kind of joy that was snuffed out almost six years ago.

At the time, people were sure the cold-blooded massacre of those 6- and 7-year olds and their teachers, would be the tipping point in the gun debate in this country. Sad to say, it has just gotten worse. So much worse.

It is nice that there is this playground that overlooks the water and has paths to hiking trails. It’s nice that there is a place for your kids to wear themselves out a little more after the aquarium. You watch your kids run and jump, but at the same you can’t help thinking about little Allison and her classmates and the cold hard fact that they cannot enjoy these playground built in their memory.

Visit the website for Where Angels Play, the organization that spearheaded the building of the Sandy Ground playgrounds, to learn more about the project. Click the “Our Playgrounds” link on that site to find the locations near you.

A version of this first appeared on Great Moments in Bad Parenting.

I just got home from the Bronx Zoo with my son, Jake, and we’re already looking forward to our next trip – our third of this spring.

“Isn’t that expensive?” you may ask.

My answer: Not if you get a membership to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

After our second time at the zoo this year, I started to feel the pinch in my wallet. After a little online research, we learned how a membership pays for itself after a few trips and provides a year’s worth of entertainment.

Get the best deal for the Bronx Zoo:

• Go to the Wildlife Conservation Society membership page.
• Chose the plan and price that best suits your family.

Some of the options include:

• Unlimited admission for two adults and all your kids (up to 18 years old) to not just the Bronx Zoo but also to the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn and the city zoos in Central Park, Prospect Park and Queens.
• Unlimited admission to certain attractions and rides
• Free parking (for an additional one-time add-on fee)
• A 10% discount on food and souvenirs
• Discounts on tickets to special events and attractions, such as the Bronx Zoo’s annual Holiday Lights

Imagine all the different adventures, fun and memories you could create with the kids for one price.

Say you get the membership this week. At-home parents could take their children for just a few hours on a weekday morning (better because it’s less crowded), see two or three of the myriad of exhibits the zoo has to offer, grab lunch at the concession stands (or pack your own and save) then still make it home for the kids’ mid-day nap. You had a great day, right?

Then, do the same thing again in a week … or two … or three. You’re a member now, so pull out your membership cards and bring the kids back to the Bronx Zoo at no additional charge.

See just a few new exhibits each time because, as we all know, a young child’s attention span can last for only so long, and after several visits, you’ve seen the entire zoo and maybe more. After or in between, visit the aquarium and other zoos – admission fee already paid.

That’s what Jake and I plan to do this summer, and we highly recommend that you consider it, too. You and your kids will love it.

Photo credits: Seal and polar bear – Always Home and Uncool. Bronx Zoo entry gate: Wikipedia