ASHLEY’S CORNER Beat the Winter Blues: Try a Trip to the Zoo
Winter can be a gloomy time. Spending so much time indoors can make everyone feel kind of blah. For us, one of the best ways to break out of the winter blues is to head to the zoo. We take turns picking which animal we will see next, and everyone is engaged and happy. Anything we can do outdoors after the long winter is great for the kids. Everybody just feels better! As Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden members, we appreciate Zoo Lovers’ Day on April 8. Each of our kids has a favorite animal. Kip loves the tigers, Tess likes the hippos, and the boys are drawn to the cheetahs. And May is Zoo Baby time, featuring all the baby animals. We do zoo camps, and Kip and Tess take Zoo Troop, a once-a-week classes for kids as young as preschool. We usually make a play date to go with friends. The zoo is hilly, so walking around is good outdoor exercise. Pushing a stroller up and down those hills, especially when I was pregnant, was a good workout! I wish everyone could have a zoo membership. It’s much cheaper than buying individual tickets. We are only 20 minutes from the zoo, and we can go anytime with our pass. We do the carousel and the choo-choo
train, and we feed the giraffes. The zoo also stages a bird show, and the kids love the playground. We look forward to it every spring
The zoo comes home with us, too. The kids have stuffed versions of every animal on the planet. Tess has multiple hippo friends. Kip’s favorite is
the tiger and the elephants. We have birds and tigers and cheetahs and leopards. The kids have pretty great imaginations, and they line up all the animals, make up stories about them, and play “zoo.” They repeat what they have learned there: “Okay, two-finger touch of the animals!” My advice for April: Put the winter gloom behind you. Get out and enjoy the zoo! And consider getting a zoo membership if you can swing it. At 150 years of age, the Cincinnati Zoo is the second-oldest zoo in the country. And it’s definitely worth the investment!
Take a Break
CLASSIC FISH FRY
Ingredients
Inspired by FoodNetwork.com
• Vegetable oil • 2 lbs fresh cod • Salt and pepper, to taste •
• 2 tbsp water • 2 cups plain bread crumbs • 1/2 tsp mustard powder • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper • Lemon wedges
1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
• 2 large eggs
Directions
1. Pour 2 inches of vegetable oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat. 2. Cut cod into 4 servings and season with salt and pepper. 3. Place flour into a pie tin. Whisk egg and water in a second pie tin. Combine bread crumbs, mustard powder, and cayenne in a third pie tin. 4. Coat your fish in the flour tin, then the egg tin, then the bread crumb tin. 5. Set coated fish in hot oil and fry for 5 minutes on each side. 6. Serve with lemon wedges and enjoy!
Solution on Page 4
513TAX.COM • 3
Published by Newsletter Pro • www.newsletterpro.com
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator