Adventure Island offers student discounts

Posted Aug 25, 2011 by Clarisa Gerlach

Updated Aug 25, 2011 at 08:32 PM

Summer is practically over but we’re in Florida, so is it ever too late in the year to play at a water park?

Adventure Island, Busch Gardens’ water park, is offering a $24.99 single-day admission ticket to students.

Regular one-day admission is $38.99 for kids 3 to 9 and $42.99 for anyone older.

The discounted tickets – for students from elementary to high school – are available beginning Sept. 10. Tickets are available at Adventure Island ticket windows and online at AdventureIsland.com.

College students can receive the same rate now showing their college ID or purchasing a ticket online with promo code, COLLEGE.

Adventure Island is open Sept. 3 to Sept. 5, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Then, the park is open weekends only Sept. 10 through Oct. 30 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Single-day admission tickets for Adventure Island are regularly $42.99 for adults and $38.99 for children ages 3 to 9. Ages 2 and younger are free. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

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Keep it simple, moms

Posted Aug 25, 2011 by Courtney Cairns Pastor

Updated Aug 25, 2011 at 03:50 PM

We have a great pediatrician.

Yes, we. Even though my son is the one who gets the exams (and the shots!), I walk away from our appointments feeling better. I can read all I want about child development and illnesses, but nothing is more reassuring than having a doctor who knows your child there, in person, to answer whatever is nagging at you.

Mostly what I ask involves me trying to gauge my panic level. He’s not eating/sleeping/pooping … how worried should I be?

Mostly the answers involve: relax, it’s normal behavior.

Which doesn’t mean the doctor dismisses my concerns. If he did that, I would have found another practice several appointments ago. But he has a way of giving perspective and offering practical advice that makes me wonder sometimes if I am making parenting much more complicated than it needs to be.

I came to my son’s 2-year-old well-child appointment this week with my list of questions. Our main issues right now involve sleeping (not enough) and eating (not enough), though no one could say that Nate is suffering from either. He’s plenty active, and his weight is in the 50th percentile. So something is working.

The pediatrician listened and sympathized and then gave his advice. On the sleeping – put him back in bed when he climbs out. On the eating – don’t let him fill up with milk, give a multivitamin to fill in the gaps and continue to put healthy choices in front of him. And if he is being completely stubborn? It’s OK for him to feel hungry if he rejects his dinner.

Oh.

I can do that.

I’ve been reading books, posting on message boards and reading blogs, filled with tips and gimmicks to try. I bought “lunch punches” to cut out funny sandwich shapes, hoping it would entice my son to take a bite. I tried shaving zucchini into ribbons (he called them snakes) and turning it into patties (he ate them one night and never touched them again) to no avail.

I debated Cry It Out vs. Sleep Lady Shuffle with my husband and the pros and cons of both, experimented with earlier bedtimes, later bedtimes, crib, no crib and special stuffed animals.

There’s nothing wrong with any of these attempts. For some kids, a little change might be just what they need to nudge them were we need/want them to be. But before I get so far down the road of creative foods or sleep strategies, I need to first start with the obvious. I enjoyed my shredded zucchini cakes, after all, but maybe the bigger issue is that Nate had so much whole milk that he wasn’t even hungry.

I felt better when we left the pediatrician’s office. I didn’t have a plan to follow, just common-sense parenting that should be obvious but easy to overlook.

Sometimes getting back to the basics is just what the doctor ordered.

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Walmart, Target hike grocery prices

Posted Aug 25, 2011 by Dennis Joyce

Updated Aug 25, 2011 at 02:28 PM

Walmart and Target still have the lowest grocery prices this week in our Market Basket survey, but they raised them sharply over last week – about $6 each.

The other three supermarkets we survey – Publix, Sweetbay and Winn-Dixie – were within about $1 of last week’s prices.

Year over year, the big climb continues with Winn-Dixie, Sweetbay and Target recording prices $9 or more above what they were at this time last year for a basket of 30 typical grocery items.

Here’s the breakdown.

Increase from Aug. 26, 2010, to Aug. 25, 2011: Winn-Dixie $10.73, Sweetbay $9.75, Target $9.27, Publix $5.63 and Walmart $3.98.

Price this week for 30 typical grocery items: Walmart $70.37, Target $77.41, Sweetbay $78.92, Publix $84.60 and Winn-Dixie $85.05.

Click here to compare nearly two years of prices on the 30 grocery items at the five supermarkets.

This week’s interactive graphic features spaghetti.

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Discount days at Lowry Park Zoo

Posted Aug 25, 2011 by Janine Dorsey

Updated Aug 25, 2011 at 11:56 AM

If your birthday is in September, why not celebrate it at Lowry Park Zoo?

Guests who present proof of birth date - driver’s license, birth certificate, passport or military ID - get free daytime admission on the day of their birth.

The offer cannot be combined with other offers or discounts.

If it’s not your birthday, but you have a pass for either the Florida Aquarium or MOSI, you can also get in free to the zoo from Sept. 6-30.

Lowry Park Zoo pass holders, in turn, get in free to either of those attractions during the same period.

You must present a valid photo identification and current membership card for admittance.

If you can’t cash in on any of these deals, there’s still $5 day at the zoo.

On Saturday, Sept. 10, from 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., all guests are admitted at the discount price of $5.

Free overflow parking is available on $5 day next to the Tampa Greyhound Track.

Free shuttles will run continuously 9 a.m.-6 p.m. from that lot to the zoo.

Zoo rides are not included with admission on $5 Day.

 

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College students ride cheap on HART

Posted Aug 25, 2011 by Janine Dorsey

Updated Aug 25, 2011 at 12:25 PM

There’s no need for college students to be stuck on campus.

Students at the University of South Florida pay for HART rides through their tuition so they can get on board a local, limited express or flex route bus just by showing a student ID.

USF faculty and staff ride for just 25 cents, a fraction of the normal $1.75 fare.

In addition, 21 other local colleges and technical schools - including Hillsborough Community College and the University of Tampa - offer HART 31-day bus passes for $45, a 25 percent discount. Students must purchase the passes at school.

HART runs 10 bus routes in the USF area, including several that operate until midnight. In addition, the Bull Runner, USF’s campus shuttle service, connects to the University Area Transit Center, the main HART bus hub for all routes operating in North Tampa.

Several bus routes serve the University of Tampa and all Hillsborough Community College campuses.

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