For a limited time Florida residents can purchase a 2 year annual pass for $189.95. This pass includes admission to both Universal Studios and Universal’s Islands of Adventure. This is the fee for both children and adult admission.

Universal Studios has several rides including BACK TO THE FUTURE…THE RIDE, and Shrek 4-D. Wow do you remember “Back to the Future”, the name take me back to some younger days. Okay, back to 2007.

Islands of Adventure is a water park with slides and splashing.

When looking at the cost of a pass like this, you should try to approximate how often you will be visiting the theme parks in the next two years and what it would cost to purchase one day or two day prices for those times. Don’t get overly excited about the special if you don’t plan on visiting the parks more than once, but if it is something you will be going to a few times a year then it could be a good deal for you.

When it summer time comes ,some kids would just like to become couch potatoes and just watch television or play video games all day. With only a few hours a week you can keep your kids minds active and ready for the next school year and it is free. Many schools hand out summer reading lists at the end of the school year and as parents it is a good idea to have your child read some of those books. School districts, such as Hillsborough County, have posted their reading lists online for you to view and actively use with your child. If the reading list is not a requirement, you may also try picking out a book that also a movie that made based on it. You can read the book and then watch the movie together and discuss the differences between the book and the movie.

13 year-old Evan O’Dorney became the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion. Evan is a homeschooler from California. According to the Scripps web site, Evan likes to eat fish before his spelling bee competitions. This is Evan’s third time to the National Spelling Bee Competition.

“Cash prizes for competitors range from $50 to $20,000 for the national champion. All spellers receive a commemorative watch; the Samuel Louis Sugarman Award, which consists of a $100 EE U.S. Savings bond; Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, on CD-ROM from Merriam-Webster; a $20 gift certificate from Franklin Electronic Publishers; and an iQuest handheld from LeapFrog.

The national champion also receives an engraved loving cup, a $5,000 cash award from Franklin Electronic Publishers, a $5,000 cash award from LeapFrog Enterprises Inc., a $5,000 scholarship from Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation; from Merriam-Webster, a $2,500 U.S. Savings Bond, a reference library, and a $5,000 cash award and 50 reference works to the school or library of the champion’s choice; and from Encyclopedia Britannica, reference materials valued at more than $3,800.”

If you have a little one that dreams of becoming a spelling bee champ there are resources at spellingbee.com to help.

Source:SpellingBee.com

Schools across the Tampa Bay area will close for the summer. The question with many working parents is what to do with the children for the summer vacation. Some parents have elected to send their children to all day camps where children attend the program during the day and return home in the evenings. Others are going to sleep over camp. Some are fortunate to have a relative to watch the children.

It is not too late to consider a summer program for your child. The Tampa Bay YMCA is one organization that offers programs during the summer for children. You may also choose consider local county and city recreational centers. Many cities throughout Tampa Bay understand the need to have a safe place for children to stay during the summer and offer program for the children.

Many of the summer programs do work week by week so that you can still have somewhere for your child to go if you decide to take a family vacation during the summer.

Teenagers may decide to find a job this summer, instead of staying home. The opportunity is still available for teenagers to find a job this summer. Many fast food restaurants have jobs available year round. Retail is also an area of employment the teenagers can look for employment. Local libraries also have jobs with flexible schedules that teenagers can do for the summer and year round.

Summer Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten is available once again for those that have not used their allotted pre-Kindergarten hours for the 2006-2007 school. The purpose of the program is to get preschoolers ready for kindergarten and give them a better start in the academic career. This voluntary, as the name says, and parents can choose not to use the allotted free hours.

• Voluntary Pre-K
• Voluntary Pre-K web sites

 

Wishing and praying that every mom has a wonderful Mother’s Day. Call your mom and wish her a Happy Mother’s Day, if you cannot be with her today. Be happy moms , enjoy your day and know that your best gift is the person that calls you “Mom”, “Mommy”, or “Mama”

Happy Mother’s Day from Lowry Park Zoo. Mothers will get in free at Lowry Park Zoo on Sunday May 10^th on Mother’s Day. Mother’s will receive free admission with the purchase of full-priced child’s ticket. A regular child’s ticket is listed on Lowry Park Zoo’s web site for $12.50.

More Mother’s Day Events