Say goodbye to the Land of the Dragons and hello to Sesame Street. For years Land of the Dragons has been the place for toddlers, preschoolers, and other little kids to go and have fun while at Busch Gardens.

Now Busch Gardens is planning to double the experience for young children by building a Sesame Street amusement area that will replace The Land of the Dragons be twice its size.

This spring, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay welcomes families to an all-new, Sesame Street-themed, sunny, funny playland featuring Elmo, Big Bird and all their friends. Sesame Street Safari of Fun will be filled with rides, shows and adventures that celebrate the spirit of Africa. Sesame Street and Busch Gardens unite to create a signature attraction found nowhere else.

Sesame Street Safari of Fun will include a new junior roller coaster designed for parents and children to ride together. “Air Grover” is full of mini-dives and twisty turns as families soar through the Sahara. Other kid-sized rides include “Zoe-Patra & the Hippos of the Nile,” a splashy flume ride through the famed river; “Rosita’s Djembe Fly-Away,” a swing ride that sends kids whirling above the African canopy; “Elmo’s Safari Go-Round,” a tribal-inspired carousel with Elmo and his friends; and more. “Oscar’s Swamp Stomp” provides cool water fun, and “Bert & Ernie’s Water Hole” is a wet adventure filled with bubblers, geysers, jets, dumping buckets and more. A photography studio gives kids the chance to share a hug and a smile with Sesame Street friends, and musical performances bring tales of adventure to life.

The new destination for family-friendly adventure will be created where Land of the Dragons now exists, and will double the area’s current size.

“Sesame Street Safari of Fun will be a fantastic addition to Busch Gardens,” says Donnie Mills, Busch Gardens’ executive vice president and general manager. “With Sesame Street Safari of Fun, Busch Gardens truly has something for all ages, and this new destination in the park is certain to be a hit among families and kids.”

In addition to the rides and play areas, families also will be able to watch their favorite characters on the big screen. “Sesame Street presents Lights, Camera, Imagination!” will run in the park’s 4-D theater, located in Timbuktu. And families can share breakfast and lunch with Elmo and the rest of the characters on select days at an outdoor dining facility adjacent to Sesame Street Safari of Fun.

Sesame Street Safari of Fun expands upon the variety of unique experiences Busch Gardens offers. With thrilling rides, award-winning shows and exotic up-close animal encounters, Busch Gardens provides unrivaled excitement for guests of every age.

For more information on Sesame Street Safari of Fun, visit BuschGardens.com.

Pinellas County Schools is offering a free blended, voluntary Pre-K (VPK) program beginning August 25 through June 9, 2010, for three hours a day at selected school sites. It is combined

with a tuition program for the last three hours of the regular school day. Tuition is $55 per week and the program follows the school calendar and hours. To participate, students must be 4 years old on or before Sept. 1, 2009.

To apply for Certificate of Eligibility: Parents may go to a Coordinated Child Care (CCC) office; visit www.childcarepinellas.org for application and list of CCC offices, or call (727) 547-5782 to request an application to be mailed.

To Register in Person: Take completed application to any CCC office. Bring proof of Florida residency, Birth certificate/proof of child’s age. When the application process is complete, the parent will receive a Certificate of Eligibility.

Enrollment is limited. Bear Creek Elementary, Campbell Park Elementary, Douglas Jamerson Elementary and Perkins Elementary still have openings. To enroll at one of these schools, bring your Certificate of Eligibility and the following documents: Birth certificate/proof of child’s age, Florida Certificate of Immunization (DH Form 680), physical examination certificate signed by a licensed examiner (within 12 months prior to enrollment).

For additional information, go to www.pcsb.org, click on Parents, Bulletin Board, Pre-K Program, or contact Donna Rippley, (727) 588-6097.

With coupons printed from the Sweet Tomatoes web site children can receive free admission to certain Florida aquariums. With the purchase of each adult admission ticket one child is admitted to the aquarium for free. Two aquariums participating in the program are the Florida Aquarium in Tampa and the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota.

For information about these offers visit the Tampa Bay Parent Message Boards.

Mote Marine Laboratory Free Admission Coupon

Florida Aquarium Free Admission Coupon.

Tomorrow, August 19^th, Hillsborough county school bus drivers will be testing out their scheduled bus routes. They will be seeing if there are kinks in the route, so that they can work them out before they actually have to pick-up students on Monday morning.

In the past, bus drivers have been able to run their bus routes at any time that was convenient. That often meant that bus routes were tested during late morning hours, or even Saturday, when traffic was at a minimum. This year transportation director John Franklin wants to test the system under actual conditions and that means running 1,100 buses during early morning and mid-afternoon traffic.

Hillsborough County Public Schools uses 1,100 buses to transport approximately 90,000 students each school day.

flickr/marketingnacozinha

You may be wondering what obesity and animal rights have to do with each other. Apparently PETA thinks obesity has a lot to do with vegetarianism or specifically the lack of it. The text of a huge billboard says “Save the Whales” “Lose the Blubber: Go Vegetarian” Next to those word is the image of an obese woman in a bikini. I don’t know how many overweight people are going to be motivated to become vegetarian after such an insulting ad? There is definitely a better way to promote vegetarianism other than poking fun at obese people. There are plenty of obese people for the ethical treatment of animals and I am sure the ad has angered many of them.

There are individual freebies from YoPlus and Total Cereal posted on the Tampa bay Parent Message boards.

YoPlus is giving away a coupon for some YoPlus yogurt if you send in an Activia UPC.

Total cereal is giving away a free sample of their cereal.

YoPlus Free yogurt

Total Cereal free sample

My Microsoft Word 2007 underwent one of those Windows Updates and then the laptop was restarted. Everything was fine before the update, but after the update things just got a little buggy. The cursor would not work and the menu displayed when I clicked “New” was totally new. I didn’t know what was going on and it got a little frustrating. Then I asked my little friend, Google, who knew how to solve many of my other technical problems.

Once I did a search with Google, I found a solution that fixed the problem. In the solution it said to rename a registry file and that fixed the problem. Here is a link to the solution if you run into the same problem. I cannot guarantee that it will work for you. It may or may not, but I hope that it does help.

Soon there will be 10 extra police officers on the streets of St. Petersburg.

The hiring process will begin immediately, said Police Chief Charles “Chuck” Harmon.

The federal stimulus grant program, administered through the U.S. Department of Justice, will enhance the city’s ongoing police efforts by creating a full-time Community and Police Engagement (CAPE) unit, a program tested last year in Childs Park, Harbordale and Palmetto Park. After house-by-house visits and other community policing activities over a four month period, violent crimes dropped 26.7 percent and gun-related crimes decreased 17.1 percent. The program has since been expanded in Bartlett Park, Grand Central and Historic Kenwood.

“With these funds, we are able to enhance the gains we have seen through CAPE phases 1 and 2 into a permanent program and continue to address crime in our neighborhoods,” Chief Harmon said.

This past Wednesday Sierra Fareed, a recent graduate of Riverview High School, was presented with the first Bobby L. Bowden college scholarship.

The scholarship being presented to Fareed provides $20,000 to an African-American student seeking a political science degree from Florida A & M University. Fareed recently graduated with a 3.8 GPA, while excelling in high school athletics. Outside of school, she spends time volunteering with Metropolitan Ministries and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She also participated in Hillsborough Community College’s College Out Reach Program, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Precious Pearls Program and the Derrick Brooks First and Goal Program.

You little Dora fan can catch Dora the Explorer reading some books at Jan Platt library tomorrow, August 14^th. You will also have the opportunity to register for free tickets to one of the Dora the Explorer Live! shows happening this weekend. Dora the Explorer at the library is free event and open to the public.

MOSI is having their annual Homeschool Educators Open House on August 25, 2009. Admission is free and home educators get the opportunity to see what things are available for homeschool students. MOSI does have monthly science classes throughout the year. They also host an annual homeschool science fair and have a science fair workshop that helps prepare students for the fair.

During the Homeschool Educators Open House you can receive a 20% discount on your MOSI membership.

Former Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks will visit the New Orleans Saints because they are now in the market for a linebacker. Saints linebacker Mark Simoneau was lost for the season which led to the Saints inviting Brooks for a workout. If Brooks can make the team, he will continue his career in the NFC South. Brooks began his professional football career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and remained with them until his recent release. Brooks has some strong ties to the Tampa Bay area which includes the Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School in North Tampa. It would certainly be strange to see Brooks in a different uniform, but he deserves an opportunity to extend his career. He knows the Bucs better than any current Saints player and would add some insight on how to beat the team that released him last February. The Bucs may have more one more obstacle to securing a winning season in 2009, but will it be a consequence the Bucs are ready to deal with.

Bus routes for students in Hillsborough County public schools are now available online.

Parents can look up their child’s school bus route by clicking on the words “Bus Routes,” which are located in two places on the district homepage. That leads to a page that spells out some of the rules and provides a drop-down menu with an alphabetical list of schools.

The online list of bus routes and schedules does not include information for exceptional student education buses and magnet school buses. Exceptional education students will receive a phone call from the transportation department, and magnet school students will receive their bus information via U.S. Mail.

If parents have questions they should call their child’s school.

The school Hillsborough County district web site is: http://www.sdhc.k12.fl.us/

Buccaneer Training camp is being held at One Buc Place this year. It is free and open to the public, and many in the public have taken the opportunity to see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in action. There are more days left in training camp and it is not too late to see the Buccaneers practice for free. You will have to the official Tama Bay Buccaneers web site and register to get the tickets.