Get all the fun of Great Wolf Lodge without the cost
Are your kids jonesing for a day at the waterpark? Did you know that you can visit one of the many Great Wolf Lodge locations across the US without staying the night? The Great Wolf Lodge day pass is a great way to get the fun of the water park, restaurants, activities, and more.
Purchase your day pass online before you head over. Kids 2 and under do not require a pass but all other guests entering the facility will need a pass (even those not planning on swimming). Pick up your passes at the front desk when you arrive.
Great Wolf Lodge
Here are some other tips for your visit:
Guests are strongly encouraged to bring their own towels.
Coolers and outside food are not permitted in the water park.
Lockers are available at a nominal fee on a first-come, first-served basis.
You are welcome to bring your own life jacket. Great Wolf provides Coast Guard-approved life jackets on a first-come, first-served basis.
Parking fees apply at our Southern California location.
Dry-land attractions and dining outlets are available at an additional cost. You are not able to add on a dining package to your day pass.
For those worried that day pass might cause crowds and wait times for the pools and slides, Great Wolf Lodge promises to maintain capacity restraints. “Families love knowing that when they come to the waterpark at Great Wolf Lodge, they won’t need to wait in long lines for their favorite slides, struggle to find a deck chair, or swim shoulder to shoulder in our pools,” Murray Hennessy, chief executive officer for Great Wolf Resorts said in a press release. “By managing capacity levels at our waterparks we will continue to offer a stress-free waterpark experience, just as we have from the onset of Great Wolf Lodge.”
In September, Smithsonian Magazine will celebrate its 18th annual Museum Day! That means hundreds of museums, zoos and cultural centers across the country will wave their admission fees for a day, giving families free entry.
Over 1,000 museums nationwide are expected to participate in this year’s Museum Day, which will take place on Saturday, Sep. 17. Families will be able to take advantage of free admission and a special curation of exhibits related to this year’s theme.
Richard Hirajeta/Unsplash
The theme of the free event will be “The American Experience,” and will focus “a spotlight on wonderful arts, culture, sciences, innovation and history exhibits across the country” reports Travel+ Leisure. “We are so thrilled to be able to bring Museum Day to the public for the 18th year and to once again be able to highlight many of the museums and cultural institutions that make America so special,” says Amy Wilkins, the chief revenue officer at Smithsonian Media.
Not sure which museums are included? You can head to the Smithsonian Magazine website and search by location to find a participating museum near you. According to USA Today, museums are still signing up to be included as part of the free day, so continue to check if more locations are added in your area.
While the event makes museum entry free, you still need to register for a ticket. You can register for a ticket starting on Aug. 15. A single ticket provides entry for the ticket holder and one guest and only one ticket is permitted per email address. Check out the full list of participating museums and download your free ticket at the Smithsonian Magazine website.
LEGO bricks are easily some of the best creative toys for kids of all ages, but they can be a pricey investment for those living on a tight budget. But thanks to an awesome initiative, LEGO Replay, all kids can get a chance to develop those important STEM skills, and not to mention enjoy hours of creative play with LEGO.
LEGO introduced a new give-back program called LEGO Replay back in Oct. 2019, which allows families to box up LEGO bricks they no longer want and send them to kids in need for free. The program has continued to run and give your LEGO bricks new life.
LEGO
All you have to do is visit www.lego.com/replay to print out a free UPS shipping label and ship it off for donation. Currently, the program only accepts: LEGO® System, DUPLO® and Technic™ Bricks and Elements from single or multiple sets, LEGO® Minifigures and Mini-dolls (no need to disassemble) and LEGO® Baseplates.
“We know people don’t throw away their LEGO bricks,” said Tim Brooks, Vice President, Environmental Responsibility at the LEGO Group. “The vast majority hand them down to their children or grandchildren. But others have asked us for a safe way to dispose of or to donate their bricks. With Replay, they have an easy option that’s both sustainable and socially impactful.”
LEGO
The bricks will be given to kids in need and distributed to Teach for America (nationwide) and Boys and Girls Club of Boston and Teach for America and currently, the program has received over 597,000 pounds!
“Learning through play can have a tremendous impact on a child’s cognitive development. Through play, children develop fine motor skills, think creatively, and can learn how to problem solve throughteamwork,” said Susan Asiyanbi, Teach For America’s chief operating and program officer. “But not everyone has access to such resources. LEGO Replay, and the instructional resources they provide educators, will help give more students access to this opportunity.”
If balancing kids, career and home has you wearing too many hats (or a superhero cape!), we feel you. When it comes to doing it all, there’s one thing Seattle parents need (no, not donuts)—more time. Enter Yohana, the new wellness company that’s helping Seattle parents lighten the load by doing some of the heavy lifting. Read on to find out more.
A Mom-Owned Wellness Company
Yohana
Yohana is the brainchild of Yoky Matsuoka, mom to four, former endowed UW professor and MacArthur Genius Grant winner (she won it while raising three kids under four!). Matsuoka left Seattle for the Silicon Valley where she worked at Google, Nest and Apple before taking on her current role as the Managing Executive Officer at Panasonic. In each step of her career, she’s had to juggle a young family, managing a household and a demanding career. And at each step along the way, Matsuoka’s had her eye on the way technology can help people be the best versions of themselves and live happier, healthier lives. Yohana is the reality of that vision. It’s her hope that for parents (moms especially) Yohana allows them to be present for the moments that matter most.
Yohana Membership
Yohana
The Yohana Membership launched in Seattle on September 9 and has been connecting parent users to Yo Assistants ever since. The Yohana Membership has three elements: the Yo Assistant, the Yohana App and the AI behind it all. It’s this trifecta that sets Yohana’s personal assistant services apart. While it’s run through an app, there’s a real person on the other end that helps parents get through that ever-growing to-do list.
Here’s How it Works
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Yo Assistants Tackle Your To-Do List That always-expanding to-do list you’ve got on your phone or sitting on your counter (or maybe in your head)? Yohana lets parents finally take it on once you’re connected to your Yo Assistant. They can help you get your gutters cleaned, order snacks for soccer practice, find that just-right gift for your long-lost aunt, plan your kiddo’s upcoming birthday party, even coordinate a post-pandemic get together at Discovery Park. They can even help you find a babysitter or a nanny. And while we’re pretty sure they’re not sorcerers, one by one, you and your Yo Assistant will magically get things done. So rather than putting off researching Seattle gymnastics classes because you'd rather play games with the kids on a Friday night, you can do both.
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Yo Assistants & the Tech at Their Fingertips So who are these assistants ready to become your new right-hand people? Many are former personal assistants, executive admins, event planners and project managers. They’re also super tech savvy, and they go through an interview and training process before becoming part of the Yohana team. For each task they get from you, they’ve got tech-enabled resources that help them get things just the way you want them.
Let’s say you want your Yo Assistant to plan your kiddo’s birthday party. Using the AI-assisted tech, assistants can figure out not only what your family likes (and dislikes) but also what’s popular for parties, what kids of certain ages like, what’s trending in Seattle and more. As Matsuoka explains, this AI aspect is what really makes them unique; they’ve done this (literally) thousands of times. And working with your assistant is like chatting with a friend, so parents can still feel connected to the everyday without having to manage everything.
Yohana
Managing Your Workload While some Yo Assistant tasks are simple, like coordinating snack for preschool next week, others can be more complicated, like planning a weekend getaway with the kids. In this case, Yo Assistants make proposals for parents. They’ll give you easy-to-understand options to choose from, with personal comments about why they're recommending something. From there, make your selection and voila, your once overwhelming task is done.
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The Yohana App Most of your interaction with your Yo Assistant is through the Yohana App. And it makes things easy because you can assign out tasks from pretty much anywhere. So when you remember that you need to schedule doctors' appointments for the kids in the middle of the grocery store or during an online meeting, you can pull up the app and get it done. But don’t worry, if you’ve got more complex things on your list, it’s possible to connect over the phone.
Cost: $149/month, unlimited to-dos (Seattle-area members get the first two months of service for the price of one).
Peppa Pig is coming to LEGOLAND—with a brand-new first of its kind theme park! Your kiddo can spend the day with their fave characters, see live shows and explore interactive attractions. The Peppa-themed park is set to open inside the LEGOLAND Florida Resort on Feb. 24, 2022!
Even though the Winter Haven, Florida attraction is part of LEGOLAND, it’s a separately ticked theme park. Guests can buy Annual Passes to the Peppa Pig Theme Park as a standalone membership or as part of an inclusive pass to LEGOLAND Theme Park, LEGOLAND Water Park and other available Merlin Entertainment attractions.
What can expect from the Peppa Pig park? Mark Fisher, Group Chief Development Officer, Merlin Entertainment, said in a press release, “As one of the world leaders in location-based entertainment we are delighted to be creating this first-ever theme park dedicated to the wonderful world of Peppa Pig. We have already had great success with our immersive Peppa Pig World of Play attractions both here in the US and in Asia.”
Fisher continued, “Working with our partners at Hasbro, we are excited to be taking the next step in creating this fully immersive theme park, which will bring to life even more of the sights, sounds and experiences that family audiences know and love so much from Peppa’s world. It’s guaranteed to be a truly memorable day out for families and something to really look forward to visiting.”
Visit the Peppa Pig Theme Park website here for more details and to sign up for email updates!
You know it’s called The Big D and that it’s home to the Cowboys, but there are plenty of fun facts about Dallas and the surrounding metroplex we bet will surprise you! From being home to the world’s tallest cowboy to actually inventing the frozen margarita, here are 15 fun facts about Dallas you might not know.
2. 7-11 opened its first location in Dallas and is still headquartered here today.
3. The biggest Christmas tree in the country can be found inside the Galleria Mall.
4. The largest model train exhibit in the country is on permanent display in the lobby of Dallas’ Children’s Medical Center
5. Barney, the purple dinosaur every parent loved to hate was filmed in Dallas. The show is also where Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato got their first start.
6. Dallas was home to the infamous Bonnie and Clyde.
7. The term “Super Bowl” was coined by Dallas resident and AFL founder Lamar Hunt.
8. The Dallas Public Library displays one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence.
9. Famous musicians from DFW include Steve Miller, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Erykah Badu, Nora Jones, ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill, The Chicks, Stephen Stills, Usher and Meat Loaf.
10. The Texas State Fair's Big Tex is the tallest cowboy in the world.
Calling all Wiggles fans! The wiggly group is growing with four new member and a new series!
First, say hello to Tsehay, Evie, John and Kelly Hamilton. The new quad will join existing members, Anthony, Emma, Lachy, and Simon, creating an uber talented group of dancers and singing from across Australia.
photo: Courtesy of The Wiggles
The Wiggles’ new series, Fruit Salad TV will premiere exclusively on The Wiggles’ YouTube channel on Sept. 4. The lively show will encompass storytelling, dancing and singing that is perfect for a sing-a-long sesh. The new show and additional Wiggles members will further the message of embracing diversity in the areas of gender, age, culture and race.
The Wiggles aren’t the only thing expanding: Wiggle Town is growing too! Three new non-binary characters are joining, including Officer Beaples, Shirley Shawn the Unicorn and Bok the hand puppet.
Catch the first episode of Fruit Salad TV on The Wiggles’ YouTube Channel on Sept. 4.
You probably know Christian Robinson from his best-selling children’s books You Matter and Another and for his award-winning illustrations in Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña. He now brings his joyful, inspirational designs to Target as they launch the Christian Robinson for Target collection of home goods, apparel and books for babies and kids.
This limited-time collection, which continues Target’s commitment to sourcing and designing more products with Black creators and designers, includes bedding, pillows, wall art, t-shirts, onesies, pajamas, and exclusive editions of four of Robinson’s books. The clothing options include adaptive and sensory-friendly apparel. Most items are under $25, with the collection ranging in price from $6 to $70.
“We know our guests want their homes to be a reflection of themselves and look to Target for inspiration and new ways to explore their creativity,” says Jill Sando, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer at Target. “Christian Robinson’s curiosity and creativity are unmatched. We’re thrilled to be able to introduce our guests to such a special partner and deliver an inclusive collection that is as inspiring as it is affordable.”
Discussing the partnership, Robinson says, “As a child, drawing became a way to make space for myself and to create the kind of world I wanted to see. Working with Target to bring this collection to life has been a dream come true and I hope it helps all Target guests, big and small, create a space of their own that is timeless, captures their imaginations and sparks their curiosity.”
The Christian Robinson for Target collection will be available on the Target website and in stores beginning August 15; new home products will arrive in October.
More than 90,000 babies competed for a spot as the 2021 Gerber Spokesbaby, but only one could prevail! And his parents have a fantastic backstory, too. Four-month-old Zane Kahin from Florida is this year’s winner after his mom beat cancer and the odds.
Erin Kahin and husband Mike hoped to have kids, but they weren’t sure if Erin could conceive naturally after she faced treatment for breast cancer, including a double mastectomy. But Baby Zane surprised the family and entered the world on February 3!
“Zane is a little comedian – he loves to crack himself up and even wakes up laughing. His cheerful attitude, captivating giggles, and playful smile can light up any room!” his parents noted.
As for the prize, the Kahins received $25,000 in cash, free Gerber products for up to one year and a wardrobe provided by Gerber Childrenswear. You can buy a bodysuit or t-shirt design inspired by Zane and the company will make a product donation of equal value to the charitable organization Delivering Good. Zane will also keep busy as the “Chief Taste Tester” for new baby food products and serve as Gerber’s “Chief Growing Officer.”
The Gerber Spokesbaby is an annual award inspired by a 1928 company contest to find a face to represent their baby food. Artist Dorothy Hope Smith’s charcoal sketch of a neighbor’s child perfectly captured the spirit and it’s been the face of all Gerber packaging since 1931.
Move over Sanrio Suprise, Igloo has the market cornered with Hello Kitty gear now! Get ready to spend a summer with the cutest collection ever.
The Hello Kitty and Friends collection comes with everything you need to keep cool in the heat. It features six new styles with adorable artwork, soft coolers, Little Playmate coolers and drinkware.
Beyond the nostalgic vibes that make the collab a must-buy, this lineup also includes awesome Igloo stainless steel can tumblers that you can use all year long. Each product in the collection is packed with unique Hello Kitty artwork, and joins the first collection between the two brands.
“We always love teaming up with Sanrio,” said Brian Garofalow, Chief Marketing Officer at Igloo. “So, we’re especially excited for this new Igloo collection that not only includes new Little Playmate coolers, but also, for the first time, softside cooler bags and stainless steel cans inspired by Hello Kitty and her friends.”
Shop the new Hello Kittycollection at igloo.com with prices ranging from $19.99–$39.99.
