Tampa Mom

Celebrate Oktoberfest all month long in Tampa! Each weekend, checkout a different festival, and if you are longing for a mid-week bit of Bavaria, have lunch at the Schnitzelhaus! All of these events have family-friendly components to them, so bring the kids! The highlight of the month will be the big Oktoberfest in Oldsmar at Tampa Bay Downs during the last weekend. Attendance was 20,000+ last year.

If you have other events to add, please leave a comment and link at the end of this post! Enjoy!

• Schnitzelhaus German Restaurant
  • Oktoberfest will be from Sept 19th to Nov 1st
  • Live Music with Inga
    Fri and Sat 5pm – 9pm and Sun 4pm – 8pm
  • Fri and Sat Special, Four Course Dinner
    $21.95 – $25.50, reservations required
  • Open Wednesday-Saturday, 11am-9pm and Sunday, noon-8pm
  • Closed Monday and Tuesday
• Dunedin Brewery OktoBEERfest 2008
  • October 2nd-4th, starts at 4pm daily
• The St. Petersburg Clay Company OktoberBest & Brew HaHa II
  • October 11, noon-7pm
  • The event will include food, beverages, music, kids activities, and best of all work from our talented artists!
• World of Beer (Westchase) WOBtoberfest 2008, 2nd Annual Beer and Music
  • October 17th, 3pm till, October 18th, noon till
  • Live music featuring Chris Nathan
  • German and American Food
  • Authentic Oktoberfest Liter Mugs
  • Family Friendly
  • $5 admission (free for 12 and under)
  • All ages welcome, 21+ to drink
• Oktoberfest on the Beach – 7th Annual Celebration Activity Schedule
  • October 18, 11am-7pm, Kinderfest 11am-3pm
  • Held at Kolb Park, Indian Rocks Beach
  • Live music, German Band “Lorelei” performs at 1pm until 7pm
  • Adult activities include: Food Court, Beer Wagon, Vendors, Art Exhibit, Antique Show, Boat Show, Silent Auction
  • Championship Competitions include: Stein-carrying, Wife-carrying, Keg-throwing, and Polka-dancing!
  • “Kinderfest” (11am-3pm) activities include: Dodgeball, Children’s Dunk Tank, Shuttle Race, Capture the Flag, Spider Web, Red Light—Green Light, Hula Hoop Contest, Water Balloon Contest, Jelly Bean Relay, Inflatable Experiences, Tattoo Booth, Balloon Artist & Magician, Kiddie Olympics, Children’s Arts & Crafts Booth
• Top O’ the Bay Oktoberfest, Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar
  • October 24, 25, 26 – Friday 5pm to 11pm / Saturday 11am to 11pm / Sunday 12pm to 7 pm
  • Schedule of events (pdf)
  • Traditionally held the last weekend of October, Oktoberfest brings the best of Old Bavaria and New Florida together for three full days of authentic German food, drink, music and dancing… along with a spectacular carnival & Midway, a great arts & crafts show, and the wildest array of audience participation contests that the Tampa Bay area has ever seen!
  • New this year… VolksMarch (5 & 10K Family Fun Walks) and Kinder Zone!
  • Oldsmar’s version of the 198 year-old German tradition is both the largest and longest-running  Oktoberfest in West Central Florida, attracting between 20,000 and 25,000 attendees.

What are you having for dinner Monday night?

From 2003 to 2008 research by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University has consistently found that children who have frequent family dinners are less likely to use marijuana, tobacco and drink alcohol.

CASA research reveals that compared to children who have frequent family dinners (five or more per week), children who have infrequent family dinners (less than three per week) are two and a half times likelier to have used marijuana and tobacco, and one and a half times likelier to have drunk alcohol.

Monday, September 22nd will mark CASA’s eighth annual Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your ChildrenTM celebration. Family Day is a national movement to inform parents that the parental engagement fostered during frequent family dinners is an effective tool to help keep America’s children substance free and reminds parents that “Dinner Makes A Difference!”

“If you asked me based on CASA’s 16 years of intensive examination of substance abuse and addiction in our nation what’s the most effective thing we can do to curb this scourge and protect our children, I would say parental engagement. And there is no more effective example of this than frequent family dinners,” said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA’s chairman and president and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. “Years of surveying teens have consistently shown that the more often they have dinner with their parents, the less likely they are to smoke, drink and use drugs.”

This information was excerpted from a press release from CASA this week. How many more reasons do we need to have dinner together? Health? Money? Those are some very good reasons, but the relationship building and accountability to one another in love is another great reason. My favorite web celebrity in this area is Leanne Ely, author of Saving Dinner. She finds great solutions when it comes to family eating situations. I came across Leanne Ely and her fantastic work on Marla Cilley’s popular website FlyLady.net. I’m a huge fan of her menus and eating ideas. She also has a great book about Nutrition and a companion Unit Study.

Hot news! Disney just announced today that you can get a free ticket to Disneyland or any Disneyworld park on your birthday in 2009. You can read all about it in their article here. This is reflective of the trend in “celebration vacations.” More families are choosing to make their vacations or celebrations serve double duty as both. When you are shopping for a vacation like this, the highest priority is finding something for everyone, and Disney has it in spades!

Start planning now to celebrate your birthday at Disney in 2009!

UPDATE: “FREE On Your Birthday” link

The 2008 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival runs from September 26 through November 9. Florida residents are eligible for a lot of great deals during this time of year. If you live close to Orlando, consider the Epcot After 4PM Annual Pass, a fantastic deal, and will get you into Epcot all year without blackout dates after 4pm. This is great if you just want to dine, go to an Eat to the Beat concert, or visit France for pastries and fireworks at the end of an evening.

Kids can experience all the fun of the festival by traveling to over 14 Kidcot activity stops around the theme park. Our kids really enjoy this and it keeps them motivated during the day. It also provides an opportunity to rest inside, out of the sun or rain. This year, USA Pears sponsors The Pearville Fair, a learning center about pears! Our kids love Epcot!

A note about food allergies: In our experience, Disney is very accommodating, especially in the more formal dining experiences. Even the takeaway food stands are pretty knowledgeable about what they are serving. If you have food allergies, notify your server, and they will typically introduce you and your allergic child to the chef. We’ve met numerous Disney chefs and had just as many conversations with them about our food needs. Once, a chef at Boma (my personal favorite Disney restaurant) made a special dessert for Elizabeth since she couldn’t eat a single thing from their dessert offerings. As with any food activity with allergies, don’t forget your Epi-pens, Benadryl, Albuterol, and whatever else you typically need to deal with an incident. Also, don’t forget to pack some safe snacks. We always pack plenty of safe snacks wherever we go.

One last money-saving tip: You can get a large cup of ice water for free at any fountain drink vendor at Disney. I get a 32-ounce cup of ice water and sometimes mix in a Crystal Light To Go packet. Don’t let your budget prevent you from staying hydrated! Pack a water bottle. Water fountains are abundant throughout the parks, and single-serving drink packets can make it more palatable.

Tasting menus from some of the 2007 international food vendors.

For kids aged 5-12, Home Depot offers its own brand of Kid Workshop on the first Saturday of each month. Saturday, September 6, 2008, kids will be constructing a paper football goalpost. Building begins at 9am, and goes until noon, or until supplies run out. Get there early to secure your spot and make sure your child has plenty of time to complete their project. Each child receives a kid-sized orange apron, an achievement pin, as well as their own newly-constructed project kit.

Check out the next project here!

Get your kids involved in home improvement at Lowe’s Build and Grow program. This is a free program for kids offered at your local Lowe’s store, usually on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month. Kids learn building skills, project safety, and get a boost of self-confidence when they discover that they really can build something themselves! Check it out and post your comments and reviews here!

Sign up now for September activities!

It’s that time of year again to purchase Fun Cards at Busch Gardens. For Florida residents, that means we buy a one day admission and can come back all year through Dec. 31, 2008! Sounds like quite a deal, doesn’t it?

Let’s take a closer look. If we just want annual BG (Busch Gardens) passes, for our family of four (2 adults, 2 kids – ages 4 and 8), the Fun Card total is $239.80. This does NOT include parking ($9 general), discounts on food, beverage and merchandise, or anything else.

Here’s my suggestion: For $35 more, buy one adult 1-year Passport and Fun Cards for everyone else. 4 trips to the park will pay for this difference in parking alone, because you get free general parking with the Passport. Another area of savings is 10% off all food, beverage and merchandise. Get this Passport for the parent who will be taking the family all the time. If you are planning to get Fun Cards again next year for the family, pay $50 more and make mom’s Passport good for 2 years. If you can’t swing the money up-front, BG offers EZ-pay for Passport holders! For the 2 year passport, it’s $6.24/month for 2 years. Add on the Fun Cards for 2008, and it’s only $174.85 up front plus the $6.24 for mom, the first month.

We’ve found that the benefits of the Passports are worth it. You will use your pass more since you won’t have to pay $9 to park every time you go. Exhausting your preschoolers in Dragon Land for a few hours in the morning or afternoon won’t cost you anything but gas to get there and back, goldfish crackers, raisins and water bottles (all in Mom’s backpack!)

Read more about all of the ticketing options at Busch Gardens here.

This is a great gift for your family members, retired parents/grandparents, home schoolers, stay-at-home parents with small children, your nanny, and even your teenage babysitter!

Stay tuned for more Busch Gardens tips soon!