CLOSED: This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to our winners.
YOU CAN VIEW OUR LIST OF GIVEAWAY WINNERS HERE.

I know how excited all of you were for our last COSI giveaway so when I received the opportunity to go and learn about their new Dora and Diego: Let's Explore exhibit I decided jump on the opportunity. If nothing else but for my loyal readers sake and not my own. So this one is for all of you that are like my family and love COSI!

Call me a little crazy, but sometimes I feel like putting B (who is 2) in the stroller at a museum is a two sided problem. See, if we don't bring the stroller... he thinks he needs to run free like he's a wild animal that has been caged up his whole life. BUT if I bring the stroller.. then I feel bad that he can't really experience what is at the museum at stroller-length away. If I let him out of the stroller that I have brought -it's really then me just trying to chase him around while pushing an empty stroller. It's just sort of a loose- loose type of situation for me it seems. So maybe I was crazy when we left that morning but we headed to COSI sans-stroller. Needless to say I'm glad I left it at home because B was so excited to discover all the exciting and enchanting things in this magical world or Dora and Diego that COSI had created.

We were able to do all sorts of exciting things like helping Tico gather nuts in baskets, joining the Pirate Piggie's crew to divide up the pirate treasure and count coins, piloting a rocket ship to the Purple Planet and much more! B was beside himself with all the great things he could discover. His favorite part was the slide right in the middle of the room. He probably went up and down that thing at least 20 times. Now.. he couldn't do that in a stroller. We MIGHT have caused a bit of a slide traffic jam though when he decided to just sit at the top sucking his thumb blocking everyone else, but he had a great time still.

Well, COSI has generously given us TWO sets of 4 tickets to giveaway.
Includes four (4): General admission voucher to all COSI's permanent exhibits and Extreme Screen voucher

Main entry: Who is your favorite character on Dora or Diego? (Be sure to leave your comment on this post so that it gets counted)

Want more chances to win? Well, here are some more ways you can enter, just be sure to leave a seperate/ new comment for each additional entry.

- Follow Deals For Dayton on Facebook, if you already do just leave an additional comment.

- Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter, if you already do just leave an additional comment.

- Follow COSI on Facebook if you already do just leave an additional comment. Please feel free to let them know that Deals For Dayton sent you!

This contest ends Friday, November 11, at midnight EST. We will use Random.org to pick our winner.

Disclosure: I was invited to COSI to learn about their latest exhibit. But this post and opinions are my own and not paid for or influenced by the item provided.

Okay, for all you lovers of Trader Joe's, I think you are going to like Earth Fare supermarket!

Tomorrow Wednesday, October 19 Earth Fare is having their grand opening at 8am. They are located at Cross Pointe Center, where the old Stitching Post was. While they aren't having any grand opening freebies tomorrow (see I knew what you all are were hoping) they have something better going on every week. Earth Fare has Kids Eat Free every Thursday from 4-8pm where kids eat free with an adult entree purchase of $5 or more. But here's what makes their Family Dinner Night so great, there is typically entertainment for the kids (read: clowns, balloons, crafts..etc), your kiddos get to choose what they eat and up to 6 kids can eat free with a $5 adult entree purchase! This is a great deal for those of you with larger families.

I was lucky enough to get a tour of the store today and lest you think that the parents are getting the short end of the stick with this deal there is a deli, cafe, smoothie bar, soup, salad, bakery, sushi bar and even a pizza kitchen for you to choose from!! Here are the kids options, I love how there is something for just about EVERY kid no matter how picky. (They get to choose one item from each category)

Main Dish

• Turkey Provolone Roll-up
• Veggie & Hummus Roll-up
• Soy Nuggets with Ranch Dressing
• Grilled Cheese Sandwich
• Pizza Slice
• PB & J Roll-up

Fresh Side

• Carrots & Ranch Dressing
• Fruit cup
• Fruit (Apple, Banana, Orange or Grapes)
• Raisins

Snack

• Cheddar Bunnies
• Gummy Fruit Snack
• Oatmeal Snackimals
• Applesauce
• String Cheese
• Blueberry yogurt

Drink

• Milk
• 100% Juice
• Water

They make their kids menu even better by having a high standard for their products. And just like everything else in their store including dairy products, snacks, wine, cheese and even dog and cat food there are certain things they don't use. So you can enjoy your favorite snacks and staples without unhealthy ingredients like High Fructose Corn Syrup, Artificial Fats, Artificial Trans Fats, and Artificial Sweeteners.

• NO Artificial Fats or Trans Fats
• NO High-Fructose Corn Syrup
• NO Artificial Colors
• NO Artificial Flavors
• NO Artificial Preservatives
• NO Artificial Sweeteners
• NO Antibiotics or Synthetic Growth Hormones in our Fresh Meat or Dairy
• NO Bleached or Bromated flour

There is a huge section of bulk food and you can even bring in your own containers, just be sure to stop by the front desk when you come in so that they can weigh it so you don't pay for the weight of your container (how cool is that?!?).

Be sure to sign up for their weekly freebies/coupons and deals. I've been receiving them for about 3 months now and I've received ones for Free 1lb of Chicken (or Veggie Burgers) with $10 purchase, free 1lb of grapes with any purchase and free Earth Fare brand cookies with any purchase.. those are just a few of the coupons that I've gotten already. So make sure you sign up and you can get these great deals too. They also have coupons in store, they hand out coupon booklets when you come in and there are even coupons on their site. For those of you that are like me, you can even show them your coupons on your electronic device so that you can save paper, or just copy down the PLU code for your coupons. Plus be sure to follow them on Facebook for events and promotions. Personally I'm really excited to actually grocery shop there, and I'm almost positive that we will be going to Family Dinner Nights on Thursday!

( Earth Fare Family Night has been added to our Kids Eat Free list)

We are so excited about our Ultimate Mom's Night Out and today there are two local deals for two of our sponsors that night. Even if you aren't able to attend that night these are still some great deals! And I bet if you don't get them you might regret it later and wish that you had.

Groupon: $22 for a $45 Shellac on the Rocks manicure from Beaute Box

Living Social: $37 for a $75 Summertime Lite Tea Party from Princess Tea Room

CLOSED: This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to our winners.
YOU CAN VIEW OUR LIST OF GIVEAWAY WINNERS HERE.

UPADTE: WE NOW ARE GIVING AWAY 2 SETS OF PASSES!!

Last Wednesday I packed myself, my kids, Once A Month Mom and her kids all into my van and we headed out to COSI to a special preview of their new Dinosaurs exhibit. Suffice it to say, the kids were excited to go. We have passes to Cincinnati Museum and can go to COSI for free, but this was a special chance to see the Dinosaur exhibit up close and personal. Rarr!!

The Dinosaurs: Explore, Escape, Survive exhibit is over 10,000 square feet of dino-rific fun! There are giant robotic dinosaurs, which kind of scared B since he's only almost 2. There was an amazing educational and hand-on maze, and about a dozen computer simulators that let your kids have a hand at being a dinosaur. The computer simulator was by far the favorite part of the exhibit for my boys. They ran from chair to chair trying to decide which dinosaur they wanted to be, until they found the 4 steering wheel car which all the kids promptly sat down it. Although, it left me wondering how on earth that car drove with 4 drivers, it must be pretty hard to get anywhere when everyone is turning their wheel in a different direction. As we drove home and B was sound asleep (because all Moms know that means it was a good/tiring day) C looks at me and says, "Mama, thanks so much for taking letting me go to that cool special Dino thing" and in my book- that is a GOOD day!

Do you have a dino fan in your home? I know since PBS started showing Dinosaur Train that my boys seem to care more about dinosaurs than they did before. Now, here is your chance for them to get up close and personal with some dinosaurs! Well, COSI has generously given us a set of 4 tickets to giveaway.
Includes four (4):
General admission voucher to Dinosaurs: Explore. Escape. Survive. exhibit, Waking the T.Rex 3D: The Story of SUE movie, and all COSI's permanent exhibits.

Main entry: Leave us your best dinosaur sound! Roar, growl, grr- let us hear it! (Be sure to leave your comment on this post so that it gets counted)

Want more chances to win? Well, here are some more ways you can enter, just be sure to leave a seperate/ new comment for each additional entry.

- Follow Deals For Dayton on Facebook, if you already do just leave that in a comment.

- Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter, if you already do just leave that in a comment.

- Follow COSI on Facebook if you already do just leave that in a new comment. Please feel free to let them know that Deals For Dayton sent you!

This contest ends Friday, July 1, at midnight EST. We will use Random.org to pick our winner.

We were invited to a special blogger sneak peek. You can check out the other lovely ladies that were there and get more chances to win on their sites too!

Random Becky
Hall of Fame Moms

CLOSED: This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to our winners.
YOU CAN VIEW OUR LIST OF GIVEAWAY WINNERS HERE.

Well, tomorrow the first day of summer is officially here and this summer is turning out to be a pretty hot one already! If you are looking for a way to cool off be sure to check out the Kettering Recreation Complex's new and improved water park: Adventure Reef. This 3-acre outdoor aquatic facility was built in 1990 but has undergone a serious facelift this past year. You can find more information about all the changes on their site. They also have several pictures of all the other renovations that are happening around the complex on their Facebook page.

Adventure Reef sits where Water Raves the old water-park was, but they have added an interactive splash pad, a waterfall pool, a water playground, a shaded shelter and two giant slides with their own splash pool. Now since Kings Island a little bit of a drive (and pricy), Splash Moraine closed and all the local free sprayground parks only are able to fit a few dozen kids, the Kettering Rec Center's Adventure Reef with its 1,400 capacity is sure to draw big crowds this summer. Plus with admission for Kettering residents, at only $3 for youths (3-17 years) and $3.50 for adults or for non-residents, $6 for youth and $7 for adults, it seems like a very reasonable option. Besides I love that kids under 3 are FREE!!

Since I haven't been to Adventure Reef yet (but I'm hoping to get there soon) I decided to go to my panel of experts A.K.A. my readers, and asked several of you what you thought of it. So straight from the mouths of local moms here's what you all had to say:

Erin H- It's a TON of fun... They have a gated toddler area for 4yrs and under that OLDER children are not even allowed in. For mommies with little ones, this is great! They have a splash park, slides, and a water park type area for older kids (3/4+). If you are a pass holder you can get in at 11:30, set up your spot, and get in the pool a good 15min before others.
It gets super busy around 1:30/2ish, but early evening until close it seems the crowd seems to thin out. During break times you can stay in the water with your kids if they are 3 and under. The only down side is that they don't open until 12 (to non members) and close at 8pm.
Tami R- Yes, it is great!! I love the new gated toddler area and the new spray water section stays on even during break time as well! My 2 1/2 year old loved the smaller slides although it was a little crowded she jumped right in!
Jenny R- The gated toddler area is great...if all of your children are under 6. If not, then it's not much help.
Tricia C- Love the toddler area that is fenced in, and I'm so happy that the gross sand is gone. Plus the new regulations about Sunday being for residents and pass-holders is great!
Heather B- I love it! My kids have the best time there!
Wendi C- We really love it, however I do think it will be a bit less crowded/crazy when the big pool opens up in a week or so. I think that will help to free up some space in the other areas of the park.
Tess A- We've been and we absolutely love it. There's something for kids of all ages. Buying a family pass is definitely the way to go. We look forward to spending many hours there this summer.
Lizzie A- I am wondering if the new one is good for little kids??? I loved how the old one had the little pool and slide for little ones and shallow play areas in the main pool...my little one is 3 and hates water on his head so he won't be going near the big bucket if he sees it spill!!!

So, to kick off the first officially day of summer we have a giveaway! We are giving away 13 sets of passes for our readers. That means 13 families will win 2 free tickets each! How fun is that?! If you have a pass already, maybe you can win it for a friend and they can go with you to Adventure Reef.

Main entry: Tell us how you plan on enjoying this summer. (Be sure to leave your comment on this post so that it gets counted)

Want more chances to win? Well, here are some more ways you can enter, just be sure to leave a additional/ new comment for each additional entry requirement that you fulfill.

- Follow Deals For Dayton on Facebook, if you already do just leave that in a comment.

- Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter, if you already do just leave that in a comment.

- Follow the Kettering Recreation Complex on Facebook, if you already do just leave that in a new comment. Please feel free to let them know that Deals For Dayton sent you!

This contest ends Friday, July 1, at midnight EST. We will use Random.org to pick our winner.

Disclosure: The Kettering Recreation Complex provided me with a set of passes. But this post and opinions are my own and not paid for or influenced by the item provided.

The great thing about summer is that it brings the fun of outdoor Farmers Markets to the Dayton area. You can find locally grown produce, organic meat, bakery items and much more! They always have a great selection of food and other items. It's a great way to help support local farmers and businesses in the Dayton area. Plus if you ask any farmer's market die-hard shopper they will quickly tell you that what you can buy there is unlike anything you can ever hope to find at a grocery store. So now thanks to some of our amazing readers we have a list of several local farmer's markets. If you know of any others please feel free to leave us a comment and we will add it to the list.

‎2nd Street Market
Location: 600 E 2nd Street, Dayton
Dates: Year-Round
Hours: Thursday & Friday 11am-3pm
Saturday 8am-3pm
Closed on Christmas and New Years

Centerville Farmer's Market
Location: 892 S. Main Street, Centerville
North of the intersection of State Route 48 & Spring Valley Road
Dates: May 26- Oct 27
Hours: Thursday 2:30-6:30pm

Greene County Farmers Market
Location: North Allison Avenue in Xenia, next to Aldi’s
Dates: Tuesday during the summer
Hours: Tuesday 9am-1:30pm

Location: Five Points Shopping Center parking lot
2239 Tarbox Cemetery Road
Dates: Thursday during the summer
Hours: Thursday 2-6pm

Location: Beavercreek Kmart shopping center on Dorothy Lane
Dates: Saturday during the summer
Hours: Saturday 8am-12:30pm

Sugarcreek Township Farmer's Market
Location: 4333 Feedwire Road, Kettering
Dates: May 20 - October 28
Hours: Friday 3-7pm

Tippecanoe Farmer's Market
Location: 3rd and Main Street, Tipp City
Dates: June 11- Sept 17
Hours: Saturday 9am-12pm

Wegerzyn Market at Moose Lodge
Location: 2110 E. Central Ave, Miamisburg
Dates: July 5 - Oct. 25
Hours: Wednesday 1-6pm

Shiloh Church
Location: 5300 N Main St, Dayton
Dates: May 7- Oct 15
Hours: Saturday 7am-12pm

Thanks Lizzie, Brandi, Melissa, Veronica, Amber, Rebecca and Cindy!!

Kettering is reopening several of their parks. Celebrate with them in May as several of their neighborhood parks reopen. Festivities include ribbon cutting, light refreshments and other fun activities. Now here is the part I'm REALLY EXCITED about... bring your swimsuit to J.F. Kennedy Park and get ready to see Kettering's FIRST sprayground! 

May 14
10am-12pm: Oak Park, 2055 Malcom Ave
1-3pm: Wenzler Park, 3535 Sharewood Ct

May 21
10am-12pm: J.F. Kennedy Park, 5073 Bigger Road
1-3pm: Van Buren Park, 1450 Scottsdale Ave

These parks will open late Fall 2011/ Winter 2012
Berwin Park
Glaser Park
Kantner Park
Southern Hills Park
Walther Park
Blackhawk Park
Irelan Park
Oak Creek Park
Tait Park

You can check out a full list of all the Kettering Parks and their locations.

I recently recevied a request from a reader:

Amy,

Hey! Just curious...which zoo pass/museum pass do you guys have? I'm trying to figure out the best one to get!- Melissa C

So, for any other readers out there wondering the same thing here is what I've found in my research of the "Best Museum Pass" topic.

First let me say that it really depends on your family. What worked for my family as the best deal might not be for you and your family. When deciding which museum we wanted to get a pass to I went through the reciprocal program lists and based it off of what museums we would visit the most. The Boonshoft is a great deal because it allows you to visit science centers, zoos and aquariums, and children's museums (if you get the Adventurer pass). Cincinnati Museum will allow card holders from Boonshoft free admission, but it is limited to the Museum of Natural History & Science. If you purchase the Adventurer pass ($100) you can also visit the Duke Energy Children's Museum wing at Cincinnati Museum. Our family really loves Cincinnati Museum and so we decided that it was worth the extra money to get a pass to Cincinnati Museum so that we could visit all three museums at Cincinnati. Plus the pass we got allows for a guest or caregiver to take our kids to the museum even.

Boonshoft Museum of Discovery: Boonshoft is located on DeWeese Parkway in Dayton. There are daily events, special events, traveling exhibits and every day fun that includes hands-on science experiments, planetarium shows, visiting with live animals, story times and more. Membership to Boonshoft also entitles card holders to free unlimited admission to SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park, Fort Ancient, an Ohio Historical Society facility in Warren County, and Planetarium Shows and discounts on Laser Shows at the Boonshoft Museum. You can use your Membership card to gain free admission or reduced rates to over 300 science museums, zoos and aquariums worldwide through their reciprocal program.

Membership Levels:
Military- $69, Family- $79, Grandparent- $79: Reciprocal benefits: Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) and Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)
Adventurer- $100, Explorer- $250, Discoverer- $500: Reciprocal benefits: Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), and Association of Children’s Museums (ACM)

Cincinnati Union Terminal: Cincy Museum is located on Western Avenue in Cincinnati in the old Union Terminal station. There is an Omnimax Theater, Cincinnati History Museum, Duke Energy Children's Museum, Museum of Natural History & Science and traveling exhibits. Each museum is in a separate wing of the museum and is a museum in itself. Membership to Cincinnati Museum entitles card holders to unlimited admission to all museums and discounts on traveling exhibits. You can use your membership card to gain free admission or reduced rates to over 300 science museums worldwide through their reciprocal program.

Membershop Levels:
Individual- $55, Dual- $95, Family- $130: Reciprocal benefits: Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) and Time Travelers history network
Family Premium- $160, Concourse- $325, Whispering Foundation- $575: Reciprocal benefits: Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), Time Travelers history network and Association of Children’s Museums (ACM)

The reciprocal program doesn’t apply to centers within a 90-mile radius of home. But Cincinnati Museum and Boonshoft do accept card holders from each others museum for the reciprocal program. In addition, the free general admission does not include tickets to theaters, planetarium shows or simulators. Be sure you bring your membership card from your science center or museum to get free admission to any out-of-town science center or museum.

*Cincinnati Museum and Boonshoft participate in several reciprocal networks. Reciprocity is a mutual exchange of privileges between two institutions, allowing free or reduced admission to one science and technology center, zoo or children's museum to members of another science and technology center, zoo or children's museum. Member admission and discounts vary, so it is advised to contact the destination location before visiting for full details about their participation in the network. Reciprocal network participation can be subject to change without notice. 

I love how I can head to almost any thrift store in the Dayton area and find something good. It might take a bit of work to find a real gem, but you NEVER know what you might find. I typically shop there to find stuff for my boys, they grow out of clothes so quickly when they are little and I can usually find clothes that is gently worn or even the latest toy that they are into we can find it slightly played with. Our Things I Love Thursday this week is a guest post by one of our readers-Amy Moller.  Amy and I both share a love of thrifting and she wanted to share one of her favorite locations with us.

Goodwill: 950 Centerville Miamisburg Rd.

Pros: Good selection of used computers and lots of clearance Target dollar section items. There is a decent selection of clothes, shoes, purses: I can find name brands (NY&CO., Express, Anne Klein, Polo, etc) in really good shape and not outdated, Nice men's/women/s dressing rooms (very private), very clean and organized. It is just down the street from a huge Salvation Army, and they also have medical scrubs, pants that appear to be new for about $8, and other new items that are possibly overstocked or out of season.

Every Wednesday they offer 10% off to anyone 55 years and up

An interesting tidbit: 86 cents from every dollar goes to Goodwill Industries.

Cons: the selection of boys clothes isn't very big. If you're looking for women's clothes, this is a great store and even a fairly large selection for men. Also, they do not have much as far as electronics and furniture.

I'm linking up over at The Diaper Diaries for Things I love Thursday.

CLOSED: This Giveaway is now closed, but you can still read about all that MacTown has to offer.
iPhone case winners: Dedra- Animal iPhone case, Leah- Kermit iPhone case
iPad case winners: Tricia- Animal iPad case, Erinne-Mickey iPad case
YOU CAN VIEW OUR LIST OF GIVEAWAY WINNERS HERE.

Living in Dayton is great, we have museums, parks, restaurants and tons of shopping. One downside is that the closest official Apple Store is Cincinnati, which is why I'm so thankful for MacTown. Not only is MacTown an authorized Apple retailer but they have two locations. One location is at the Greene on Holly Drive and one is near the Dayton Mall on Kingsridge Drive. Just like the Apple store MacTown offers custom Mac training. They have two different programs, called Sessions and Free Product Seminars. Here are a few of their Free product seminars:

Mac 101: Safari 5, Preview, Mail, iweb, iSync, Mac App Store

iWork- Pages, Numbers, iPhoto, Garage Band, iMovie, iWeb, iDVD

While there is an annual Sessions membership of $99 per year. This entitles you to 1 hour in classroom sessions and a personalized 30 minute One-on-One training for your specific interests and training need once a week. Here are a few of their 1 hour sessions:

Mac- switching from Windows

Mail & Address Book

iTunes & iPod management

Another thing that I like about MacTown is that they offer all customers a 1% discount for cash payments on in-store purchases of all kinds. I know 1% isn't a ton, but when you are spending a lot of money on a new computer every little bit can really help. Both locations offer a wide variety of Apple products including games, bags, iPad, iPhone and iPod accessories galore, besides the basics like Macs, iPods, iPads and other hardware items. They offer kid sturdy covers, children games, and covers for your iPhone or iPad that your kids will love. To showcase some of the great products that they carry MacTown has partnered with us for a giveaway!

We are giving away two iPhone covers: Kermit and Animal. And two iPad covers: Mickey and Animal. You can enter to 4 times.

Mandatory Entry:

1. Post a comment about your favorite Apple product AND tell us which cover/covers you would like to win.

Please be sure to tell us which items you would like if you win.

Extra Entries:

2. Become an MacTown Facebook fan. Feel free and comment on the Wall about your favorite Apple product. Then be sure to leave us a comment back here letting us know that you did.

3. Follow @TweetMacTown and tweet this message: "Twitterers & Mac Lovers! Win a Disney iPhone 4 or iPad case from @TweetMacTown & @DealsForDayton. Enter at http://bit.ly/fjQlWt." Then be sure to leave us a comment back here letting us know that you did.

4. Become a Deals For Dayton Facebook fan. Then be sure to leave us a comment back here letting us know that you did.

This contest ends Sunday, March 20, 2011  at midnight EST. We will use Random.org to pick our winner.

Disclosure: MacTown provided me with compensation for this post. But this post and opinions are my own and not paid for or influenced by the item provided