Don’t forget your children’s swimsuits next time you hit Hull Park.

The FREE spray pools are open at various Savannah parks including Hull Park at 55th Street and Atlantic Avenue in Ardsley Park and Forsyth Park at Drayton and Hall streets.

The pools, a chance for kids to play in cool water under adult supervision, are open 10 AM-2 PM Mon-Fri until Aug. 14.

The Hull Park fountain is also open 10 AM-3 PM Saturdays. For more info, click here.

Katie Sharp!

Congratulations! Katie wins a free studio session from Memories for Keepsake Photography by Nicole.  Or, if Katie opts to do the baby plan, which covers maternity through the baby’s first year, she can win a free mini album of the session of choice.

Photographer Nicole Williams, a maternity, newborns and children’s photographer in the Savannah area,  offers a 10 percent off portrait prices to SouthernMamas readers.

Nicole is also offering an amazing special for moms expecting multiples. Contact her for more info

This was a sweet summer evening activity we did in our backyard: releasing live lady bugs.

Yes, this what you have to do in city lacking fireflies. Import your own friendly insects. And ladybugs have almost as friendly a rep as fireflies. My toddler son loved feeling the ladybugs tickle up his arm. Releasing them onto the stems of flowers proved to be a bit more challenging. They didn’t want to leave us.

You can order the live ladybugs here. They are apparently a more healthy alternative to chemical bug spray. You release them at sundown (because they don’t fly at night) and they eat aphids and other bugs. Gnats? We’ll see. We’re also hoping they’ll lay eggs and we’ll see baby lady bugs in a few weeks.

Babble also has suggestions for 25 Nature Adventures for Kids, including things you can do in your backyard. I love the birdwatching tip to encourage kids to take part in the annual Great Backyard Bird Count through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society.

Don’t forget. Father’s Day is this Sun. June 21.

Dads can spend this Father’s Day at Charleston’s South Carolina Aquarium for FREE with a paying guest or child. Click here to download a special Father’s Day coupon for free admission to all dads on Sunday. The website coupon must be presented to take advantage of this offer. Fathers also will be recognized during daily programs.

The aquarium’s newest exhibit, Penguin Planet!, features four Magellanic Penguins in a brand new interactive exhibit. Watch as penguins dive underwater, learn about penguin colonies, discover what makes these unique birds march. The animals are on loan from SeaWorld.

On Saturday and Sunday, June 20 – 21, the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is offering all Fathers half off of admission rates. The Museum admission rates for fathers this weekend will be $5. On Father’s Day, a special brunch will be offered in Chef Matt Cohen’s New South Pub, open daily from 11 AM to 3 PM.

The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is @ 175 Bourne Avenue in Pooler, off of I-95 at Exit 102.

Registrations for the summer session of Make A Joyful Noise music programs are under way.

Mention SouthernMamas to receive a 10 percent discount. You’ll find sessions for toddlers to teens. Classes run July 2 – August 8 and include:

Music for Toddlers: 18m – 3 year olds
Cycle of Seasons/Twist & Turn: 3 – 5 year olds
Music Makers: 5 – 7 year olds
Sounds of Praise: Intro to Choir 7 – 15 yr olds
Sounds of Praise Choral Camp: August 3 – 7; 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. 7 – 15 yr olds

Audition for Sounds of Praise Children’s Choir’s 2009-2010 Season.  Contact Vicki to schedule the audition by August 3. The season begins September 10.

The classes and choir audtitions are @ White Bluff Presbyterian Church, 10710 White Bluff Road on Savannah’s Southside.

To find out more about summer class times and to register, click here.Contact Vicki @ MakeAJoyfulNoiseMusicStudio@comcast.net or call 912.920.6542.

Vicki Mills, who has a masters in vocal performance and more than 20 years of experience teaching children, offers the Make A Joyful Noise early childhood music program and  Sounds of Praise Children’s Choir.

Savannah and Pooler GA newborn and children’s photographer: Memories for Keepsake Photography by Nicole

This week, Memories for Keepsake Photography by Nicole is giving away a free studio photography session to a lucky SouthernMamas reader. Or, if you opt to do the baby plan, which covers maternity through the baby’s first year, you can win a free mini album of the session of choice. The idea is “your miracles, your moments…remembering every detail.”

Photographer Nicole Williams excels in maternity, newborns and children. The baby plan is a great way to make sure your baby’s first year is fully documented and it includes a special discount that is exclusive to the baby plan holders.

Please book early. The summer is slipping by and summer spots are almost gone

Mention SouthernMamas and receive 10 percent off portrait prices. Nicole is also offering an amazing special for moms expecting multiples. Contact her for more info.

Here are the rules:

Savvy SouthernMamas profiles are back.  Know a savvy mama you want to nominate? Email anne@southernmamas.com. Read past SouthernMamas rock! profiles here.

Meet Elizabeth St. Lawrence, stay-at-home mother of three who became a cloth-diaper enthusiast with the birth of her third daughter, Brianna (pictured here)

Your family:
Husband: Matthew. Three daughters: Alexandra (5), Samantha (4), and Brianna (6 months)

Liz, we understand you use cloth diapers. Are you nuts? Why did you decide to try cloth diapers this time around? And please tell us there’s no toilet dunking involved?

Honestly, I didn’t realize people still cloth diapered when I had my first two daughters! I think with the whole “green” movement the last few years combined with the economy, cloth diapers are making a great comeback. A few weeks before Brianna was born, I was giving into one of my guilty pleasures, Facebook, and one of my friends from high school mentioned cloth diapering on her status. I had to comment and bombard her with questions, and soon I was spending all of my free time researching cloth diapers!
There are a lot of valid reasons for cloth diapering; I will explain the reasons that “won” me over.

Read Liz’s reasons for cloth diapering, the entire interview with Liz and get help if you’re interested in cloth diapering (and even cloth wipes) by clicking here.

You love real pit BBQ, old pick-up trucks and sipping sweet tea on front porch. And you hope your kids will, too.

Which is why a vintage child’s Southern soft t-shirt that proclaims “I’m the only heck my mama ever raised” is the one for your kid. Or maybe one that reads “Baptized in Muddy Waters,” ” “Daddy’s Lil Cowgirl” or “Darn Right I Got the Blues”

Southern Brand, a lifestyle label evoking the Blues, BBQ, Outlaw Country Music and the lore of the American South, has a new line of Lil’ Ones vintage t-shirts – sweet tees – for children.

Forget that rebel flag, south’s-gonna-do-it-again business. These southern tees feature classic southern fried images of rural Americana including roadside BBQ shacks and phrases born of tradition, hard work and good livin’.

Southern Brand also has an adult line of tees.

These sweet tees and other Southern items, like cowhide koozies, are available for purchase online here.

Southern Brand.com is a down home guide to Southern culture and good livin’ through music, film, food, travel and books.

Children’s films at BLUE Ocean Film Festival
10:30-noon Sat. June 13 at Trustees Theater and throughout the day at the All About The Oceans family street fair, 10 AM-4 PM in Oglethorpe Square.
Other kid-friendly festival events include:
Screenings of “Ice Bears of the Beaufort” and “Saving Luna”
Click here for a schedule of films
912.525.5050

FREE Career Paths Insights workshops for young adults at BLUE Ocean Film Festival
Sat. June 13 at Telfair’s Jepson Center for the Arts
Featuring talks with Brian Skerry, National Geographic underwater photographer, Fabien Cousteau, ocean explorer; Paul Gasek, producer of Discovery Networks shows including “Deadliest Catch.”

Family Happenings at the Roundhouse Railroad Museum
10-noon Sat. June 13
Theme: Bugs & Butterflies. Children will make butterflies & fingerprint bug pictures. Hear stories about bugs, butterflies and their world.
Register at 912.651.6823 or email childrensevents@chsgeorgia.org

Saturday Explorations at The Aquarium (SEA) Programs, UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium on Skidaway Is.
10 AM-noon Sat. June 13
For all ages. Maritime Forest Hike. What is a maritime forest? Wear your walking shoes for a discovery hike to see all a maritime forest has to offer.
Cost: 10 dollars per person.
Program fee includes admission to the aquarium.
Pre-registration required.
30 Ocean Science Circle
912.598.3474 or email fish@uga.edu

Tybee Children’s Fishing Tournament at Chimney Creek Fishing Camp
8:30 AM-4 PM Sat. June 13

Bluffton/Hilton Head Is area

Beaufort Water Festival
Annual event featuring water sports, golf tournament, art expo, and parade
July 10-19
Click here for an event calendar.

Allison Kelly!

Congratulations. Allison wins a $100 Gift card from Crate and Barrel and a free 1-year gift subscription to Relish!, a truly cool meal-planning service for busy parents.

Relish! helps you prepare healthy, creative meals every week. For subscriptions as low as $5 a month, you’ll end up with five complete dinners for a family of four running you less than $85.

What delicious comments everyone left to enter this week’s contest! Thanks for entering. Look for another giveaway from a different business to be announced here Monday.

SouthernMamas is always telling you about free or low-cost Savannah area children’s activities.

Especially when it comes to finding fun, inexpensive ways to enjoy your summer staycation in Savannah with the kids.

But not until now did we have all those low-cost children’s summer activities in one place. Check out our new page entitled Low-cost Savannah summer kids’ activities. Check it out here.
Let us know what events you love or which ones need improving by sharing your comments.

Thanks to Lynn Adams for compiling this list.

Have a great SouthernMamas summer.

Looking to meet other moms in your area?

Check out a new meetup group that is just forming in the Islands area.

The Wilmington Island Moms/East Savannah Meetup Group is primarily for moms and children 0-5 (siblings are welcome.) This group is based on building lasting friendships, supporting other moms, laughing, and sharing experiences. Click here for more info.

To find out about other moms-tots groups in our area, visit our Groups/Moms Groups category on SouthernMamas by clicking here.

Have we told you lately that it pays to read SouthernMamas? If not, here’s another reminder: SouthernMamas readers can attend three of the Telfair Museum of Art’s special yoga workshops at a one-time entry discounted rate.

This summer, the Telfair’s hosting three yoga workshops—Restorative Yoga, Kripalu Yoga, and Partner Yoga—in addition to the museum’s weekly Saturday morning yoga classes. The one-time entry discounted SouthernMamas rate is listed below in boldface. (subtlety is not our strong suit)

Restorative Yoga Workshop
June 27, 11am-1pm
Telfair’s Jepson Center for the Arts
$15/member, $20/non-member; $13 FOR SOUTHERNMAMAS READERS!
This workshop, instructed by Savannah Yoga Center director Kelley Boyd, emphasizes muscle tension release and the increase of flexibility rather than strength development and aerobic capacity.

Kripalu Yoga Workshop
July 18, 10am -12pm (morning session), 1-3pm (evening session)
Telfair’s Jepson Center for the Arts
$15/member, $20/non-member for individual session: $13 FOR SOUTHERNMAMAS READERS!

$28/member, $35 non-member for complete workshop; $26 FOR SOUTHERNMAMAS READERS
This all-day workshop focuses on the Kripalu Yoga method. Co-instructed by Jan and Richard Barrali of Chattanooga, Tennessee, the special workshop provides students both individual assistance and hands-on adjustments during a mindful yoga practice.

Partner Yoga Workshop
August 22, 11am-1pm
Telfair Academy
$35/couple; $32/COUPLE FOR SOUTHERNMAMAS READERS!

You and your partner—a friend, roommate, spouse, sibling, parent, child, etc.— will work together to accomplish all of the poses. Instructed by Savannah Yoga Center director Kelley Boyd.

Registration is required for all workshops; call 912.790.8823. Space is limited. Don’t forget to mention SouthernMamas to receive your special discounted rate.

The Telfair also offers weekly yoga classes in the Jepson Center or Telfair Academy galleries. Kelley Boyd of the Savannah Yoga Center guides the class through beginner and intermediate yoga positions while incorporating various aspects of the artwork on display. Flexibility of the body is not required. All are welcome, regardless of experience and fitness level. Participants should bring a yoga mat and towel, and dress appropriately.

Classes are offered from 10-11:30 AM on Saturdays. Please arrive promptly at 9:45 AM. Drop-ins are welcome! Prices are: $10/session for members, $14/session for non-members, and $7/session for teachers and students.

For more info, click here.

Show your kids how you used to watch movies in the days before anyone ever used the word “download”.

TYBEE DRIVE-IN returns for summer @ North Beach, featuring big screen and full radio broadcast sound. The First Movie is this Thursday, June 11: “BEACH BLANKET BINGO,“ Classic beach party film starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon.

“Economic Stimulus Package” for the whole family: $10 per vehicle, $5 per person.
Pack the cooler, drive, bike or walk in. Bring the kids for a picnic and some Leopold’s ice cream, or grab a bite to eat at North Beach Grill (byo alcohol).(Free Parking for movies in North Beach Parking Lot) Pets in parking lot welcome on leashes. Don’t forget the bug spray, radio and lawn chair if you’re on foot.

Where: North Beach Parking Lot, Meddin Drive on Tybee Island
When: Gates open @ 6 PM Thurs, June 11. Show starts at “dark.“
For more info, click here or call 912-323-7727
Benefits the Tybee Post Theater.

From June 8 – June 22, or until funding runs out, you can join the bone marrow donor registry for FREE. It normally costs $52.

Becoming a donor is very easy to do and you may be the ONLY match for someone needing a life saving transplant. Dawn was unable to find a suitable marrow donor in the bone marrow donor registry.

Go to this site here and click “JOIN”.

Need a motivation to do so? Visit this blog about a 28-year-old Charleston, S.C. woman who was unable to find a match and lost her battle with leukemia.

Meal planning just got a million percent easier. And cheaper.

Until we can all afford our own personal chefs, the next best thing is easily Relish!, a truly cool meal-planning service for busy parents.

This ingenious, easy to use (really), mom-run website helps you prepare healthy, creative meals every week that rock, from what we’ve seen. You pick from a ton of excellent tested recipes, a very cleverly organized grocery list is automatically created, then all you do is hit the store for five days worth of home-cooked meals–not one of which takes more than 30 minutes to prepare.

You’ll find a whole lot to choose from including freezer meals, vegetarian menus, picnic and camping menus, and tons of kids faves that don’t include the word “nugget.”

For subscriptions as low as $5 a month, you’ll end up with five complete dinners for a family of four running you less than $85. Between the money savings and the angst savings, we say you’re coming out way ahead.
(Pssst…living gluten-free? Check out their sister site, Gfree! Gfreecuisine.com)

This week, a lucky SouthernMamas reader will win a $100 Gift card from Crate and Barrel and a free 1-year gift subscription to Relish! If you sign up for Relish! and win the subscription, you will be credited.

Here are the giveaway rules:
# To enter to win, tell us your name and favorite summertime dish or food by commenting below this post.
# Entry period closes 9 pm Thurs. June 11. We’ll pick a name at random and announce the winner here Fri. June 12.
# You have to be a SouthernMamas subscriber to participate. Subscribing is free. Click here to do so. We’d also love for you to become a SouthernMamas fan on Facebook (we’re just a few fans away from a tally of 500!!)

BEFORE

DURING

TA-DA! FINISHED

We now officially refer to our backyard as our Staycation Destination, thanks to a new swing set/clubhouse put up by Steven Tarver of Renascent Renovation.

Renascent Renovation saved our summer. The wood playground set we bought on sale turned out to be much more complicated to assemble than my husband and I imagined.  We wanted it to be put together correctly. After all, we plan to spend a lot time in our backyard this summer in lieu of going on a big family vacation.

So instead of using up summer weekends struggling to assemble it, we called Renascent Renovation.

As licensed and insured general contractors, the guys at Renascent Renovation normally do much more complicated work such as renovating entire homes. But in this economy, Stephen’s willing do things like playground assembly. You gotta love hiring someone overqualified for the job.

Steven was an amazing worker. The man never takes a break, even for lunch.  He did a quality job and we couldn’t be happier with the decision.

Other jobs business partners Steven Tarver and Daniel Weiner of Renascent Renovation do include: flooring;  painting; fences (wood & chain link); decks; roofing; light plumbing; light electrical; cabinet installation; framing; tile; trim work; gutters; siding (wood, vinyl, concrete); doors & window installation or repair; sheetrock (new & repairs); flooring (laminate, vinyl, wood).

Steven’s also planning to build custom playhouses.

So skip the tough assembly projects, savor your summer weekends and contact Steven @ steventarver@comcast.net or renascentrenovation@gmail.com or 912.272.9523 or 912.604.0640.

The u-pick blackberry field is now open @ the Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gardens.

Cost is $3 per pound.  9 am-4 pm (or until picked out for the day)  Mon-Sat.

Call ahead to make sure the field is open. 912.921.5497. The field can be picked out quickly at the beginning and end of the season.

More information can also be found here.

Add this to your list of health concerns: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is having second thoughts about letting kids play on ground-up tires at playgrounds, according to this Associated Press article.

EPA scientists are worried they don’t have enough information about potential health risks from chemicals in the rubber. Here’s a quote from the article: “Communities from New Jersey to Oregon have raised concerns about children touching, swallowing or inhaling lead, metals and chemicals such as benzene, zinc and breathable particles from synthetic fields and play yards.”

Quick: Name the capital of California? How many U.S. senators are there? Where’s your diaper bag?

Can’t answer even one of those? Chances are you’re suffering from momnesia, the mental fuzziness and memory lapses that set in after childbirth and linger for months afterward. If so, or if you know a new mom who is, check out my regular Sunday newspaper column here.

Adrienne Hedger and Shannon Payette Seip, moms and authors of a new book called “Momnesia: A Humorous Guide to Surviving Your Post-Baby Brain,” sum up how our brains change post-pregnancy.

One page of their book compares what kind of information a new mother retains. She doesn’t know today’s date, but she knows her baby is 44 days, 10 hours old. She can’t name the president of France, but she has the pediatrician’s number memorized.

Moms can submit their funny memory lapses here. In one, a stranger standing in a long line at a bank asks a mom if she’s in the right place because she’s carrying an armful of dry cleaning.

Beach days! Join nationally award-winning portrait photographer Wendy Cooper this summer for a portrait session on Tybee beach for a beautiful documentation of your family. June 15-July 3. Call 912.323.0616 to reserve your time today. Space is limited. Portrait sessions are $750 and include: a pre-session consult; a portrait session with Wendy; a custom 20-page 8 x 8 inch silk beach album. See more of Wendy’s work here.

First Saturday for Kids @ Telfair’s Jepson Center for Arts
Studio art workshop focuses on summer sand paintings based on the Tibetan Monks Sand Mandalas; storytelling; children activities in the ArtZeum; an 11 am classic family film.
Free admission.
10 am -1 pm Sat. June 6
207 W. York St., downtown Savannah
912.790.8800

Snakes Alive! @ @ Skidaway Island State Park
3 PM Sat. June 6
Learn about snakes. See live ones
Other park activities include a 7 PM campfire with smore’s, songs, skits, stories and more. (meet at amphitheater across from picnic Shelter 4)

Public viewing “Clusters of Stars” @ GSU planetarium
7 PM Fri. June 5
Telescopic observing outdoors following presentations.
Free moon maps, sky maps and more will be given away. FREE! For all ages.
912.478.5292

Asian Festival @ Savannah Civic Center
11 AM-4 PM
Features a full-day of live stage performances ; martial arts & dance performances. Savor exotic cuisines & browse the cultural marketplace.
Free workshops & children’s activities.
912.651.6417

Saturday Explorations @ The Aquarium (SEA) Programs, UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium on Skidaway Is.
10 AM-noon Sat. June 6
For all ages. Understanding sharks. A talk about sharks. Shark video.
Cost: $10 per person.
Program fee includes admission to the aquarium.
Pre-registration required.
30 Ocean Science Circle
912.598.3474 or email fish@uga.edu

Narnia @ Savannah Children’s Theatre, 2160 E. Victory Drive
8 pm Fri. June 5; 3 pm & 8 pm Sat. June 6; 3 pm Sun. June 7
Cost: $10-12.
912.238.9015

Reduced admission rates for Pooler residents until June 8 @ Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum,
The museum reduced admission rates of $10 for adults and $6 for kids to $5 for adults and $3 for kids. You’ll also receive a 10 percent discount in the gift store and a free drink with the purchase of lunch in the museums’ restaurant Chef Matt Cohen’s New South Pub.
912.748.8888

Home Depot Kids Workshop
Free how-to clinics designed for children ages 5-12, available on the first Saturday of the month. Children accompanied by an adult create useful objects
9 am-noon at all Home Depot stores.

Hilton Head Is. area

Do-Drop-In-Story Time Program @ Hilton Head Library, 11 Beach City Road
10 AM every Saturday – Story times for children of all ages. Stories, songs, silliness, take-home ideas and more! Residents and visitors are welcome.
For more info, email jmorgan@bcgov.net or call 843.342.9200.

Vicki Braswell!

Vicki wins $50 off an inflatable rental from Savannah Inflatables.

Savannah Inflatables are great for children’s birthday parties, pool parties, community and corporate fund-raisers. The set up and delivery is included in the price. Available seven days a week. Click here for more info.

Look for another giveaway from a different business to be announced here Monday.

Here we go again with the rain. SouthernMamas has some rainy day children’s activities to keep you sane. Click on the link to get address and contact info.

Wildlife program at The Center for Wildlife Education & The Lamar Q Ball Jr. Raptor Center @ Georgia Southern University, Statesboro
An hour-long wildlife program featuring birds of prey & reptiles at 1 PM Mon-Fri. in the Center’s Lecture Hall.
Cost: 3 per person. Children ages 3 and younger are free.
912.478.0831

Storytime at Bull Street Library
10:30 AM program Thurs. June 4 features stories, fingerplays, songs for infants, 1 & 2 year olds.
912.652.3600

Starlight  Pottery, New location a block from former location. Click here.
Bouncing Angels, the indoor inflatable play center.
Skukuzoo indoor jungle playground with tubes, mazes and ball pools, indoor mini-golf, Savannah Mall.

Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum

Jepson Center for the Arts, includes the children’s ArtZeum.

Hilton Head/Bluffton area

The Sandbox, An Interactive Children’s Museum, 18A Pope Ave., HHI

The Island Playground, indoor playground featuring inflatable fun & creative play, near the HHI bridge on the Bluffton side.