About a month ago I was at the zoo with a friend. We had a “sighting” while we were there. As we were checking out the macaw exhibit, something through the bushes caught our eye. It was something unusual and unexpected just beyond the greenery.
Was it some sort of animal, escaped from its cage? No, silly. It was WAY cooler than that!
It was….
wait for it….
A WATER PARK!
Yes, true story, there’s a water park in my city and my friend and I had no clue it existed. It’s part of our public pool system. It costs just $3 to go. What an amazing find! We literally spied it while we were strolling around at the zoo, and we vowed to figure out what it was and get ourselves over there.
I should also mention that this place is a 6 minute drive from my house. Life is good, people!
On Mondays between 5-7 pm they offer family night. Everyone in your family can get in for just $5 total! I also like the timeframe for two reasons. First, it’s just after work for Tim, so the whole family can go. There’s no way I could handle both littles by myself!
The second reason I like the timeframe is because this is after the peak sun hours. Since melanoma runs in Tim’s family, it is especially important that we limit our exposure to the sun during those hours.
But even though the rays are not at their most powerful from 5-7, you can definitely still get sunburned. So we lather on the sunscreen before we head over there, and usually reapply once after we’ve been there an hour.
Lately we’ve been using these great products from Beyond Coastal. These products are natural, so icky and questionable chemicals are nowhere to be found in the entire line. Love that! I have never enjoyed having one set of sunscreens for Darah and a different set for us. We should all be using the same stuff! I’m guessing if ingredients aren’t good for Darah, they probably aren’t good for the grownups, either. The Beyond Coastal line is great for everyone.
I have enjoyed trying all the products in the line, but I think my very favorite is the face stick, which is SO easy to apply on squirmy and impatient toddlers. I like the thick, quick application!
As you head into the summer months, be sure that you are well-stocked with sunscreen, and skip the stuff with nasty additives and go straight for the good stuff, like Beyond Coastal!
Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will will a Beyond Coastal prize pack (pictured below)! ARV $36!
Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.
Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

We like swimming
Swimming & fishing!
we love swimming in our pool
My family’s favorite “fun in the sun” activity is having barbecues.
We love going to the beach and fishing.
i love swimming
Swimming is definitely my favorite fun in the sun activity!
we love swimming in our pool
We love fishing!
We love to go boating
swimming
We love going to the beach
I subscribe via email with bec.shockley@gmail.com
swimming and picnicing
Swimming
swimming
ardelong2(at)gmail(dot)com
we really enjoy hiking
We like to go to the park.
Going to the park to play!
Playing badminton
We love to go to the pool!
jogging on the beach, especially during sunrise
Since he’s only seven months, my little man’s favorite outside activity is sitting on a blanket, playing with toys, taking in the scenery. He’s also fond of trying to pick up the grass :3
We love swimming!
We all love to swim!!!
Great to win!!!
Love going to the beach!!
Swimming/Beach. I live in Florida and sunscreen is a must on a daily basis during the summer.
lots and lots of time outside camping!!
family tennis!
We love going to the local water park as a family
We like going to baseball games.
I like to go fishing
swimming
jagar0047 at yahoo dot com
We like going to the beach.
golf!
we love to go boating and swimming
we live in AZ so our fave is to be in a pool, any pool!
Our favorite is Busch Gardens and Water Country in Williamsburg VA
vollyball is one fav.
brich22 at earthlink dot net
We love to get out the sprinkler in the backyard and go to summer kids’ concerts at the zoo.
We love going to the new water park!
We like going to the lake!
Swimming, of course.
I like to go to the lake.
We love playing at the beach!
We love trips to the beach. Thanks for the giveaway.
We love going to the beach!
we love swimming!
We love to hang out on the boat
We are some serious bicycle riding fools!
building sandcastles!!!!
We like to go boating.
swimming!
Riding bikes to the park with a picnic spread by the lake.
we love going to our local pool
Our family likes to go swimming everyday.
we love going to the beach.
Swimming for sure!
coriwestphal at msn dot com
camping
vmkids3 at msn dot com
Anything involving water :).
We like playing tennis as a family
going for walks.
Swimming at the beach! Both my daughter and I were born on Tybee Island and it’s still our favourite place to be.
Terri P
pr4gatheringroses AT gmail DOT com
we love to swim, my baby girl is definitely a water baby 🙂
geocaching!
swimming!
Swimming or disc golf.
We love to play in the sprinklers!
going to the lake and floating on rafts
Ours is swimming
gardening, beach, biking
Our family loves boating.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOT)com
I like reading in the sun or going for walks in the sun. kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com Thank you.
we head for the beach
We enjoy taking our bikes out on the bike trail.
we love to go swimming!
going to the mountains
We love going to the beach
We love the back yard sprinkler and parks with sprinklers!
The swings! 🙂
love swimming
All types of water sports
We love to go to our neighborhood pool
We love playing at the park!
We enjoy going golfing
We love swimming
We like to go to the beach.
Hiking – anywhere, the woods, the beach, or to the park!
We love going to the Great Escape!
marysa (at) marysa (dot) com
going to the beach!
Can’t keep us out of the water! We all love swimming 🙂
we love the slip and slide
we like going to beaches and water parks to play in the wave pool.
cook outs!
We like swimming. 🙂
I subscribe by email with a different email address: picnicinmay at yahoo dot com
We watch a lot of baseball games!
Going to the beach
We’ve recently discovered blueberry picking!
going for picnics at the park near us!
We play golf.
going to the beach!
We love to go to the beach!
walking the dogs on the beach
We go to the beach
We like to garden and go to the water park!
We go to the lake. thank you
Swimming is definitely our favorite fun in the sun activity
Swimming is our favorite sunny weather activity.
jtmagmom73(at)gmail(dot)com
we like anything with water.. usually the spray pad
swimming in the backyard
We love going to the beach.
swimming!!!
We like swimming or playing in the sprinkler.
We love to swim!
We love love love to swim!
I have been to that zoo a million times and never noticed a water park! We will have to check it out. Thanks for the heads up:)
taking walks to the creek in our backyard…
We like to go bike riding
We like going to the beach.
We love playing outside, at the park or soccer.
We love to go to the Splash Park and play. It’s free and it makes them so happy!
Swimming!
sprinklers 😉
we love swimming.
hiking!
Thanks from karmakaytlyn@yahoo.com!
going to the beach!
swimming
kport207 at gmail dot com
We love going to the beach.
Going to the beach!
This is at Warner Park Zoo? I’ve lived her since ’98 and had no idea there was a water park. Geez! And good for you for putting an accent on sunscreens. I must be the only person who wishes there were a tent over part of the pool to block the bright rays, so I could enjoy swimming. 🙂
we love to swim
Swimming
Our family loves to play volleyball in the park in the sun!
Thanks for the giveaway…in the summertime we become aquatic, swimming whenever we can !
We love to go to the beach at Lake Michigan!
swimming