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Trader Joe's how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: for being inexpensive, gourmet and friendly.
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Take a spin around the lazy river at Mandalay Bay.
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SingleCare offers major savings on more than 10,000 prescription drugs through its free app.
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Rent a gorgeous backyard pool like this for your family for an hour or a day. Photo courtesy of Swimply
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The Outdoor Play Plaza at Greensboro Children's Museum in North Carolina.
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This Week: Beat the Heat in NYC, Water-Filled Trips and More Freebies

7/23/15 - By Raven Snook

For obvious reasons, fun ways to cool off with the kids was the theme across all of our sites this week. Even though there are dozens of ways to beat the heat in the city, the dog days of summer are the perfect time for a water-filled day trip (plus you get to avoid the subway, which apparently reached more than 100 degrees this week!). If you have access to a car and some free time, consider frolicking at a spectacular splash pad in Westchester (though you'll need a friend with a county park pass), whiling the day away on a Connecticut beach, or getting totally wet at a nearby lake, river or water park.

Of course, our NYC summer's got nothing on the South's, which is why our Travel site's new list of the best things to do with kids in Charlotte, North Carolina includes multiple ways to cool down—though you may want to save your visit for winter when you'll be longing to feel sweaty again.

Here's what else we covered on the NYC site this week:

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Go jump in a lake... or a river or water park. We profiled five wonderfully wet day trips, all less than two hours from NYC by car.

Check out a new crop of awesome outdoor art installations, including a massive translucent Hello Kitty!

Our series of posts on Rockaway, Queens continued with a roundup of kid-approved restaurants in the area.

Serena Williams' recent Wimbledon win inspiring your kids to hit the court? We've got the scoop on the top indoor tennis lessons in town.

Turn your kids' screen time into a learning opportunity with these seven interactive online camps and projects.

Our news roundup has the details on dozens of schools in danger of closing and a series of block parties on Museum Mile.

Best bets for the weekend includes Dan Zanes in concert at the Bronx Zoo, a FREE festival celebrating the reopening of the High Bridge and the dance-filled Lincoln Center Out of Doors Family Day.