Haunted wRECk--Free Trick or Treat Activity!

Thursday, October 27th from 5:30pm-8:30pm at that Kent State Student Recreation and Wellness Center, 1550 Ted Boyd Drive Kent, OH 44242.  Hosted by Kent State's fraternities and sororities, for children 12 and under, it is a free trick or treat costume party. There are nine differently themed areas to explore and collect treats. There will also be FREE ice skating in the ice arena from 6:45-8:30pm. The event is free but they would greatly appreciate non perishable food items to be donated to the United Way.

We went to this last year and it was absolutely wonderful. The students and staff put a lot of work into this event which results in a lot of fun for the kids involved. They had various rooms set up to walk through, each was a different theme, manned by a student organization, participants collected treats in the room. Each group had a costumed guide and at the end of the trip everyone congregated in the Ice Arena where they had free food and drinks for all. This year looks to have added some craft activities and a photo booth, as well as the free ice skating! This is also get a good chance to look at the recreational activities Kent State has to offer. For more information, check out their event website.

Michael's Make and Take Crafts! Cheap and some Free!

Need something to do with the kids while it rains here? Michael's craft stores have a variety of cheap and free events going on throughout the month of October. This Saturday, October 22, 2011 from 10am-Noon, children ages 3 and up will be able to make a cute spider t-shirt, it does require the purchase of a t-shirt.

The nearest Michael's for those of us in Kent, is at Chapel Hill Mall, 697 Howe Ave, Cuyahoga Falls, OH. 330-929-2012, if you would like more information about these activities!

Michael's is also having a Spooky Craft-O-Ween contest on Facebook. Amazing prizes for the best craft ideas submitted. Don't have a craft idea? You can still be entered win a $25 gift card simply by voting for the ideas submitted by others!

Thanks so much to Sunshine and Sippy Cups for making me aware of these events! With the weather as it is lately, our families need all the interesting indoor activities we can find!

6 Months of All You Magazine for $6 (Coupons Galore!)

Right now Amazon has a deal going on through October 25th where you can get a 6 month subscription to All You magazine for $6. At a buck an issue I think that's one of the best deals on this I have seen. If your not familiar with All You, it's filled with anywhere from $40-$100 worth of coupons each month.  The last two months have had coupons for free boxed potatoes so this always pays for itself and then some!

Pumpkin Sky Lanterns!

It will be a stark contrast to the usual Halloween festivities in downtown Kent, that is for sure, but Main Street Kent is sponsoring a Family Friendly Halloween on Friday, October 28th from 5pm-8pm in Downtown Kent.The local downtown businesses will provide children with an opportunity to Trick or Treat (and parents to window shop!) There will be pumpkin painting for the kids, in Earl's Nest, Acorn Alley, and FREE Pizza and drinks (while supplies last!) A costume contest will take place in the Home Savings Plaza right before the PUMPKIN SKY LANTERN release at 7:30pm. If you missed the International Festival, you simply must come down to see this release of sky lanterns! It's breath taking for child and adult alike to see the sky filled with the glowing lanterns.



Make sure to mark your calendars for the other Main Street Kent events this year!
Nov. 5, 2011               Cider Festival
Dec. 3, 2011               Festival of Lights

Free Pumpkin Decorating at Acme this Weekend!

Another family friendly and FREE event (once you purchase your pumpkin!) This Saturday, October 15, 2011, from 11am-1pm, all Acme Fresh Market stores are offering Free Pumpking decorating with the purchase of an Acme Pumpkin. In addition to the decorating, they are also offering free cake, coffee, and cider. You can also register to win a Monster pumpkin, there is one to be given away at each store! All pumpkins are from Bessemer Farms in Akron! Further information can be found on Acme's Facebook page!

Free Family Activities at Lowe's!

I've often walked by the signs at Lowe's that offer their workshops for kids. My son was too young for them up until recently but  looked forward to the day when he'd be old enough to partake. For some reason, Lowe's is his favorite store. The race car carts and world of tools must call to the burgeoning man within him. He's recently turned three and we found out that he was old enough to sign up for the workshops! The workshops are called Lowe's Build and Grow Clinics, they are Saturday mornings, at 10am and best of all, they are completely FREE!

Saturday, October 22, 2011, the project is a Halloween Monster Truck!  

This kit is awesome! This "Monster" truck includes a flashing light and glow in the dark stickers!

Saturday, November 12, 2011, the project is a Science Lab!

Show your kids that science can be fun! Bring them to Lowe's and they can build this science lab! Includes cards with cool experiments they can do at home!

You can sign up online or at your local Lowe's store, for those of us in Kent, our nearest Lowe's store is Lowe's of Brimfield Township, 218 Nicholas Way Kent, OH 44240. The store number is (330) 677-3040. It's located just off of I-76 and Mogadore Rd.

Free Pizza!

Hungry Howie's is giving away free small pizzas to those who like their facebook page. I've never had Hungry Howie's, it might be worth a shot, who can turn down free pizza?

Excellent App for Traveling around town or across states!

I went on a very lengthy trip this weekend from Kent to St. Louis and back. When I got my first smartphone two months ago, I added some random free apps, one of which was called Gas Buddy. I liked the idea that I could check the gas prices around me with a couple of taps on my phone. The app is simple to use and and quick to install, it works wonderfully on my HTC EVO. It uses the GPS on your phone to access the data they have stored for your general location and gives you the prices of gas at gas stations local to you. You can search by location or price. It was very helpful on the trip as neither of us had made the trip before. We had no idea where to find the best gas prices and we were able to quickly access the prices and plan our stops according to what was cheap. You can go to the map and scroll further along your route to see what prices lie ahead of you. It worked beautifully across four states and impressed others enough that we got calls to find out the cheapest gas prices as we were leaving to head home.

In addition to the phone app, Gas Buddy has an interactive website that links you to a local website for your area and facebook page. The facebook page contains a lot of interesting information on how gas prices are determined and the various market areas in the U.S. The website contains fuel saving tips, runs contests to win free gas, and has a function that will help you log your trips to determine the gas mileage of your individual vehicle. The local website has a scroll at the top of the average gas prices in your area, how they are changing, the averages for the state and their status, and national averages. The data is gathered by individuals reporting prices and both the app and the website have easily accessed points where you can do this. I waited excitedly on our trip to find a place where Gas Buddy was incorrect and I could report a price, but alas, Gas Buddy was never wrong!

From the company facebook page:

Our mission is to serve motorists by providing a real time gas prices forum so that consumers can have access to the information necessary to locate the lowest fuel prices available. By working together as a community everyone will save money at the pumps.

GasBuddy.com was developed as an initiative to provide the general public with access to local current gas prices. This is an entirely free service that depends on users to input gas prices on a daily basis to keep the database of prices up to date. Since the price of gas is often extremely volatile, posted gas prices may vary as much as 20% within only a few blocks of each other. By having access to the most recent prices at GasBuddy.com consumers now are able to locate the most inexpensive fuel price in the city and fill up on a budget.

 Be sure to check for this app, or join the website if you are without a smartphone. Considering the price of gas these days, no one should be without a way to locate the best prices in their area!