Albany Mommy Blog - Fun things to do in the Albany New York Capital District area for kids and parents

Hola- la class discount

Hola la spanish classes are starting a new session the week of April 12th. Use coupon code CCSPR10  to get $10 off when you register by March 22nd.  Find all their classes here. 

St Patrick's Day parade

Time for the wearin' of the green!  This Saturday is Albany's St Patrick's Day Parade.  It kicks off at 2pm from Quail and Central Aves.  For the parade route,click here. 

I'm hoping for the rain to hold out so we hav gorgeous, warm weather for the parade?!?!

The CIRCUS is coming to town!

Barnum & Bailey circus is coming to Albany in early May.  I have to say this is the hands-down best entertainment for your money!  Both my kids sit speechless for the entire show and talk about it for months afterwards.  Well worth the money.

Here's a link to presale discount info - 20% off certain dates and tickets. 

Keep in mind that the parade of elephants also takes place a few days before the circus starts and it's incredible to see up close.  I will let you know as soon as I find out when.

Free ice cream!

March 23rd is free ice cream day at Ben & Jerrys.  From 12-8pm stop by and get a free scoop!

Kidz Expo

Today is the Kidz Expo.  Couldn't ask for a nicer day.  Time to get out of the house!! Fun things for kids to do!

Today from 10am-5pm at the Empire State Plaza, free admission.

Tons of great stuff inside the convention center and be sure to check out all the great people in the hallway also.  The Children's Guide booth will be doing arts & crafts.  2 Sisters Tutus will be there - if you have an Albany Mommy discount card be sure to stop by them to get your free wand.  Don't have an Albany Mommy discount card? 2 Sisters Tutus will also be selling them today.  The card is $35 and today only 1/2 of the price will be donated to Team Lymphoma & Leukemia!

Vera Bradley sale

Save even more!  Right now until Sunday get an EXTRA 25% off certain fabrics at VeraBradley.com.  Savings will show up when you place items in your shopping cart. 

Think Mother's Day, graduation gifts, and summer birthdays.  I'm one of those people who likes to buy ahead and keep things for when I need a last minute present and don't have time to shop.  This might be a great stock up time!

Happy shopping!!

Signs of spring!

You know spring is just around the corner when the ice cream places start opening up!

Snowman in Lansingburgh opens today.

Guptill's Coney Island Express opens March 20th.

I couldn't find any info on Kurver Kreme, sorry.  Anybody know anything?  *See Katie's comment below - she's also got a link to even more openings**

Discount deal

Stacy at The Children's Guide is hosting an amazing Mom's Retreat on March 14th at the Century House in Latham.  This is going to be a day especially for Moms, included in the admission price is a spa treatment, lunch, seminars,  and goody bags!!

I can't wait! The cost is normally $50, but mention Albany Mommy and get an extra $5 off through Friday.

AND you'll be entered to win a $175 gift certiicate from GlennPeter Jewelers if you register by Friday, mention Albany Mommy when you pay, and then come back here and leave a comment. OK?

See you there!

Check out the seminar listing too - it's amazing!!

House Party

Have you ever heard of House Party?  If you like to throw parties and get free stuff this is for you.  House Party is a company that organizes hundreds of parties across the US at the same time, hosted by different people, where they help spread the word about different cmpanies and products.  The host{ess} gets a party box filled with goodies for themselves and their guests. 

I have done a few different parties over the years and had lots of fun.  First one I ever hosted was a Gerber baby food party where they sent us 3 cases of baby food, incredibly delicious baby food.  They have also had Fisher-Price new toy parties.  Last week I hosted a Pull-Ups potty training party.  We all got to do a fun potty dance and shared potty training tips.

Check them out!  You never know!

Something exciting this weekend!!!

Normally this is the time of year when cabin is at it's worst.  The extremely cold temps this winter have made it even more so.

I am so excited that the Kidz Expowill be this weekend!! Something great to do with the kids.  It's Saturday March 6th from 10am - 5pm at the Empire State Plaza.  Admission is free for all.  {Although you should bring money because there will be tons of great businesses selling their wares.} 

There will be arts & crafts, music, bounce houses, Jigsaw Jones, Reptile Adventures, and so much more.  Check out the complete schedule here.

*I do have to say, last year we got there right at 10am when the Kidz Expo was starting and there were already quite a few people there.  I heard that people started getting there almost an hour early!

Dr Seuss birthday celebration

Wednesday March 3rd from 12-3pm you can help celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday at the Children's Museum of Saratoga.  There will be storytime and craft time with Thing 1 & Thing 2.  You do have to pay admission to the museum to participate.

LL Bean sale

LL Bean in Colonie Center has an extra 50% off lowest marked prices on a lot of winter items.  Not much left in the way of winter coats and snow pants {unless you need a girls 3T/4T or a small infants size}.  There is however a ton of winter boots on sale for really good prices, some nice women's shoes, and a few selections of men's shoes also.

New England Nanny winners!

Here are the winners of  New England Nanny's date night contest.  Enjoy your night out!!

Erina, Erin, & Stacie.  They will be contacting you soon!

Cancelled

Due to the possibility of another snow storm the Mommy Networking Night tomorrow {February 26th} will be cancelled.  A new date has not been scheduled yet, but I will let you know as soon as I know.

Thanks!

Win a box of Cheerios

Get $4 in coupons for Cheerios and a chance to win one of 50,000 free boxes. Find out more here.

Kids will LOVE this!

Last year I saw Crayola's window markers and thought they looked cool.  When I finally decided to buy them I couldn't find them in any stores.   Last week I found them at Michael's.  Yipppeee!! {$5.50 for a pack of 8}

They are so worth it.  Give kids markers and tell them they can draw on the windows - you won't believe the look on their faces. They wash off really easy too.  Windex and a paper towel got the drawings off quickly. 

Funny how much kids enjoy doing something that they aren't "normally" allowed to do, like coloring windows.

Looking for something fun for the kids to do? This will provide hours of creativity and fun!

Sale round up

Vera Bradley - take 20% off one sale item until Sunday

Lands End - today only, 25% off women's pants + free shipping

Ann Taylor Loft - 25% off any full price purchase that includes pants {that's thetrangest one!!} Use code PANTS25 at checkout

Old Navy - get free shipping on $50 with code ONGIVE50, ends today

Babies R Us - 25% off trade in event, click for more details

Gap - 25% off new arrivals until 2/21.  Use code GAPNEW25 at checkout

Shoes.com - 10% off everything until 2/28 with code SAVE10

Encouraging good behavior

This week is school break and I am home with 4 children. {So things may be a little slow on the website this week!}

Planning ahead for the week I knew that sometimes the kids don't get along perfectly when they are all together - my own 2 and their 2  cousins who are close in age- so I needed to come up with something cool.  I totally stole this idea from my son's class.  In his class they have a manner board.  Hot chocolate mugs made of construction paper on a bulletin board.  When the kids behave they get marshmallows in their hot chocolate mugs.  My son LOVES it!!

This weekend he and I cut 4 chocolate mugs out of construction paper, taped them to a white poster board (bought at Staples) and then made white marshmallows out of white construction paper.

I changed it up just a bit to encourage them to be really nice to each other.  Every time one of them did something nice for another the person who was on the receiving end would get to say "That was really nice, I'm going to give you a marshmallow!" The child on the receiving end of the nice gesture was the one to put the marshmallow on the cup.  I figured this would encourage the kids to be nice to each other in hopes of getting marshmallows and also encourage them to say "that was nice" so that they would get to put a marshmallow in someone's cup.

So far, so good!!  They are doing everything to help each other to get marshmallows!!

Library activities

Back in October I listed the local libraries and links to their kid's activity pages. 

If you're looking for some fun things to do with the kid this week it is well worth checking out. 

Free pancakes

{Reader Kristi sent this in-thank you!}  February 23rd is National Pancake Day.  IHOP is giving away free short stacks from 7am-10pm. 

In return, they just ask that you consider donating to the Children's Miracle Network.