Urbandale Parks Challenge: Visit 32 Parks in 90 Days!

Urbandale, a town just northwest of Des Moines, is challenging you to visit 32 parks in 90 days! To participate, you need to download their parks passport (details below) and take a picture of yourself or group in front of each park sign. Post and tag Urbandale Parks & Rec in each photo! There are specific guidelines for each social media type they accept (Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook) on their contest page. Everyone who completes the challenge wins a prize!

From their Facebook page:

Did you know that there are 48 public parks in Urbandale? Now that winter is over, it’s time to get outside and explore what Urbandale’s parks have to offer! Can you visit 32 Parks in 90 Days? We think you can! 

Complete your “Urbandale Parks Tour” and visit as many Urbandale Parks as possible. Stamp our Tour Passport by taking a photo at each park you visit. Those visiting the 32 Urbandale parks with playgrounds and completing their Tour Passport will receive prizes! Tour Passport can be downloaded here: http://bit.ly/1Uxk0Zf

Contest Dates:
April 15 through July 15, 2016.

Prizes:

A Parks and Recreation Water Bottle & T-Shirt (for each person visiting at minimum 32 parks and submitting their Tour Passport photos.)

For more details on how to participate and download their parks passport (for official entry), visit the Urbandale Parks & Rec Facebook events page.

Butterfly Heroes Pledge

I heard about this promotion from 2 Kids and a Coupon. If you and your kids make a pledge to help protect monarch butterflies, the National Wildlife Federation will send you a butterfly garden starter kit (while supplies last). The kit includes:

*Seed packet with native milkweed or a flowering nectar plant
*A list of milkweed and nectar plants native to your region
*Ranger Rick Nature Notebook
*Butterfly Heroes Sticker and Poster

To pledge and to receive your free kit, go to:
http://www.nwf.org/butterfly-heroes/pledge.aspx

Another Successful Black Friday Weekend

Black Friday is my big day weekend to go around and get as many freebies and almost-freebies as I can. It's so much fun to see how much I can get for almost nothing.

Sports Authority opened at midnight on Black Friday, and they gave away a gift card to the first 80 people in line. I received a $10 gift card. They had men's T-shirts with matching athletic shorts on sale, 2 for $5. Baseballs were half off, so I got 2 for $3. I had to spend a minimum of $10 to use my $10 gift card, so I bought a candy bar. Total after taxes? 49¢

I missed a few freebies. Toys R Us opened at 8pm on Thanksgiving (boo). They were giving away stockings stuffed with $30 worth of goodies to the first 200 people in line. By the time I got there after Thanksgiving dinner and pie, the line was 220 people long (yes, I counted...). After Sports Authority, I went to Shoe Carnival, hoping to score one of the 100 gift cards they were giving out at midnight. Alas, I was too late.

In the morning, we went to World Market. They gave us each a free ornament and a free movie ticket voucher. After World Market, we picked up our free Godiva chocolate bar. We enjoyed a free pancake breakfast at the local mall, and then we went to Costco to pick up our free cookbook (one cookbook per member). Here are my freebies:

We also went to JC Penney to get our free buttons. Free buttons you say? Yes, free buttons. This is actually way cool. You can go to JC Penney every day between Black Friday and Christmas Eve and get two free buttons, while supplies last. Each button has a code you can enter online (maximum of two per day). One out of every four codes is a winner!

I entered a JC Penney code on Black Friday and won a $5 off of $5 purchase. They emailed me the coupon the next morning. I ran out and bought a toy for my baby nephew. Check out that receipt. FREE!

I picked up two more buttons when I checked out with my free teether. One of those buttons was a winner! I won $10 off of a $10 purchase! They sent me the coupon the next morning, and, again, I went back out to JC Penney. They had a stamp set on sale for $8. Oliver loves stamps, so I thought it would make a good Christmas gift for him. I picked up a $2 pair of socks for Jo. Total? FREE.

I picked up more buttons! I'm seriously planning on going every day. In addition to possibly winning free coupons, you could win prizes like a Kitchenaid mixer or a vacation! They're giving out one trip every day. Seriously, guys, this is like the most exciting thing to me. I love contests and freebies. Is it sad that I think this is the best thing ever?

Anyway, my next big score was for Small Business Saturday. You might have seen my post explaining how to sign up. All I did was register my American Express card for Small Business Saturday. Then, I had to spend at least $25 at a qualifying small business to earn a $25 American Express credit. I went to a neat little toy store called Timbuk Toys. Andrew and the kids played with all the demo toys they had set out while I shopped. I ended up spending $27.28 on a game for Oliver and some jingle bells for Jo. American Express is giving me a $25 statement credit, so my total for the two toys comes to $2.28! 

Everything you see on this blog post, I got for a total of $2.77. The T-shirt, the athletic shorts, two baseballs, two candy bars, two movie tickets, an ornament, a cookbook. a teething toy, a stamp toy, socks, a board game, and jingle bells--under $3. Score! Have I mentioned I love Black Friday weekend?