Calendar: September 2016

Better late than never. Lots of good stuff coming up this month. I love that cool weather is coming and lots of fun fall events are on the horizon. If you know of something to add to the calendar or something fun that's coming up, leave a comment here or on the River Region Family Facebook page. Or send an email to RiverRegionFamily (at) gmail.com.



Saturday 9/17/16
9 am-5 pm Alabama Wildlife Federation GO Fishing Weekend (Catch & Release) 
Daily admission is $5/person with a $20 maximum per family. 

12-2 pm Toys R Us Lego Disney Princess Build
build & take home a FREE LEGO Disney Princess Cogsworth (9/17) and a Lumiere (9/24) character.

2-5 pm Worldwide Day of Play at Pratt Park Amphitheater 
The Parks and Recreation Department has planned a carnival-themed FREE event that will encourage kids to get up and get active during the Worldwide Day of Play event in the City of Prattville! The Carnival will include water bucket musical chairs, football toss, face painting, balloon darts and more, and prizes will be provided. We encourage all kids K-6th grades to come out and participate.

1-7 pm Messiah's Mansion Tours
Free tours every 15 minutes for this traveling exhibit that brings ancient history back to life. Travel back over 3,000 years into the desert between Egypt and Palestine where over two million people banded together to build a tabernacle for their God. 

Sunday 9/18/16
1-7 pm Messiah's Mansion Tours
Free tours every 15 minutes for this traveling exhibit that brings ancient history back to life. Travel back over 3,000 years into the desert between Egypt and Palestine where over two million people banded together to build a tabernacle for their God.  

Monday 9/19/16
1-7 pm Messiah's Mansion Tours
Free tours every 15 minutes for this traveling exhibit that brings ancient history back to life. Travel back over 3,000 years into the desert between Egypt and Palestine where over two million people banded together to build a tabernacle for their God. 

Tuesday 9/20/16
1-7 pm Messiah's Mansion Tours
Free tours every 15 minutes for this traveling exhibit that brings ancient history back to life. Travel back over 3,000 years into the desert between Egypt and Palestine where over two million people banded together to build a tabernacle for their God. 

Wednesday 9/21/16
1-7 pm Messiah's Mansion Tours
Free tours every 15 minutes for this traveling exhibit that brings ancient history back to life. Travel back over 3,000 years into the desert between Egypt and Palestine where over two million people banded together to build a tabernacle for their God. 

Thursday 9/22/16
1-7 pm Messiah's Mansion Tours
Free tours every 15 minutes for this traveling exhibit that brings ancient history back to life. Travel back over 3,000 years into the desert between Egypt and Palestine where over two million people banded together to build a tabernacle for their God. 

Friday 9/23/16
1-7 pm Messiah's Mansion Tours
Free tours every 15 minutes for this traveling exhibit that brings ancient history back to life. Travel back over 3,000 years into the desert between Egypt and Palestine where over two million people banded together to build a tabernacle for their God. 

6-9 pm Ballet & The Beast at Montgomery Zoo 
Montgomery Ballet invites all of Montgomery to join us at our annual Ballet & the Beasts performance on Friday, September 23, 2016 at the Montgomery Zoo! Ballet and the Beasts is a wonderful, free family-friendly event you don’t want to miss! Picnic baskets and chairs are welcome. Gates open at 6:00pm and the performance begins at dusk.


Saturday 9/24/16
Museum Day Live
Museum Day Live! is an annual event hosted by Smithsonian magazine in which participating museums across the country open their doors to anyone presenting a Museum Day Live! ticket… for free. To find a participating museum, click here.

9 am-5 pm Alabama Wildlife Federation Amphibian Journey

10 am Lowe's Build & Grow-Fire Boat FREE 

11 am-6 pm Montgomery Korean Festival  

12-2 pm Toys R Us Lego Disney Princess Build
build & take home a FREE LEGO Disney Princess Cogsworth (9/17) and a Lumiere (9/24) character.

1-7 pm Messiah's Mansion Tours
Free tours every 15 minutes for this traveling exhibit that brings ancient history back to life. Travel back over 3,000 years into the desert between Egypt and Palestine where over two million people banded together to build a tabernacle for their God.  

Sunday 9/25/16
1-7 pm Messiah's Mansion Tours
Free tours every 15 minutes for this traveling exhibit that brings ancient history back to life. Travel back over 3,000 years into the desert between Egypt and Palestine where over two million people banded together to build a tabernacle for their God.  

2-4 pm Family Art Affair and Jazz Jams at MMFA FREE
Bring the whole family to this FREE Museum program where all are welcome to listen to Jazz jams and create individual works of art!  Participants are invited to make and take home a fun work of art inspired by the exhibition Dark City: Urban America at Night.  All materials are provided. Join us for Jazz Jams featuring Gypsy Cornbread from 2-4pm in the Orientation Circle. 
  
 
Tuesday 9/27/16
6-8 pm Chick-fil-A Eastchase Kid's Night- Back To School Bash
 

Disclaimer: We do our best at River Region Family to provide accurate, useful information about events and activities. This information (such as times and locations) is gathered from press releases, local newspapers, signs around town and word of mouth. We do our best to confirm details before they are posted here. Sometimes details change or we are given inaccurate information. Whenever possible we link our write-ups to the source in which our information came from and strongly urge you to confirm details before you go. River Region Family is in no way responsible for any problems that occur while participating in activities recommended on this site.

Messiah's Mansion Traveling Exhibit

The Messiah's Mansion traveling exhibit brings the Montgomery area a chance to learn a little bit of ancient history through a living museum. 


Travel back over 3,000 years into the desert between Egypt and Palestine where over two million people banded together to build a tabernacle for their God. Each element in the tabernacle had deep significant meaning to the Hebrew people and this tour will bring each symbol to life. 


Messiah's Mansion will be at 4233 Atlanta Hwy., Montgomery, AL 36109​  from September 17-25, 2016.  

Free tours of the Messiah's Mansion exhibit will run from 1-7 pm daily.

Tours start every 15 minutes and last about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

We visited this in the past and it is educational and also amazing to be able to see in person and in actual size what you have only read about in the bible. 

Local Grocery Deals September 7-13

Here are a few of my favorite deals at local grocery store in the river region this week. For the entire ad or for store locations, click the links below. 

AG Store
Whole Fryers $1.09/lb
Shank portion hams $1.19/lb
Boneless Pork Chops Family Pack $1.79/lb
Fresh Fryer Breasts $1.39/lb
Bottom Round Roast $2.99/lb
Cabbage $0.50/lb


Renfroe's Market
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast $2.28/lb
Ground Chuck Family Pack $2.99/lb
Butterball Ground Turkey 1lb $2.39
Beefsteak Tomatoes $1.00/lb
Michigan Apples 3lb bag $2.68
Food Club Cheese 6-8 oz 3 for $5.00
Bama Mayonnaise 30 oz $2.50
Starkist Chunk Light Tuna 5 oz $0.79

Piggly Wiggly/Mega Meats
1/2 Loin Pork Chops $1.29/lb
Chuck Roast $2.89/lb
Lettuce $0.79
Chuck Steaks Family Pack $3.29/lb

CashSaver
Family Pack Ground Chuck $2.45/lb
Boneless Chuck Roast $2.87/lb
Tyson Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast IQF 40 oz bag $3.99
Best Choice 4lb sugar $1.69
Yellow Onions 3lb bag $1.17
Red Delicious Apples $0.99/lb
Roma Tomatos $0.78/lb
Green Peppers $0.58 each
Red bell Peppers $0.67
Kiwi Fruit $0.25
Wonder Bread 18 oz loaf $1.12

Food Outlet
Pork Steaks $1.44/lb
Sirloin Tip Roast $2.95/lb
Drumsticks or Thighs $0.88/lb
Bananas $0.37/lb
Potatoes 20lb bag $4.95


 
 

Weekend Roundup

Here are a few things coming up this weekend in the river region. If you know of any other events to add, please leave a comment here or on the facebook page.


Saturday 8/27/16 8 am Montgomery Dragonboat Race and Festival 
10 am Alabama Nature Center-Canoeing and Kayaking Basics 

10 am Lowe's Build and Grow-Hulk FREE
11 am Vicarious Vacations @ Old Alabama Town FREE  
12-2 pm LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Building Event @ Toys R Us FREE Build and take home a Captain America Mosaic. Ages 6 and up.
1 pm En Fuego En Fuego is an annual Christian Music Festival held in a natural amphitheater in Verbena, Alabama. It is FREE to the publicGates open at 1 pm 
Tuesday 8/30/16 11 am-Noon Naturalist Led Hike Lanark   
6-8 pm Chick-Fil-A Eastchase Kids Night Icedream Sundae Bar

Disclaimer: We do our best at River Region Family to provide accurate, useful information about events and activities. This information (such as times and locations) is gathered from press releases, local newspapers, signs around town and word of mouth. We do our best to confirm details before they are posted here. Sometimes details change or we are given inaccurate information. Whenever possible we link our write-ups to the source in which our information came from and strongly urge you to confirm details before you go. River Region Family is in no way responsible for any problems that occur while participating in activities recommended on this site.

 

Alabama History Field Trip- Horseshoe Bend National Military Park

When my oldest was in 4th grade we covered Alabama History but not very well. We used a book but never got out to do field trips like I had envisioned. (I wonder if having twin babies around that time had anything to do with it.) At any rate, 7th grade and 2nd grade seems as good a time as any to do a little exploring and learning around Alabama and now that the twins are older (3!) it's a lot easier and more fun to get out and about.  

We have a few field trips planned for this year with our local homeschool group and also just as a family. I plan on blogging about them to maybe give you ideas of field trips you can take in our area. 

My 2nd grader's curriculum this year will cover the historical period from 1000 AD to the middle ages and include medieval England and discoverers. The big plan for field trips for her is the Alabama Medieval Fantasy Festival in March 2017 in Greenville but we may also try to visit the Alabama Renaissance Faire in October in Florence.

My 7th grader's curriculum this year covers a historical time period from about 1800 up to World War I which means we will hit several major Alabama history events this year-the Creek War, Statehood and the Civil War. So much good stuff related to these events in Alabama and most of it not too far from home!

When I saw that the Horseshoe Bend National Military Park was having a special event called Muster On The Tallapoosa last week, I couldn't pass it up. 

Can I be honest? I have lived in Alabama all my life and taken Alabama history and never really "got" what the Creek War was about until we visited this park. The Horseshoe Bend National Military Park is only about an hour and a half from Montgomery but I had not even heard of it until this year. Before we left we read some of the history of the park on the website so we would have an idea of what we were looking at. I love that the website has some primary source documents about the battle-letters from Andrew Jackson to different people telling what happened-that you can read.

Saturday morning we hit the road for our first Alabama History field trip of this year. I will say that the road to HBNMP is a little winding but the park is not too hard to find. We used the directions from the website and a GPS and had no problems. It was my first time ever going through Dadeville. (Got to see the Dadeville Renfroe's Market.)

My older kids act like they never want to leave the house but once we get somewhere they always enjoy themselves and this time I think they may have even learned something. 

The Horseshoe Bend visitor center has a small, but nice museum inside with a timeline of events and interesting displays. When you go, have the kids get a Junior Park Ranger booklet to fill out with info found in the park and when you are done, you show it to the ranger to get a prize. Ours was a nifty National Parks pin, postcard of Horseshoe Bend and a Battle of Horseshoe Bend commemorative patch.

When we first got there, it was nearly time for a musket firing demonstration, so we headed outside to see that. After the demonstration, the reenactors let people ask questions and then we walked around to the other displays that were set up for the special event. We got to see a cannon firing demonstration, also and make corn husk dolls. 

We took our lunch and ate it at the large picnic area. (Downside: the bathrooms are back at the visitor center so after lunch we had to drive back there to "go".) After that, we took the park tour. You can walk it but it's about 3 or more miles and with the small ones, it was easier to drive from stop to stop. You can pull up to the stop and dial the number on the sign with your phone to hear a park ranger describe the area. The kids thought that was really neat. Most stops you will want to get out of the vehicle and walk to the exhibit. It's not very far. Some are fine to sit in the car and see out the windows. 

The Horseshoe Bend National Military Park is beautiful and my kids and I learned a lot about Alabama's history by visiting this park. I'm excited for our other field trips this year. 

Here are a few of our other possible/ planned Alabama History trips for the year: 

10/1/16 Ft Jackson 1814 Militia Living History

11/2-11/5/16 Ft. Toulouse Ft Jackson Frontier Days

Alabama Department of Archives and History Museum

First White House of The Confederacy

Helen Keller Birthplace-Ivy Green

Cahawba-Alabama's First State Capitol


If you have any suggestions for fields trips in Alabama, I want to hear them. What are your favorite places to field trip in Alabama?

Local Grocery Deals August 24-30

Here are a few deals this week at local grocery stores. For store locations or to view the complete ad, click the links below.

AG Store:

USDA Fresh Ground Beef Jumbo Pack $1.99/lb

Fresh Fryer Leg Quarters 10 lb bag $3.99

Fresh ½ Loin Pork Chops $1.29/lb

Sweet Potatoes 2 lbs for $1.00

Bananas 2 lbs for $1.00

Baking Potatoes 5lb bag $1.50

White and Red Seedless Grapes $1.99/lb

Weiss Medium Eggs 2.5 dozen $1.50

Renfroe's Market

Fresh Chicken Thighs or Drumsticks Family pack $0.99/lb

Boneless Chuck Roast $3.29/lb

Russett Potatoes 5lb bag $1.48

Yellow Onions 3lb bag $1.98

Beefsteak Tomatoes $1.00/lb

Fresh Green Beans $1.00/lb

Luck’s Beans or Peas 2 for $1.00

Food Club Cheese 6-8 oz select varieties 3 for $5.00

Ground Chuck Family Pack $2.99/lb

Hass Avocadoes $1.00

Green Cabbage 3 lbs for $1.00

Luvs Diapers 21-48 ct. $6.48

Vowell's Cash Saver

Family Pack Ground Chuck $2.31/lb

Bonelessn Fryer Breast $1.67/lb

Best Choice Mayo 30 oz jar $1.53

All Purpose Potatoes 5lb bag $1.47

Green Bell Peppers $0.44

On The Vine Tomatoes $0.86/lb

Kiwi $0.24

Mangoes $0.74

Seedless Red or Green Grapes $1.67/lb

Green Cabbage $0.39/lb

Yellow Onion 2lb bag $1.41

Piggly Wiggly & Mega Meats

Food Outlet

Whole Boneless Pork Loin $0.98/lb

Boneless Pork Chop $1.33/lb

Tomatoes $0.72/lb

Medium Eggs Doz $0.55

Birthday Freebies 2016

It's my birthday month and what better way to celebrate than with free stuff! I've gotten a bunch of freebies in my email box this month and I wanted to share my very favorites with you guys!

Chappy's Deli : Join Chappy's Deli E-club for a coupon for a free sandwich or salad on your birthday. 

CVS: Sign up for CVS Beauty Club for a $3 off any purchase coupon on your birthday.

Gigi's Cupcakes: Sign up for a free cupcake when you join and then a free cupcake on your birthday plus other special offers.  

Golden Corral: Join Golden Corral's Good as Gold Club for a welcome surprise and a special gift on your birthday. (I got a free buffet with adult buffet purchase coupon.)

Newk's Eatery: Join Newk's Roundtable Club for free dessert and exclusive offers. (I got a coupon for a free entree and drink for my birthday.)

Red Robin: Sign up for Red Robin Royalty rewards for a free birthday burger, surprises and other special offers. 

Ruby Tuesday: Join Ruby Tuesday's So Connected email club for a free appetizer, special offers and a free burger on your birthday. 

Toys R Us: Sign your kids 10 and under up for Geoffrey's Birthday Club. Members receive a birthday card and gift from Geoffrey. Bring your birthday child into the store to receive a birthday crown, Geoffrey balloon and a personalized announcement broadcast to the entire store! Plus during in store birthday events, members receive special surprises with coupon including a Geoffrey plush toy and storybook.

Ulta Beauty: Join Ultamate Rewards for a free gift on your birthday. I had not signed up for this one yet so I don't know what the gift is.


Toys R Us: Sign up your kids 10 and under for Geoffrey’s Birthday Club and you’ll snag a free party planner with a special offer, a birthday greeting card and gift, an in-store celebration (including a birthday crown, a balloon, and an in-store announcement), and even a birthday call from Geoffrey.

Zaxby’s: Kids 10 and under can join the Zax Kidz Club and receive a free cookie club in the mail just for joining and a free kidz meal card mailed on their birthday; Adults can join the Zaxby’s Mail club and will receive via mail a members-only FREE Meal Deal coupon to the address you provide within six weeks of joining and a free Nibbler on your birthday. I got a card in the mail for the free Nibbler.


Just saying: Offers can change, so check before you sign up. If you know of any other great birthday freebies, let me know so I can add them to this list and share the love! 

Enjoy!