I’m headed to the Aquarium with my family this week for $25.00!
It would normally cost us about $75 to buy 1 adult and two child General Admission tickets and pay for parking (Adult General Admission Tickets are $26.00 and kids are $19.50)
I wrote about this deal last week but have gotten so many follow up questions and requests for information, I’m adding to it and letting you know about more deals as well!!
The Mommy and Me promotion drastically cuts the price: For $25.00, one parent and four children age five and under can visit the aquarium. The special deal also includes parking.
The promotion is not listed under the ticket page of the Gaaquarium.org but visitors can order tickets at this link:www.gaaquarium.org/acb/stores.
Aquarium Spokesman Scott Higley said the Aquarium circulated news of the deal on Facebook and Twitter as a way of rewarding it’s social media subscribers.
The Aquarium has more ways to get free admission coming up!
New this year is Pirate Days on September 24th through the 26th. Kids who come dressed as a pirate get in free with a paying adult. That deal is available for kids age 12 and under.
Halloween weekend parents who pay their own admission can bring up to two children for free as long as the kids are in costume.
You can also visit the aquarium free on your birthday, whether you bring a paid for person or not.V
olunteering is also a way to get discounted or free admission. Those who sign up for the Aquarium’s volunteer program pay a one time fee of $60.00 and receive a t-shirt, training class and a one year membership. As they accrue volunteer hours, volunteers receive free tickets and memberships for friends and family.
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My fabulous find this week was a Tahari dress at Filene’s Basement. The store has marked down a lot of summer clothing, and it was only 29.99! I also got Nautica swimsuits with matching shirts for my boys for 9.99 each for next summer.
Here are some other bargains you can find around metro Atlanta this week:
Beginning Monday, the City of Atlanta will host a week-long liquidation sale to empty out City Hall East before it’s sold. There are more than five thousand pieces of furniture including desks, chairs, sofas and bookcases. City Hall East previously housed the Atlanta police department.
Dean Gardens is holding an estate sale on August 28th from 4 to 8pm. The sale will feature furniture, house wares, rugs and more. Ten percent of the proceeds from the sale will benefit the Fragile Kids Foundation. Owner Larry Dean sold his multi-million dollar estate to Filmmaker Tyler Perry. Those who plan to attend should call (770) 951-6115 to RSVP
Now and Again is having its once a year Art Markdown sale. The store is located at 56 East Andrews Drive, Atlanta. The sale is August 21st through 28th.
In the same Buckhead neighborhood, Global Living is closing. The store, which sells home décor from around the world, has items marked down up to 75 percent off of retail.
The Fernbank Museum store sidewalk sale is August 21 and 22nd. Hours on Sunday the 22nd are noon to 5pm. Merchandise is marked down up to 75 percent off of original prices.
Ann Taylor Loft is having a summer clearance sale with some items below $5.00
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There is something real special about the Braves recent series in Philadelphia. I had a post season feel. I know the weather outside is brutal, but the way the Braves played in the “City of Brotherly Love”, made me think about baseball in October. The clutch hitting, strong starts and the work of closer Billy Wagner made me think that post seson baseball could be making a comeback here. For those of you who don’t remember, the Braves used to play every October for 14 seasons. Folks around here got so accustomed to it that first round playoff games were often played before empty seats. To take 2 out of 3 from the Phillies in a series where the Braves faced both Roy Halladay, and Jamie Moyer is huge. Don’t forget, the Braves played this series without Nate McLouth, and Rookie All-Star Jason Heyward. It has been 5 years since the Braves last made the playoffs. 2001 was the last year the Braves won a playoff series. Keep those numbers in mind as the Braves head for the All-Star break on a roll. It’s roll that could lead to Fall Ball and considereing that way it fills outside today the post season can’t come soon enough..
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As I said in my last post, I made it to Semifinals, which was my goal. But I didn’t expect to make it to the last round of the Semifinals! I spelled ‘venturi’ and ‘intercolline’ correctly in the first two rounds. There were lots of other hard words that other kids got out on. The remaining spellers onstage, myself included, cheered each other on. Finally, in the last round before finals, I misspelled ‘poilu’, spelling it like ‘poilue’. Oh well, I honestly didn’t know the word. I was pretty happy with how I did. After me, there were a couple other spellers who didn’t spell their word yet. But, weirdly enough, the Spelling Bee Committee decided that, if they finished the round, there would be too few spellers left for the Finals. They promised ABC 8-12 spellers, and there might be too few. So they cut the round off and said that the remaining spellers, including the ones who didn’t have to spell their word, would be continuing on to the Finals. It was very strange, but I guess it was in the rules. The finals went surprisingly quickly. The difficulty of words ranged enormously from ‘gnocchi’ to ‘engysseismology’. Anamika Veeramani was crowned the winner at the end of it all. Congratulations to her and the other finalists! Tonight will be the Awards Ceremony and Banquet. Guess what- I get to sit up at the front table with the finalists! All the people from the last round of the Semis will be there. After the banquet, there’s a dance party for all the spellers, which is a ton of fun. One more thing- Shaquille O’neal was the special guest at the Finals. He had a spell-off with last year’s winner. Very cool!
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Last night, the 48 Semifinalists were announced. I was one of them! YAY! We had a very nice dinner with the other semifinalists, and afterward, all the rules and details were clarified to us. A couple of people that I’d met over the week also made it to Semifinals, so it was very exciting for all of us. Anyway, the Semifinals will be on ESPN at 10:00 AM for anyone who wants to watch them. The Championship Finals will be on after that. Making it to Semifinals was my goal, and I’m just so pleased and happy that I made it this far. Only the very best spellers make it to the Championship Finals. Of course it would be wonderful if I could make it there, but I won’t be too terribly disappointed if I don’t make it. Again, I am so honored to represent my school, community, and state. Thank you, 11 Alive News!
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Yesterday’s Round One went pretty well, I think. We’ll get our results for it tonight! Also, we’ll find out if we make it to Semifinals. I just took Round Two, which consisted of one word spelled onstage. My word was ‘issei’, and I spelled it correctly! In a few hours, I’ll be taking Round Three, which is another onstage word. The process to determine who goes to Semifinals goes like this: 25 out of the 50 Round One words are graded. The maximum score you can get is 25 (they don’t tell us which ones are graded). The two onstage words each count for 3 points. The maximum score after that is 31 in all. The most kids allowed into the Semifinals is 50. Last year, you had to have 28 points or more to get to the Semifinals. I had 27 
Anyway, we’ll find out tonight who made it! And another exciting thing: ESPN interviewed me yesterday! They did a pretty long clip with me, and I answered questions and stuff. Finally, they featured me in the annual Spelling Bee music video. They’ll be featuring my clip in promos for the Bee. Awesome!
Update: I just finished Round 3, spelling ‘vibrissae’ correctly! I also received my score from Round One. A perfect score was 25, and I got 23. Adding on the bonus points from Rounds 2 and 3, my total score is 29. Tonight, I’ll see if I made Semifinals!
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Yesterday was a fantastic day! My family went to one of my favorite museums of all time, the International Spy Museum. We went through all the great exhibits, and we also did the interactive Operation Spy mission, where you do all these things that a real spy would do. Our group ended up accidentally letting the criminals escape, and we pretty much failed the mission. It was still a ton of fun, though! After that, we went to the Great American Barbecue that the Scripps Bee organizes. It was a little rainy, but enjoyable as well. There was face painting, karaoke, carnival games, and more. I watched other kids do karaoke, but I didn’t do it myself (I’m in band for a reason!). Today is the first day of competition. It’s the 50-word written round, which takes place at different times for different spellers. I’m taking it at 12:00. I’ve been studying intensely for it, so wish me luck!
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My family and I arrived in Washington, D.C yesterday afternoon. The hotel is beautiful, and it’s great to be here again! Today, I did some sightseeing with my family, including my aunt and cousins, who arrived here today. We visited the Smithsonian Natural History Museum (saw the Hope Diamond, definitely want one!) and the Washington Monument. We also saw the Memorial Day Parade, which was awesome! There were actors like Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise there. Also, there were lots of marching bands, which were almost as good as the Marist Marching Band 
. It was a fun experience, even though it was INSANELY hot outside! We came back to the hotel to enjoy the lovely air conditioning, and I signed in for the bee and met some nice kids. I received a t-shirt, watch, and lots more spelling bee goodies in a bag, along with an autograph book with a page for each speller. In between, I studied some words. Tonight, everyone signs each others’ autograph books. Should be fun!
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Well, my school’s last real day was today. Next week is exams, which I will be missing for the National Spelling Bee! But I’ll be taking the exams later . Anyway, thanks to all the 11Alive people who gave me this chance to share my spelling bee journey with others through this blog! I am so excited to be going to Washington, D.C this Sunday. I’ll post more once I’m in D.C. Can’t wait!
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IKEA is offering free breakfast for metro Atlanta moms on Mother’s Day.
Participating T.C.B.Y. stores will have free scoops of frozen yogurt for moms, and Smokey Bones restaurant has free meals for mom with a meal purchase by another member of her party.
Pottery Barn Kids has a Mother’s Day craft event at 2pm. Kids can make tissue paper flowers for their moms.
A new consignment store in Buckhead is seeking high quality gently used clothing for children. Rhubarb and Custard is located at 3625 Roswell Road. It’s open Monday through Saturday. The store has a Drop and Dash feature where consignors can drop off the clothing they want to sell rather than wait till the owner goes through the items to determine which will be accepted.
Thegreenhalf.com has $20 gift certificates to the popular Psycho Sisters Consignment store for $10.00
On Mother’s Day use the code MOM2010 to get 20 percent off a purchase of $50.00 at childrensplace.com. Many items are on sale for $5.00. The offer is not available in The Children’s Place retail stores. (From the Neverpayretailagain.net blog)
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On Sunday April 18th, participating Target stores are giving away FREE reusable shopping bags. A purchase may be required. (How about a pack of gum?)
Scotia Salon in Roswell is having a Cut-A-Thon Sunday April 18th from 12 to 5 pm to benefit the Foster Care Support Foundation. Wet haircuts are $10.00. Scotia is located at 1055 Canton Street, Suite 120, Roswell, GA 30075. (770) 645-0811
Oxxo Dry Cleaners in Buckhead will offer a 60 percent off coupon on Scoutmob.com this week. The store is located at 3165 Peachtree Road, Suite C, Atlanta, GA 30305 (404) 660-0023
Other Scoutmob deals this week:
Monday: 50% off Luckie Food Lounge (Downtown) -
Tuesday: 50% off Fuze Burger (Midtown)
Wednesday: 50% off Tavern 99 (Buckhead
Thursday: 60% off OXXO Cleaners (Buckhead)
Friday: 50% off The Village Jerk (East Atlanta)
Global Freight Liquidations in Norcross has a new shipment from a local warehouse club store. The stock includes baby items and clothing. Global Freight Liquidations has changed the pricing on its clothing: men’s and women’s clothing that retails for $50 or less is all priced at $6.95, kids’ clothing is $4.95.
Thursday, April 22nd is Earth Day. Customers who bring a container from their current facial care products will receive a full size facial cleanser FREE at participating Origins counters in local department stores. For details go to Origins Facebook page.
April 17-24th is National Park Week. and entrance fees are being waived in National Parks across the U.S. In metro Atlanta the Chattahoochee National Recreation area is normally $3.00 but it is free this week.
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You may have heard about the recent controversy that started when Tennesse mom Torry Hansen returned her 7 year old boy Justin to Moscow with a note indicating the boy was psychotic and she no longer wanted to parent him. The case has prompted Russia to come startlingly close to suspending its adoption program in the U.S.
Our family was one of the approximately 1600 who travelled to Russia in 2009 to adopt a child. Since today has been designated We Are The Truth Adoption Blogger Day by the Joint Council on International Children’s Services, I want to share our incredible experience, our beautiful and wonderful 3 year old boy,
and the devastating future more than 700 thousand not-so-fortunate Russian orphans face.
My husband Derrick and I did months of research before committing to adopt from Russia. We needed to find the right adoption agency for us and to do our homework about the medical and psychological conditions children who have been institutionalized face. In August 2009 we started mountain ranges of paperwork in hopes of adopting a little brother for our biological son and completing our family. Then, we waited, read and Googled.
Those of us in the adoption community normally throw around acronyms like RAD and FAS and book titles like Beyond Consequences and the Connected Child like they are every day household terms, because to most of us, they are. We are well aware children who have spent years in institutions are at risk for a multitude of problems, but also that many of them thrive and even excel when in the right environment. Derrick and I learned the first 6 months or even year could be a difficult adjustment for our family, and I met dozens of adoptive families in person and online who had plenty of advice. Experiences varied but there were no regrets. Most adoptive parents I know are familiar with adoption risks and how to best deal with problems that may occur. That’s our responsibility to our new child and existing family.
7 months later we received a set of photos 
and medical documents for Jhenya, a 2 year old boy who was relinquished at birth and had spent his entire short life in Baby House 2 in Chita, Siberia, a far away place where anti-government rebels called Decembrists had been exiled in 1825. He looked a little scary in some of the photos, had a blank stare in others, was playing with 
a few toys in others.
We prepared for the possibility our healthy looking son-to-be might not be healthy. We had his medical records carefully analyzed by a team of Russian adoption medical experts. We read the books on the attachment issues children face who have been ignored and neglected and how not being held or comforted can change a baby’s brain chemistry permanently. We read how children with Reactive Attachment Disorder can be violent, can lack the capacity to love, but also can be absolutely fine with help. Children can be amazing survivors.
We made two trips to Moscow and Siberia to visit the orphanage. Jhenya was incredibly adorable, even though he wore funny Eastern European girls clothes, sometimes practically rags.
We were in love with him at first glimpse. 
He, on the other hand, was scared of the American strangers though he loved our laptop, cellphones and snacks. He loved his caregivers and called them all Mama: Mama Nina, Mama Katia, etc. He was very happy in his orphanage because he knew no other life. After all, he was two.
We brought a terrified, wide eyed toddler home from Russia on May 23rd, 2009. We did the best we could with what are known as “Attachment Parenting” techniques: cocooning the family at home, limiting visitors, just playing and bonding. There was lots of hugging, kissing and affection and James Christian, (whom we still call Jhenya, his Russian name) slept in our bed at night, clinging to me for dear life. We loved him instantly and he very soon clung to us not just for safety and sustenance but because he loved us too. In about a month we felt like a normal family of four.
The adjustment period can be long and difficult with a post-institutionalized child. I consider ours short and relatively painless: sleep problems, a few tantrums, lots of touching, grabbing and experimenting with everything from appliances to makeup to dog food. ( Orphanages offer very little stimulation, very choices, and few glimpses of what the outside world is really like. ) It’s not unlike having a newborn and lots of patience is required.
Jhenya is a beautiful, bright, funny, healthy and adorable boy. 
He is loving and sweet, shy with strangers, eager to learn and full of smiles and giggles. His English is good and improving all the time. His mistakes are always so cute: “I need the help!”, “May I have a milk”, “I need paper toilet” etc. He and his brother Nicholas,5 are the loves of our lives and our family would not be the same without him. So far, we are a very fortunate family in that we did not have to dig into our arsenal of attachment therapy books or seek help for behavior, socialization or learning problems. Are we home free? Absolutely not. We are in our forties with two small children; the next 20 years will be fraught with challenges. Jhenya knows he is adopted but doesn’t fully understand. What will happen when he really understands his birth mother gave him up and kept his three older siblings? Scary stuff. But we’re in. Whatever the future holds, Jhenya and Nicholas are our sons. 
One percent of Russian adoptions in the U.S. are “disrupted”, which usually means being placed with another U.S. family, not put on a plane back to Moscow. But there are more than 50 thousand happy, thriving Russian children in the U.S. whose adoptive families love and cherish them. Some have issues. Many of us parents and our biological children have issues too.
To me, it is Dickensonian that there still exists a system where children are given up due to poverty and alcoholism and remain in spartan orphanages where there is medical care but often inadequate nutrition and little or no love. Seeing the orphans and their homes is heartbreaking, yet I also feel drawn to them. There are too many orphans for Russia to adequately take care of. They need us. And the 3000 American families waiting to adopt from Russia, with their eyes wide open about what to expect, need those kids.
I thank Russia for our son and for his loving nature despite his rough start. I hope and pray Russian adoption will continue for parents who are committed, prepared and realistic.
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Wish you could see Augusta now. This town in Southeast Georgia that annually opens it’s gates to the world is making its transformation back to normal after an emotionally charged week that we won’t soon forget. It started with a press gathering for the return of the world’s number one player, who showed that even after a 5 month layoff to try and get life back in order, he is just a shot or two away from victory. We learned that 50 year old Fred Couples can still play this course, even in ECCO’s. I can relate. Turning 50 and suffering with falling arches will make you wear shoes you never dreamed you would wear. I am now a Rockport man !!. But the best was saved for last and today the Augusta National crowned a most worthy champion. Phil Mickleson wore the Green Jacket for the third time and showed rare emotion because his wife, who is fighting breast cancer, was able to join him at the finish today. A Hollywood script writer could not have done it better. Now the gates of Augusta National are closing , the patrons and golfers are all gone. Only a few international reporters remain, working strories to make their deadlines. We will head for I-20 east, and the trip back home.. What a week!!!
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Hello from Augusta, where around 12:40 this afternoon Tiger Woods got a round of applause for walking onto the Driving Range to be practice for his first round of competitive golf for 2010.. Nevermind that this first round of the year came at the grandest tournament of them all. The air of anticipation had been building all week, starting with Woods’ Press Conference Monday.Yesterday’s blast from Masters Chairman Billy Payne, sent shock waves through the Press Center here. Payne used a stern tone to show that while Augusta National is private, the all-male membership was not thrilled with his actions away from the course . By 1:40 this afternoon it seemed everyone at the Augusta National Golf Club wanted to be as close as possible to the first tee..Beside the big oak tree located behind the clubhouse a pathway had been cleared for Woods, and his playing partners KJ Choi and Matt Kucher along with the ever-present security detail to walk by on their way to the first tee box. The spectators cheers started to build as Tiger moved closer and you could see a smile come to his face, and he gently said “Thanks”. Regardless of where you stand , there’s no denying that this is where Tiger Woods belongs. Not because I said it, but because the fans said it. Tiger Woods is golf and today the fans at the greatest tournament of all proclaimed it.. I’m just glad to be able to say that I was her to see it..
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Hello from Augusta, where it will be another day of Masters green mixed with the yellow haze of South Georgia pollen.This is the third day of practice rounds for Masters Week and the annual Par-3 tournament will be played later today. It is a great tradition here.. It is a laid back day when the golfers have fun with the gallaries and some of the greats like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, who no longer play the tournament, will be on display..It is also a day we are used to seeing the golfers bring their families along..The children wear jumpsuits just like the caddies with their names on the back.It’s a part of the fun that makes for lasting memories.. Phil Mickleson loves this day, and yesterday told us how the pictures he takes of his family each year find a special place in his home. It has been well reported that Mickleson’s wife is fighting breast cancer. When asked about her yesterday, the two-time Masters Champion chose his words carefully, saying the long
term outlook is good,but for now it is a day to day battle. Mickleson wasn’t sure if his children would be able to make it to the Par-3 tournament today, but he was hopeful that they would be here..It’s head to believe that this is Mickleson’s 18th Masters Tournament.. I was here for his first, as a bright eyed college phenom from Arizona State.. You know what?? I hope Phil Mickleson’s family can make here too..
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