When Rita from Radio City Music Hall told me that I could give (4) tickets to the Christmas Spectacular featuring the famous Rockettes to YOU, I couldn't believe it!  This is the best give away yet to hit grkids.com, valued at $280!

The Rockettes will be in Grand Rapids for only one night...what a amazing way to jump-start your holiday season!  The Van Andel Arena will be alive the evening of November 23 as those high-energy, high-kicking glamour gals lift your spirits with song and dance.

Here is ticket and event info for the Rockettes.



This contest requires that you complete 2 steps:

Step 1: Share the word about grkids.com.  One way you can qualify for the contest and share the word is by suggesting that your Facebook Friends become a fan of grkids.com.  To do that, go here and click the "Suggest to Friends" link and click on your friends that aren't yet fans.

Examples of ways to share (POST):

• Put something on your Facebook and/or Twitter Status about how you are using (and love) grkids.com and include a link to the site.
• Write about grkids.com in a blog and include a link to grkids.com in your post.  Must be a current entry.
  
• Include a comment about grkids.com in a forum that you belong to (Momslikeme, Savings Angel, for example.) Be sure to include a link to grkids.com!
• Put a "blurb" about grkids.com in a PTO newsletter, MOPS, school newsletter, work newsletter, church bulletin, etc.  Include a grkids.com image if you can.  (Click here to get image.)
• Download, print off, and put up a flyer for grkids.com in your local community.  Be sure to ask permission if it is required...we don't want grkids.com to get a bad name for rule-breaking! (Click here to get downloadable flyer.)
• Have other ideas?  Run them by me if you're aren't sure...but the goal is to get grkids.com to as many people in as many places in the Greater Grand Rapids area as possible.

Step 2: Leave a comment (BOAST) on the blog telling what you just did.  When at all possible, include a link to your post in your BOAST.  If you put up flyers, tell me the address of where you put them.  If you put it in a school newsletter, tell me which school and what newsletter.

YOU MAY ENTER THE CONTEST AS MANY TIMES AS YOU POST & BOAST! 
If you Post it on Facebook, Post it on Twitter, and Post it in the teacher's lounge, that counts as (3) entries for the contest!



A valid entry on the contest looks something like this:

"I just posted about grkids.com on my facebook status" or
"I just hung up a grkids.com poster at my church."

Thanks and good luck!

Melody


If you are entering the contest more than once by doing multiple postings, please leave a separate comment for each post that you have done.

One winner will be chosen by a random drawing on Monday, November 2.

Where do you get your pumpkins from?  Are you a carver or a painter?  Will you be found eating salted pumpkin seeds or are candy corns your fave?  Fall traditions are being formed in young families and repeated by veteran moms and dads.  We are blessed to live in such a beautiful place...I can't even imaging living where maples didn't burst into a palette of red and orange each autumn.

It's hard to believe there's only one more weekend before Halloween.  If you need to gather some gourds, here are a few family-friendly places you might want to check out:

• Klackle Family Fun Farms:  This farm is located in Greenville, and they are right when they say "Fun" farm.  If you've never visited, you've got to get up there and check out all that is going on.  Besides the typical apple/hayride/pumpkin activities they will surprise you wiht Laura the Elephant on weekends.  They also offer play areas, a petting zoo and face painting, just to name a few things.
• Koetsier's:  This greenhouse turns into a fun house come fall.  Mainly geared toward kids 0-10, you will find inflatables, a corn "sand" box, a maze, craft area, and hayrides.  The great thing about Koetsiers is that it is primarily an indoor venue, so when the weather turns sour, you can still have fun.

Of course there are a multitude of other places for fall fun. I'd love to hear where you go and what your family traditions are.  Leave a comment to share! 

For more ideas on fall fun in the Greater Grand Rapids Area, check out the Kent Harvest Trails.

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CAPTAIN LOUIE

GRKIDS.COM visitors, it is with pleasure that I offer you a coupon for Captain Louie!  Print and use this coupon to get 2 tickets for only $14!

The same genius that brought us Wicked and Godspell, Stephen Schwartz, has struck again, this time bringing us Captain Louie, a musical about a young boy on Halloween night that uses his imagination and a little red plane to escape the loneliness of moving to a new neighborhood. 

Captain Louie is amazing, in part, because it is based on the award-winning works of Ezra Jack Keats, who wrote and illustrated 24 children's classics.

In the spirit of Halloween, there is a special Costume Matinee on October 31 at 2PM. We encourage all attending to wear their costumes! There will be prizes and special treats.

This musical will play at the Civic Theatre from October 23 - November 1, 2009 and is recommended for ages 5 and up.

For tickets visit www.grct.org or 616-222-6650
Single Tickets are regularly $8-14

Dates:  Fri 10/23; Sat 10/24; Sun 10/25; Thu 10/29; Fri 10/30; Sat 10/31; Sun 11/01

Curtain Times: 7:30 pm evening, 2:00 pm matinee     




 

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Turn an ordinary family walk into something memorable just by varying the location!  This past week, I took my kids to Seidman Park, a rustic park with no playground.  It's draw is a great trail system that weaves up and down hills, through hardwoods and wetlands.  The trails are well-marked and well-worn.  Some places are sandy and others are muddy, but overall the trails are in great shape.  Although it's bumpy in places, my 3-wheeled jogging stroller navigated the trails well.  My husband has also been known to carry a kiddo in the Kelty backpack a time or two.  Lots of folks also bring Fido along for a walk, which is allowed if he is on a leash.

Now is a perfect time to get outside with all the the leaves turning.  Beautiful, brilliant color is waiting for your fall family photo, so don't forget your camera!  (It's also a good idea to bring a water bottle or two as well.)

Do you have a favorite place for a family walk?  What makes it special?  Share it here so others at grkids.com can experience it as well!

If you went to the store today and bought this book by Kevin Leman, you'd supposedly have a new kid by Friday.  5 days.  Attitude, tantrums, backtalk, all things that antagonize parents are supposedly solved with Leman's approach.

I bought this book yesterday after hearing this Kevin speak at the Hearts at Home conference at the Amway/DeVos complex downtown. It was just about $12 at Baker Bookhouse on East Paris Avenue.

 His basic premise is that we need to change how we react to our kids and they will change how they act toward us.  The hardest thing about his approach is sticking to your guns.  He wants reality to be the teacher for our kids, not punishment or false praise.  I can't get over how down-to-earth realistic this man is.  He's had 5 kids.  He's been there and he's done a good job at being a dad.  So I can't wait to finish this book and see what other gems are hiding between the covers.

Do you have this book?  Have you read other stuff by Leman?  Leave a comment and let us know what your opinion is!