Stop & Shop and General Mills Back-to-School Promotion

UPDATE:  This contest is now closed.  The winner was selected using random.org and is commenter #1 - Sara @ Domestically Challenged.  Congratulations Sara!  I'll be contacting you by email.

General Mills and Stop & Shop are teaming up for a great Back to School promotion, where you can stock up and save on both groceries and gas! This Back-to-School Saving Event is taking place at Stop & Shop stores September 4-10. Our family travels a lot (yeah, really, A LOT!), and when we are in New England, we pick up our groceries from Stop & Shop.

During the Back-to-School event, Stop & Shop is offering great sale pricing on the participating General Mills brands:

Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Reeses Puffs, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cookie Crisp Sprinkles, Cookie Crisp, Fruit Snacks, Old El Paso Dinner Kits, Pillsbury Strudel, Pillsbury Scrambles, Green Giant Boxed Vegetables, Yoplait Yo-Plus Multi-Pack, Fiber One Yogurt Multi-Pack, Pillsbury Refrigerated Cookies, Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, Pillsbury Sweet Rolls and Yoplait Delights

Cheerios are a huge hit at my house. I can't keep enough of them for my daughter, who refers to them as "doughnut seeds". Anyway, this week, they are on sale...two (8.9 ounce) boxes for $5.

There are also additional savings for you or your school, depending on which Stop & Shop location you visit.

For example, if your Stop & Shop store sells gas and you buy four (4) participating General Mills items, you’ll automatically earn 100 points on your Stop & Shop card. Then, for every 100 points earned, you'll save 10¢ per gallon of gas (Please note: Total discount cannot exceed price per gallon). All you have to do is swipe your Stop & Shop Card at the pump to redeem your Gas Rewards

Now, if your Stop & Shop store doesn’t sell gas, don’t worry – you’re not left out of the savings – if you buy five (5) participating General Mills products, you will receive 20 Bonus Box Tops for your school! How great is that?!?!?

You know what would make this even sweeter? How about a gift card to Stop & Shop? That's right, the folks at MyBlog Spark and General Mills have given me a $10 gift card so I could enjoy this promotion. (That will be four boxes of Cheerios for me.) In addition, they will provide one of you with your very own $10 gift card to Stop & Shop!

Here is how you can enter:

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  Visit the Stop & Shop website and look through the current circular.
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  Leave me a comment and tell me how much money you think you could save shopping at Stop & Shop.
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  Be sure to leave me your contact information, or make sure I can easily find it in your profile.

You can earn extra entries by:

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  Following my blog. Be sure to leave me a separate comment.
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  Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the link.
• 
  
  Post on your own blog about this promotion and link back to me. Again, please leave me a separate comment.

This giveaway is open to residents of the United States only. I will accept comments/entries through 11:59 pm (EDT), Thursday, September 10, 2009. The winner of the gift certificate will be randomly drawn from all qualified entries and announced/notified Friday, September 11. The winner will have 48 hours to send me full contact information. After 48 hours, I will select an alternate winner.

*Disclaimer - MyBlogSpark and General Mills provided me with my own $10 gift certificate for blogging about this promotion, and will provide the winner with a $10 gift certificate. The opinions expressed, however, are entirely my own. I am a regular shopper at Stop & Shop, and do participate in their My Stop & Shop program.

1781 Battle of Petersburg

I love it when history comes to life!

We recently had the opportunity to attend the 17th Annual Commemorative Reenactment of the 1781 Battle of Petersburg at Battersea. The old homestead site was the location of a Revolutionary War battle. Here is a picture of the homestead, which I understand was occupied until 1980. It is currently owned by the City of Petersburg, Virginia, and there are plans to restore it to its early 19th century appearance, although the house was built in the early 18th century.



One of the first exhibits we were able to see was this beautiful horse. He is a quarter horse, and a fine example of the kind of horses bred in Virginia to support the Colonial troops. This particular horse was quite gentle and enjoyed nuzzling with Princess E.



We toured the American and British Camps of soldiers preparing for battle. In the marketplace, Sutler Village, we visited families, sampled kettle corn, visited with a period doctor, watched a woodcarver and visited with a Windsor chair maker.

In the orangery, Princess E had the opportunity to visit with a proper period gentlelady, who showed her how to partake of tea. She learned, quickly, that holding a handleless teacup is not as easy as it appears, especially when the contents are hot!

Out on the front lawn were a number of activities. Princess E learned about children's pasttimes from the era. She played ring toss and practiced the rolling hoop. We also attended a performance by Signora Bella, who provided family entertainment in the form of Colonial-era Acrobatics.



We had quite the adventure! And, guess what? It was a free event! That makes it even better. We'll be back next year.

Spring Hill Suites, Manchester, NH

We had made reservations at the Spring Hill Suites in Manchester, New Hampshire, almost adjacent to the airport. Not having stayed at a Spring Hill Suites before, I was not quite certain what to expect. Their suite was priced LOWER than a comparable hotel room. The pictures on their website indicated it would be roomier and have more amenities than our typical hotel room. The question was, would we be satisfied upon arrival.

At the front desk, we were greeted cordially. Everything was in order, and our room keys were programmed. One of the features I expect, and occasionally have to request, is that the front desk personnel not announce my room number. Here, I did not have to make the request. She simply wrote the information on the inside flap of my key holder and handed it to me.

I stepped back to the car to unload our baggage. We had just a few items, so a luggage cart was unnecessary. Imagine our surprise when, upon our return to the front door, we found the same woman holding the door for us. She had opened the interior door as well. It was a little thing, but it was a courtesy not often found, and greatly appreciated.

When I opened the door to our suite, I was pleased with what I found. Our suite included a partial divider, to separate the sleeping area from the rest of the suite.

In the main area was a kitchenette, complete with a chilled refrigerator and a small microwave. It was furnished with a small selection of disposable plates and flatware. Some might prefer traditional dishes, but for our family, the disposable was an additional convenience. Also in the main area was the sitting/dining/office area. It was large enough to hold an oversized loveseat, an arm chair, a table/desk, a coffee table and an end table. The layout was functional and not crowded.

In the sleeping area were two double beds, as expected. There was also a small closet, with enough hangers to handle all of the hanging clothes for our four night stay, including coats. There were two small chests of drawers, which doubled as TV stands. The two TVs were a pleasant surprise, and allowed us the convenience of kid shows separate from parent shows.

The bathroom was off the sleeping area. The only downside to the suite was that the sink area was outside the bath/toilet area. For many families, this is preferred. For our family, this is not. The drawback to the arrangement is that you must turn a door handle to exit before washing your hands after using the toilet. However, a benefit to it is that one person can be in the shower while someone else is taking care of teeth and hair.

I am very picky about cleanliness in a hotel room. I always walk through and check for reasonable cleanliness before settling in. Much to my delight, I found NO problems. No mildew in the bathroom, and no stray hairs either. The microwave and refrigerator were spotless. Other than a few scratches from wear and tear, there was no visible damage anywhere in the room. The paint appeared to be fresh, and the carpet showed no significant wear. The locks worked properly, too.

The complimentary breakfast was more substantial than some. The offerings included freshly made Belgian waffles, eggs, sausage patties, a variety of breads and cereals, a crock of oatmeal with several toppings, fruit juices and milk. Coffee, tea and cocoa were available 24 hours a day, and we consistently found them to be fresh and hot.

We plan to return to this facility on our next visit to the Manchester area.

Stonyfield Farm, Londonderry, NH

We decided to go check out Stonyfield Farm, to check out their organic dairy process. It was an exciting visit. They normally offer tours, but on the day we visited, plant tours were stopped during construction. We still had a great time in the Visitors’ Center.

On arrival, we walked around to see just what they had to offer. There were many indications this would be a moooooving experience. There were cold cases filled with product for sale, including their milks, yogurts, and ice creams. We were invited to sit at a table where there were games for the kids, an activity booklet, and an educational video. The video was quite interesting to the adults, and probably geared more toward the middle- and high-school crowd.

While we were at the table, the attendant brought out a tray of full-size products to sample. We knew they offered samples; but we were expecting tasting spoon sized samples. The King had discovered a yogurt flavor in the sale case that he wanted to try and they welcomed him to try any flavor in there. Between us, we sampled their yogurts, smoothies, baby smoothies, kids yogurt cups, kids yogurt tubes, and soy yogurt. We barely touched the offerings they provided. Our tummies thanked us for the delicious goodness.

Before we left, we picked out an additional sampling of the items that appealed. We had to limit our purchases somewhat, since we needed to eat them prior to our return home four days later.

It was a great visit, with fun, educational activities for babies to seniors. One day, I hope to return for the full tour.

Unfortunately, my camera card seems to have fried, and I cannot upload the pictures. Once they become available, I will add them to the post.