Super League Gaming: First In-Theater Gaming League {Ticket Giveaway}

Gaming has just been taken to a whole new level!  Super League Gaming, is the world’s first in-theater video game league for kids.  Super League Gaming allows online gamers to meet in movie theaters to play the world’s most popular video game — Minecraft.  Meeting other kids with the same love and enthusiasm for Minecraft makes this awesome gaming experience as well as a social experience, and seriously, who wouldn't want to play video games on a huge movie theater screen.

Starting this month, Super League Gaming is hitting multiple Chicagoland movie theaters to bring together child gamers. All games will be from 4pm-5:40pm and tickets cost $20 to attend. 

Just announced today:  Super League Gaming would like to honor our Military families with 2 FREE tickets for your young gamers to play MINECRAFT INSIDE A MOVIE THEATER at AMC River East 21. 100 minutes of social gaming and creative building. Tuesday, July 28th. 4pm-540pm. To get your tickets, email SpecialEvents@diaryofasahm.com, with "Military Minecraft" in the subject line. ****LIMITED FREE TICKETS AVAILABLE. MUST BRING FULLY CHARGED LAPTOP WITH MINECRAFT 1.8 or above installed.****

WHERE:

July 27  Chicago    Country Club Hills   AMC Country Club 16

July 27  Chicago    Evanston                   Cinemark Evanston 18

July 27  Chicago    South Barrington      iPic South Barrington

July 28  Chicago    Joliet                         Cinemark 14 

July 28  Chicago    Bollingbrook            iPic Bollingbrook

July 28  Chicago    Chicago                    AMC  River East 21

July 29  Chicago    Deerpark                  Cinemark Deer Park 16

July 29  Chicago    South Barrington     AMC  South Barrington 30 

July 29  Chicago    Lincolnshire            Regal Lincolnshire Stadium 21

TIME: 

4pm-5:35pm

WHAT: 

Come Play Minecraft in a Movie Theater, 

Along with the Big Screen!

*Prizes to top scorers

*Gamers bring their laptops, but we also have some for use.

*Parents can sit with their gamers for free.

GIVEAWAY

One of my lucky readers will win tickets to the Super League Gaming event of their choice!

All you have to do is follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below (This is a flash giveaway so enter now!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Subway Supporting Local Charities #YouShareWeShare #Rockford

When it comes to businesses and companies that I choose to support, I always lean towards the ones that give back to their community in some way. Everyone needs a helping hand at some point in their life and frankly, the world would be a much better place if we all did our part to help each other in some way.

Grabbing lunch is not usually what I think of when I think of helping a charity, but SUBWAY® Restaurants located in USA & Canada are joining forces with several charities to give back to their local communities. Starting now through August 31st, over than 7,800 local SUBWAY® Restaurants are participating in a campaign called “You Share. We Share.” which helps support different charities. My local Subway® is supporting the Rockford Rescue Mission in Rockford, IL. Rockford Rescue Mission is this area’s largest and longest operating assistance provider. They help the homeless, nearly homeless, addicted, and working poor with food, crisis and life recovery services. They also provide a community outreach program.

SUBWAY® is encouraging the community to share their weekends with Subway® Restaurants and their “You Share. We Share” campaign. SUBWAY® Restaurants in the Rockford area will share right back by donating a percentage of weekend sales, up to $10,000, directly to Rockford Rescue Mission. We know that most of these charities operate strictly on donations and this is a great way to support all that they do for our local residents. This is probably the easiest way to help a great cause, just go get some delicious lunch with your family or your friends and a portion of the proceeds will go directly to charity. It’s a win-win!

You can learn more about Rockford Rescue Mission by visiting their website HERE.

To find a SUBWAY® Restaurant near you, check out this store locator tool HERE

And to keep up with news and happenings, visit them on their facebook page at www.facebook.com/subway

Awesome Deal on Medieval Times Tickets

If you have not feasted at Medieval Times yet, now is your opportunity to save BIG!  This is THE place to go when you want more than just dinner and a show, you get a whole experience!  Right now Medieval Times is launching a LIMITED Time Offer of a family Four Pack for JUST $128!

Ticket Pack includes:

Four Admission Tickets

Four Course Feast Fit for a King.. or Queen!

Two rounds of Select Beverages

Two Hour Action Packed Show

And Parking is ALWAYS FREE!

Great for ANY occasion Medieval Times is the perfect place for Birthdays! this summer thru July 31st Medieval Times is hosting Knight Training- where kids can go down into the arena and train with the knights. Large Groups can arrange to play their Team Building Game called ‘Storm The Castle’—and of course Medieval Times is always the best place for families, with something for everyone- ages 3-93!

Secure Your Family's Future by Cord Blood Banking with LifebankUSA

Pregnancy is an exciting time for parents.  You plan and prepare, you want everything to be perfect when that little one arrives.  But beautiful nurseries and state of the art strollers are not the only thing that parents should be considering when it comes to a new baby.  There are other important things that should be considered when thinking of your child's, as well as your family's, future and well being.  We are so lucky to be living in a time when we are given a once in a lifetime opportunity to collect, process and preserve a baby's stem cells.  These stems cells can be stored for medical use in the future.  Choosing to bank your child’s cord blood with LifebankUSA can provide you with peace of mind and significant benefits for your baby and your family for many years to come.

If the idea of taking stem cells from your newborn sounds scary, know that it is quite the opposite. The process of collecting the cells from your baby's cord blood is easy and safe.  The whole procedure takes about five minutes and is done right after your baby's birth.  The cord blood is collected and packaged for shipment to a facility in New Jersey.  LifebankUSA now offers you the ability to bank your baby's placenta blood as well. Banking placenta blood in addition to cord blood gives you the ability to preserve significantly more of your baby’s stem cells.  These amazing little cells can be used to save the life of a close family member in the future.  When it comes to stem cells, more is better because studies show that that transplanting more cells significantly improves success and survival rates.

When you bank your placenta AND cord blood with LifebankUSA, you reserve 60-70% more CD34+ stem cells.  These are the cells that medical journals have reported as the most important for rebuilding diseased blood with healthy blood. 

Another huge leap in cord blood banking, which gives your family another layer of protection, is tissue banking.  If you need another reason to choose LifebankUSA, just know that they are the only cord blood bank processing material for FDA-approved clinical trials using stem cells from placental tissue. These stem cells are being used to treat patients with serious conditions, including Crohn’s disease and diabetic foot ulcers.  

LifebankUSA is proud to say that they achieve the the purest collection of cord blood stem cells through their unique red blood cell depletion process, resulting in over a 99% purity level.  Once the cells are collected and your collection kit arrives at LifebankUSA, until the time it gets stored at their state-of-the-art facility, their technicians process your baby’s stem cells using the latest technology in their highly-controlled and sterile lab.

What happens during the processing proceedure is the stem cells are separated and collected from the plasma.  Next, there are some tests done to determine the cell count, viability and the number of CD34+ stem cells. After processing , the specialists trasfer the cells to a transplant cartridge for preservation.  Here they cryopreserved in a vapor-phase liquid nitrogen storage tank at approximately -190°C. The taks and temperature is monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you are already aware of the benefits of banking your baby's cord blood with LifebankUSA, or are already a customer, remember to refer them to your friends and family members who are expecting a child.  With their Pass it On Program, as a special thank you from LifebankUSA, you’ll receive a free year of stem cell storage for each referral who signs up and banks with them.

When your family welcomes the addition of a new baby, consider something more valuable than the newest and greatest baby monitor, consider cord blood banking with LifebankUSA and feel at ease that your family's medical future is protected.

Awesome Discount on a HUGE 17ft. Trampoline!

Skywalker Trampolines 17 ft. Oval Trampoline with Safety Enclosure is only $398.83 on Amazon, regular price is $719.99. We just bought one of these and it is huge.  Keep in mind that only the BLUE one is available at this price.  Select 17ft. under size then the color blue for the clearance price.

Skywalker Trampolines 17 ft. Oval Trampoline with Safety Enclosure

Keep in mind that Amazon prices change frequently and without notice so if you are in the market for one of these babies I would act fast!

Chicagoland Summer of Fun: Medieval Times #Chicago #MedievalSummer

This summer has been a busy one for us, but we have not gone on any lavish family vacations.  This year we opted to not travel anywhere but still enjoy every second of our summer break, after all, Chicagoland has so much to offer.

If you are looking for a place that will give you a feast as well as an action packed show, look no further than Medieval Times in Schaumburg.  This is one of our favorite places to take the kids, the show is action packed and the food is delicious!

Our little man celebrated his birthday in style this year as an honorary king at Medieval Times.  If you are heading there for a show, make sure you get there early because you do not want to miss the King and his men walk through and make some very important announcements.  You can also walk over to the stable area and look at the beautiful horses that are part of the show.  Once your section is called to be seated its not long before the action begins.  The kids love waving their little flags and cheering on their knight.  During the feast the king and princess announce names of people and groups that are celebrating and Maddox had his birthday announced when we went, he felt really special.

Dinner is served in real Medieval fashion, without utensils!  The "Dragon Blood" soup is my favorite part.  The portions are big, just like a feast should be, and you get soup, the main course as well as desert.

The show itself is an amazing display of horsemanship, falconry, jousting, sword fighting and much more.  I can't imagine how much these knights have to practice to make it look so good.  Our knight was doing great and ended up winning the tournament, so of course little man was screaming with excitement.  That is another great part of dining at this castle, you can be loud and cheer the whole time and no one will shush you, they will actually encourage it.

Since we were celebrating Maddox's birthday, there had to be some cake!  Medieval Times offers a Celebration package which includes birthday (or other special day) announcements, cake, a souvenir photo, VIP seating and much more.

Check out this awesome deal that Medieval Times has going on right now, if you have ever wanted to go, this is your chance!

Disclosure:  I received complementary tickets to Medieval Times, all opinions are my own. #medievalsummer