They Grew'pon me

Sorry, that's probably my worst post title ever.

On Tuesday, I took the local grandkids and their mothers on a Social Coupon Day Out.

It's my new invention.

For the uninitiated, social coupons are purchased from sites such as Groupon and Living Social. You sign up for their daily emails and they bombard you with good deals. 

What's not to like?

There are a few drawbacks. 

Por exemplo, I am signed up with four different companies and have coupons waiting to be used on three of them. They do have expiration dates, so if you don't have nerves of steel, this lifestyle may not be for you!

On the other hand, if you're willing to put the effort into keeping track of it all, you can have a whole lot of fun on not much money.

The outing to Masterpiece Art Studio  was a Groupon adventure. I saved half the cost of the projects, so the afternoon cost me a little over $30. 

Now, back to Tuesday.

We began the day with a visit to Pump It Up in Beaverton. I bought two Groupons for $10 each, which got six kids into the bounce house and two free passes back for another visit. 

The Osborne progeny totally ruled the gigantic slides.

Oh, and, um, the black skirted person sitting at the top of the slide with her heart in her mouth?

That would be moi.

In Kenzie's sweaty pink socks.

And yes, I did go down.

And gave myself an elbow burn.

Some day, I will learn.

After about an hour, the troops declared themselves to be hungry, so we traipsed outside to look for a suitable lunch venue.

Behold! Right across the parking lot was a stream and a waterfall and lush green grass and benches to sit upon. We thought it was made just for us!

Why do little boys always have to sit as close to the water as they possibly can?

We ate quickly and ran back inside the bounce house, where we stayed until we were about to get ousted in favour of a couple of busloads of kids from Kindercare.

Next on the menu, a short drive to the mall and Maggie Moo's.

I had purchased four Living Social coupons at $5 each. Each one was good for $10 worth of ice cream. We used three of them, so $15 for ice cream for nine people.

And it was yum!

Natalie, with her electric-blue-cotton-candy-waffle-cone-with-rainbow-sprinkles.

Josh and his dairy-free vanilla with rainbow sprinkles.

What, you thought I was going to do the multi-coloured thing again?

He relished every bite.

My Udderly Cream and Chocolate with Heath bits mixed in.

Mmmm.

Next up was another visit to our friends with the miniature horses. Go here to read about their mission.

I love crazy horse portraits.

Daniel decided to be brave and walk one of the horses.

Marv hitched up the wagon and Michael drove the kidlets around the arena.

I have an unreasonable love for this photo.

I donated a little money to their feed bill, but other than that, this part of the day was free.

Total cost for about six hours of fun for nine people: $50.

And then, On Friday night, Jeff and I had a Groupon date.

Lucky for you, I forgot my camera!

First, two Quizno's regular sandwiches: $6.

I adore their chicken carbonara. If I was on death row, I would choose it for my last meal.

Next, the last Maggie Moo's coupon: $5.

Memo to self: $10 is too much ice cream for two people.

Last of all, Cowboys and Aliens with a Living Social Fandango code: $9.

Memo to self: next time we go to the movies it will be to one of my choice. I'm tired of gruesome, intense cowboy movies.

Total cost for our big date: $20.

Here are links to my favourite social coupon sites.

Groupon.

Living Social.

Travelzoo Local deals.

Sharing Spree

And here are a couple that have been recommended to me but I haven't tried them yet.

Dealery.

Plum District.

So go!

Have some fun.