We hope you’re enjoying this weather as much as we were. It really makes us long for the cooler weather, sweaters and cute boots!
The libraries continue to be a great source of fun each week, with storytimes, movies and sing a longs. There will even be a Balloon Bonanza at Hoover Public Library!
Next weekend check out Red Panda Day at the Birmingham Zoo, Barts Art Cart at the Birmingham Museum of Art or the St George Middle Eastern Food Fair.
Have a great week!
It’s Not Our Fault if Your Kids are Bored!
Sunday September 15th
Fiesta de La Independencia – Splash Adventure
Enjoy all of the rides, slides and attractions the park has to offer. Admission is only $50 per car load (up to 6 people). Purchase tickets at the park on the day of the event. This festival is a collaboration between Splash Adventure Waterpark & Hola Latino.
Admission is only $50 per car load (up to 6 people). Purchase tickets at the park on the day of the event.
11:30am – 6pm
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Monday September 16th:
Monday Movie – Homewood Public Library
Join us for hot popcorn and a cool movie.
3:30pm
Tot Time with Ms Eve – Avondale Library
Storytime for 2-4-year-olds with a caregiver. Includes stories, songs, and craft. 24-hour advance registration required.
10:30am
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Tuesday September 17th:
Balloon Bonanza – Hoover Public Library
Bring your whole family for a round of stories accompanied by the magic of balloon art. All ages.
6:30pm
Family Tours – Birmingham Museum of Art
FREE // Meet in the Main Lobby
Join us for an in-gallery family experience! Children aged 3 – 8 and their adult companions are invited to join Museum educators to explore our collection, discover activities that make looking at art fun and exciting, and create new family memories about art.
No reservations required. Family Tours are also available by appointment for groups of 10 or more children aged 3 – 8. For more information or to schedule a tour, call 205.254.2964.
10:30am
Storytime for All Ages – Homewood Public Library
10:30am
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Wednesday September 18th:
After School Sing A Long – Emmet O’ Neal Library
AFTER-SCHOOL SPECIAL: SING-ALONG WITH JIM AYCOCK
Bring your best singing voice and get ready to croon -and laugh- with guitarist Jim Aycock. Ages 3 and up. No registration required.
3:30pm
Storytime – Homewood Public Library
All Ages
10:30am
Family Story Time with Mr Mac – North Shelby Library
Storyteller Extraordinaire – Come join Mr Mac and his musical storytime complete with puppets! All Ages, no registration required.
10:45am
Storytime – Barnes and Noble Summit
George is a good monkey, but he’s always curious. Come find out what mess George lands himself into today.
11am
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Thursday September 19th:
Preschool Party, Llama Drama – Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest
Come meet the Llama from the popular picture book series by Anna Dewdney and watch the story “Llama, Llama, Mad At Mama” acted out, then decorate your own pair of red pajamas! Ages 5 and under. Please call to register or visit the website to sign up
10:30am
Talk Like a Pirate Day – Homewood Public Library
We shall sing and talk and party like PIRATES!
No registration required. Costumes optional. Doors open at 6:15.
St George Middle Eastern Food Fair – St. George Melkite Greek Catholic Church
It’s that time of year again to enjoy fantastic Middle Eastern Food and genuine hospitality at the Saint George Middle Eastern Food Festival.
The parish community combines its talents to prepare foods including kibbee, filafel sandwiches, meat and spinach pies, rolled grape leaves and much more. St. George’s “almost a mile long” sweets table boasts favorite homemade confections such as baklawa and Zalabieh, a flavorful fried doughnut.
Cultural booths with vendors such as Nabeels Imported Foods and Seraphim’s bookstore will feature Byzantine arts and literature, handcrafted olive wood from the Holy Land and exotic ingredients and spices used in Middle Eastern cooking.
Visitors will be entertained by Amin and the Sultans Band from New York and the parish’s own folk dancers on Friday and Saturday evenings. Tours of the beautiful Byzantine Church will be conducted during hours of operation.
10:30am – 9pm
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Friday September 20th:
St George Middle Eastern Food Fair – St. George Melkite Greek Catholic Church
It’s that time of year again to enjoy fantastic Middle Eastern Food and genuine hospitality at the Saint George Middle Eastern Food Festival.
The parish community combines its talents to prepare foods including kibbee, filafel sandwiches, meat and spinach pies, rolled grape leaves and much more. St. George’s “almost a mile long” sweets table boasts favorite homemade confections such as baklawa and Zalabieh, a flavorful fried doughnut.
Cultural booths with vendors such as Nabeels Imported Foods and Seraphim’s bookstore will feature Byzantine arts and literature, handcrafted olive wood from the Holy Land and exotic ingredients and spices used in Middle Eastern cooking.
Visitors will be entertained by Amin and the Sultans Band from New York and the parish’s own folk dancers on Friday and Saturday evenings. Tours of the beautiful Byzantine Church will be conducted during hours of operation.
10:30am – 9pm
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Saturday September 21st:
International Red Panda Day – Birmingham Zoo
Join the Zoo in celebrating International Red Panda Day! On May 30, 2013, the Zoo proudly welcomed the United States’ first set of red panda cubs for the year 2013. With an estimated population of fewer than 10,000 adult red pandas left in the world due to a loss of habitat, this birth marked a significant conservation milestone in saving this vulnerable species. Throughout Red Panda Day, guests can raise awareness for red pandas by participating in the Red Panda Games, where they will become a red panda ranger and learn how these unique animals survive in the wild. Don’t miss a chance to see the red panda cubs on a video monitor in the Predator Building, and be sure to explore the Zoo to spot other animals that share the red panda’s habitat.
Kids are also encouraged to bring their colored red pandas with them to Red Panda Day, where they will be displayed in the Predator Building. To download a coloring sheet, please click here.
International Red Panda Day Schedule of Activities:
12-3pm: Face painting
1:30-2:30pm: Keeper chat
1-2pm: Red panda fruit enrichment activity
3pm: Raffle for a chance to win a red panda plush and red panda cub framed picture
Skippyjon Jones Festival – Hoover Public Library
Join Skippyjon and friends for a fiesta full of stories, crafts and food. All ages.
10:30am
St George Middle Eastern Food Fair – St. George Melkite Greek Catholic Church
It’s that time of year again to enjoy fantastic Middle Eastern Food and genuine hospitality at the Saint George Middle Eastern Food Festival.
The parish community combines its talents to prepare foods including kibbee, filafel sandwiches, meat and spinach pies, rolled grape leaves and much more. St. George’s “almost a mile long” sweets table boasts favorite homemade confections such as baklawa and Zalabieh, a flavorful fried doughnut.
Cultural booths with vendors such as Nabeels Imported Foods and Seraphim’s bookstore will feature Byzantine arts and literature, handcrafted olive wood from the Holy Land and exotic ingredients and spices used in Middle Eastern cooking.
Visitors will be entertained by Amin and the Sultans Band from New York and the parish’s own folk dancers on Friday and Saturday evenings. Tours of the beautiful Byzantine Church will be conducted during hours of operation.
10:30am – 9pm
Animal Adaptions – Oak Mountain
In order for animals to survive, they must adapt to the conditions around them. As many are preparing for winter, learn what some of them do. We will meet at the entrance to the Petting Farm.
10am
Leeds Fall Festival – Leeds Historic Downtown
You’ll find fun for the whole family at the Leeds Fall Festival and John Henry Celebration. The event will feature local food vendors, a juried art show and sale, live musical entertainment, special activities for children and a car show. The festival will celebrate the life of John Henry, steel drivin’ man and local legend, with three outdoor performances of “Listen to that Cold Steel Ring.”
9 am to 9 pm
Admission and parking are free. www.leedsfolkfestival.org.
Bart’s Art Cart – Birmingham Museum of Art
This drop-in art program for kids and families features a different theme from our galleries and art activity each month. Stop by to make art with Bart! Button Blankets
11am
Bart’s Books – Birmingham Museum of Art
Bart’s Books is a storytelling program for children ages 4-7. Bart selects a new book and related work of art each month that he thinks kids will enjoy.
This month, Bart has chosen I’m in Charge of Celebrations by Byrd Baylor.
11am
Family Storytime – Emmet O’Neal Library
Bring the entire family and join Mr. Mac for stories and music each Saturday morning.
10:30 a.m.
Storytime Barnes and Noble Summit
Celebrate the joy of reading with Curious George. Curiosity Day features Storytime, activities and treats.
11am
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Sunday September 22nd:
Leeds Fall Festival – Leeds Historic Downtown
You’ll find fun for the whole family at the Leeds Fall Festival and John Henry Celebration. The event will feature local food vendors, a juried art show and sale, live musical entertainment, special activities for children and a car show. The festival will celebrate the life of John Henry, steel drivin’ man and local legend, with three outdoor performances of “Listen to that Cold Steel Ring.”
Noon to 5 pm
Admission and parking are free. www.leedsfolkfestival.org.
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Local Attractions Open Daily!
McWane Science Center:
IMAX
McWane Science Center’s IMAX® Dome Theater puts you in the center of the action by projecting breathtaking quality images onto the 5-story-tall dome screen and delivering intense surround sound through almost 3 tons of speakers and subwoofers.
Now Showing: Flight of the Butterflies, Titians of the Ice Age
Unearthing Alabama’s Ice Age – through December 31st, 2013
McWane Science Center is home to Alabama’s second largest natural history collection. Made up of over 500,000 specimens and objects pertaining to the natural history of the state, this important collection focuses on the preservation, education, and research of Alabama’s rich biodiversity and paleobiodiversity. One of the more significant subsets of the collection is Alabama’s largest collection of Late Pleistocene faunal remains – or Ice Age fossils.
Made up of nearly 10,000 cataloged specimens, the McWSC Pleistocene collection contains a unique diversity of fauna that not only includes those native to North America, but migrants to the state from both South America and the Old World. This collection includes mammals, both extant and extinct, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fishes, and botanical remains collected from both cave and stream localities in the state. Extinct mammals represented in the McWSC collection include mammoths, mastodons, giant beavers, saber-toothed cats, giant armadillos, tapirs, peccaries, and giant ground sloths.
This spring, visitors will have an opportunity to view some of the fossils in the collection with a new exhibit titled — “Unearthing Alabama’s Ice Age.” This exhibit will not only highlight many of the Ice Age animals from the McWane Science Center Collection, but will highlight and dispel many of the common misconceptions surrounding the Ice Age in the state. The goal is for visitors to have a better understanding and appreciation for this time in Alabama. For example, guests might learn that Alabama was on average only five degrees colder than today, glaciers did not reach farther south than southern Illinois or that all the Ice Age animals did not go extinct at the end of the Ice Age. While the largest animals, such as mastodons, giant ground sloths, and saber-tooth cats died out, nearly all the animals that are living in Alabama today were also around in the Ice Age.
The Unearthing Alabama’s Ice Age Alabama display is located in the City Gallery on Level 2 of the museum. It is included in the cost of admission to the museum and free to members.
Birmingham Zoo:
Lorikeet Aviary – Our Lorikeet Aviary has more birds than ever! Zoo guests can feed these exotic birds every day. You and your family will see these birds’ behavior as they eat nectar out of your hand.
Weekends 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
PELICAN FEEDING – A great way to see our pelicans in action is to witness them eating their favorite treats near the pelican boardwalk.
RHINO ENCOUNTER – Embark on an African adventure and experience one of the world’s most extraordinary animals, the Southern White Rhino. Watch from only feet away as our zookeepers engage in hands-on interaction with the animals inside their African-themed exhibit. Don’t miss this exciting encounter with one of the largest mammals on the planet!
Weekdays: 3pm – 3:30pm
Weekends: 11:30am – Noon & 3pm – 3:30 pm
GIRAFFE FEEDING – This up close and personal animal encounter is a memory you and your family will have for a lifetime.
Weekday: 11am – Noon
Weekends: 10am – 11am & 2pm – 3pm
Vulcan Park and Museum:
Vulcan is the world’s largest cast iron statue; made of 100,000 pounds of iron and 56 feet tall, he stands at the top of Red Mountain overlooking the city of Birmingham. But, Vulcan is more than a statue. Vulcan Park and Museum features spectacular views of Birmingham, an interactive history museum that examines Vulcan and Birmingham’s story, and a beautiful public park for visitors and locals to enjoy. With an official information center that is operated by the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau, Vulcan Park and Museum serves as the first stop for visitors to the Birmingham area!
Railroad Park:
Railroad Park is a 19 acre green space in downtown Birmingham that celebrates the industrial and artistic heritage of our great city. Situated along 1st Avenue South, between 14th and 18th Streets, the park is a joint effort between the City of Birmingham and the Railroad Park Foundation. Hailed as “Birmingham’s Living Room,” Railroad Park provides a historically rich venue for local recreation, family activities, concerts, and cultural events, while connecting Birmingham’s downtown area with Southside and UAB’s campus.
Southern Museum of Flight:
Earn Your Wings – Bring your little pilot and soar above the clouds in our little pilots room. Kids enjoy building aircrafts, flying kites, and more.
Museum Open Tuesday – Thursday
9:30am – 4:30pm
Do you have or know of an event you would like to have added to our weekly calendar? Please email us at contact@birminghammommy.com, subject line “Events Calendar” – We would love to hear from you!
** All information listed on our calendar is subject to change without notice to us or you… We do our best to keep the information accurate and will always update as soon as we learn that something has changed. It’s always best to double check with the event via their website or a quick call, especially when weather can impact the event.
