Once Upon A Halloween

Rustic park with old-school, vintage style trains and a train station... add in zombies, ghouls, haunted houses, Michael Jackson, and screaming kiddies dressed in all kinds of princesses, heros, and everything in between.. makes for one great event!

We discovered this place and this specific Halloween event last year, which was a blast. So obviously, we had to go again this year especially since the kiddies know all the 411 about Halloween now.

The Halloween train ride is conducted by a zombie conductor and other train station attendants dressed in the 1800s Western/Progressive/Victorian Era. Last year, we arrived after the sun was down, and rode the train in the dark where there was a spotlighted, live "show" of aliens versus cowboys mid-ride. This year, to beat the crowds, we arrived early and rode the train with daylight still present.

It's a different experience and I enjoy both. The dark makes it more spooky, but the dusk light allows for more visibility for the overall scene.

See our zombie conductor?

Our train attracted some zombies and ghouls..

The kids definitely do soak in the whole scene, but they are not newbies to Halloween anymore. I remind them that the costumes, the scare factor, are all make-believe and for fun.

A beautiful silhouette of a wooden, rustic looking windwill in the park.

And looky at what we came across?!! It's the Ghostbuster mobile! I checked out the inside display in which the car had an old-school electronic circuit board with ginormous electrical components (ancient compared to modern day devices), low voltage power supplies, and a low frequency analog oscilloscope built very reminiscent of early Hewlett-Packard instruments (aka Agilent, aka Keysight). The Oscope was displaying a slow drifting sinusoidal and inverted sine wave.

The kids played a few of the carnival style games and won some candy. Then we sat down and waited for the showing of zombies and ghouls dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller".

All the activity made us hungry, and we stopped by a quaint, rustic-styled restaurant, keeping in charm with the park, which is located right next to the event area.

The kids enjoyed the decor and the coloring!

Liam's Birthday

Liam's 3rd birthday was spent hanging out with grandma - running around, exploring, laughing, and getting lots of love and attention. It was a simple day of fun.

We went to to a local pumpkin patch and since it was a weekday and early, it was nice and empty! Liam ran around and checked out the pumpkins, haystacks, and decorations. The emptiness of the place was great. It gave him lots of room to run around and chase the birds and for us to chase after him. =)

There were animals for Liam to check out.. ducks, chickens, pigs, goats, emus, peacocks and an impressively fluffed up turkey to look at.

Went for a tractor hayride which Liam enjoyed sitting with grandma.

After the pumpkin patch, we went for lunch and then to a local pond/park. There we checked out the ducks and geese and turtles.

Of course, there was more running and jumping involved. We ran around the lake 2x for ~0.5 miles. Not bad for a little guy. He could have continued, but grandma and I were done. =)

Back home for some remainder birthday cake from his birthday party...

It was a great day spent with Liam and grandma. Days like these are the best. Nothing fancy or distracting.. just simple fun and laughter time.

I Like My Hamster Wheel

A perk about being a lab rat is that I get to work in my hamster wheel. =P

Liam's 3rd Halloween-Themed Birthday Party

Liam's turning 3! And with him being such a big boy now, I decided it is finally time for him to have a real big-hoopla birthday party with the works.. friends, party planning, cake, and memorable fun. About a month ago, Liam started "trick or treating" every night when he cleaned up his toys. He would pick up the toys, put them in a carry basket, and come over and say "trick or treat". I would then pretend to give him a treat. This nightly ritual for the past month, led to Liam's 3rd birthday party set to a Halloween theme.

Liam's Halloween costume is... a racecar driver!

My brain operated in two modes the past month of September. It was either thinking about work issues or brainstorming birthday planning. I took influences from recent events, even TV shows, to come up with the idea of a "Scavenger Trick And Treat Hunt" around the yard. At 3 years old, chances are that Liam may not remember details of the birthday party, but I wanted to approach the planning so that he has a greater possibility of remembering the fun. And so the pumpkin scavenger hunt combined a challenge at each pumpkin station which was doable for a 3-5 year old, but may require the help and support of the adults. When the kid completed the challenge, they get to pick a treat out of a jack-o-latern basket. Some of the pumpkin stations also required team work.

Scavenger Trick And Treat Hunt - Pumpkin Stations
1. Decorate Trick Or Treat Bag
2. Go Fish
3. Bean bag Toss/Cornhole
4. Cylinder/Block Log Hop
5. Bike Tire Hop
6. Driveway Sprint
7. Build a Tower Bridge
8. Bear Bear Mummy Wrap
9. Crawl Maze
10. Decorate Your Pumpkin

1. The party started with the kids decorating their trick'o'treat bag with Halloween stickers and marker/crayon artworks. Once all the kids had arrived and bags decorated, we went on to the next "Pumpkin Station".

Ryan and our neighbor, Mike, teamed up to lead the kids to find the pumpkin stations. Mike was "The Map" while Ryan assisted the kids in the activity at hand. Other parents helped out by being cheerleaders or handing out the treats afterwards. All in all, the scavenger hunt was great for the kids. They had a challenge to conquer. They had support and cheering section. They watched the other kids go through the same thing. And they all received a prize.

2. Ryan helping to set up the fishing pole at the Fishing hole station. Kids used a fishing pole to hook rubber duckies.

3. Bean Bag Toss

4. Cylinder and Block Hops --> Stole this idea from the Spartan Race where one had to balance and hop across logs. Obviously made this easier for the kids. Ryan would help and hold one hand if needed. There was a great cheering section on this challenge. Some of the kids started off unsure, but then would give it a try after seeing a few kids complete it. The cheering from the parents made it even better.

5. Tire Jumps --> Tires lined up a row where the kids have to jump (or step-through) the tire path.

6. Driveway Sprint

7. Build A Tower Bridge --> I took out a bunch of empty boxes, drew an example diagram, and the kids had to work together to build a tower bridge out of the boxes. When the bridge was done, they would each crawl through to the other side and received a treat.

8. Mummy Wrap Bear Bear --> We hung a teddy bear from the railing of the balcony, so that the kids would help give Bear Bear a Halloween costume. Each kid had a streamer or two which they were suppose to work together to wrap up Bear Bears head, arms, legs, and tummy to create a mummified Bear Bear.

9. Crawl Maze --> Took this idea from the Spartan Race barb wire crawl as well as the latest episode of "Agents of Shield" where the agents had to infiltrate an area protected by a laser grid. We kept it simple for the kids and used streamers. =)

The crawl maze was one of the favorites among the kiddies. Some even went back to do it several times. The maze ended at an area with a narrow section where they get a treat from the jack-o-latern.

Liam getting a treat from the jack-o-latern.

Emilia's Halloween costume this year is Rapunzel!

Em playing around with one of her besties.

Thing1 is suppose to be supervising the kiddies.

Liam's homemade vegan birthday cake! Thanks to Amparo for a great recipe for a good taste and texture cake. My implementation of the recipe could have been better and now I know, coconut oil is finicky to work with, especially in warmer temperatures.

(Photo-bombed by Liam's cutie classmate, JuJu!)

Along with the Halloween theme, I planned out the food trying to make it adult and kid-friendly, healthy, and Halloween-ish.

(photo curtesy of google..)

Food:
Snacks -
1. bowl of pepitas and cranberries
2. peeled cuties w/celery stick on top (like a mini-pumpkin)
3. half bananas with chocolate chips for eyes/mouth (ghost)
4. String cheese broomsticks - chives & pretzel sticks
5. cucumbers or crackers w/ cream cheese & olive spiders
6. Jack-O-Latern Veggie Tray - Carrots and broccoli w/ yogurt dip
7. strawberry mice --> pepitas as ears, carrot noodles as tail, chocolate frosting as eyes
8. Octopus hummus dip

(photo curtesy of google..)

(photo curtesy of google..)

Adults Lunch-
1. Trader Joes Harvest blend salad w/pumpkin croutons
2. 8lbs Center Cut Tenderloin Roast

(photo curtesy of google..)

Kids Lunch-
1. mac and cheese
2. hot dog mummy wraps (crescent rolls)

(photo curtesy of google..)

Dessert
1. Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
2. Liam's Vegan Chocolate Cake

I did over plan too many details of this party that it was extremely stressful to execute. Next time around, best to skip out on the food decor. Thanks to grandma, though, for helping with food prep and ensuring a great memorable party for the kiddies!