There are all kinds of cool Halloween events for kids around Los Angeles at the moment, and thanks to my job for Mommy Nearest we’ve gotten the chance to check a number of them out. This weekend was especially busy, with two big things going on.
On Saturday we hit up Knott’s Spooky Farm, where the kids got to wear costumes. Annabel was very excited about this and requested to wear her Supergirl costume.
I’ve been working on boosting James’ dress-up clothes, so I was happy to buy him a Superman costume that matched Annabel’s. Except James haaaaaaaaated it. The built-in muscles annoyed him. I have the same problem, but with my real muscles (I’m so ripped).
He also hated Charlie Brown, apparently.
We also learned that James DOES NOT LIKE IT when Annabel gets to go on rides he is too small for.
Happy child!
Sad child.
After that, the hunt was on to find rides James could also go on.
When we weren’t on rides, or in line for rides, or standing near rides screaming, we did some of the special Halloween stuff. Knott’s had trick-or-treating stations:
…and spooky people throughout the park:
Plus lots of “spooky” things that were not even a little bit scary, like walks through pumpkin patches and giant jack o’lanterns.
The next morning, we woke up and headed for “Boo at the Zoo” at the LA Zoo and Botanical Garden. It had rained all night and for most of the morning, which put a damper on some of the Halloween festivities, but it made the zoo cool and practically deserted. I actually got to wear a jacket! And I enjoyed it, especially since I know it will be back to 90 degrees by Friday.
The kids loved running through the (very wet) hay maze:
They also had fun with some of the creepy, crawly stuff:
And this “haunted” room:
We were blown away by the pumpkin carving station, where these three pumpkins illustrated all the things my children love:
My favorite was the “face” station, where James had a caricature drawn while Annabel got her face painted.
The results were pretty good!
We had a great time at both events but hitting two in one weekend made for an exhausting couple days, especially when nothing tires your kids out! Mike and I would be like, “Hey, now that we’re home, let’s all take a big nap on the couch!” And they were like, “LOL no.” I really need to teach my kids how glorious naps are.
RzDrms says:
I haven’t been able to read your posts on my iPhone for the last few days since the page is too big for my screen and won’t resize. Did something change, such as with the ads?
Heather says:
Nope, not a thing. I’m even responding to you in my own iPhone! Have you updated/not updated your software lately?
RzDrms says:
I emailed you back with a screenshot. I can write comments from my iPhone; I just can’t read the blogpost words on the page because I can’t see them all and can’t “pull” the screen inward to make the page smaller like one can on other pages.
Anna says:
Happens to on my iphone too!
RzDrms says:
I know, it’s crazy. Just started for me about a week ago.
VT says:
The same thing is happening for me! My phone is up to date, but maybe that could be the problem…
Heather says:
Weird…our phones are also up to date and we can’t replicate this to find the bug!
Glenda says:
That sounds like an exhausting but so much fun weekend! Love the picture of all of you in the haunted house and love Annie’s face paint and James caricature. Fun, fun!
Debbie B. says:
What a fun weekend! Your kids are the cutest. I love the way James looks standing in front of the big pumpkins. How did you get him to sit still long enough for the caricature. Also, I hope I’m not out of line – but did you have his little strawberry birth marks removed?
Heather says:
It helped that he was strapped into his stroller for the caricature, but I also let him look at a video on my phone. And no, we didn’t get them removed! Hemangiomas usually resolved themselves by age three. He still has raised skin in the spot, and it’s slightly pink, but they have mostly gone away!
Annalisa says:
I have the same costume problem with my toddler. Amusingly enough, he has zero problem wearing his sister’s dress up costumes, so you might have something there about the fake muscles.
He does, however, love his Batman PJs (they even have their own little cape), so I’m pondering getting him a new pair of those by Halloween as a back up in case there is no getting him in a real costume (last year he got so upset about being in a costume, he threw up on it, the big goober).
Jordan says:
Annie’s Kindergarten sweatshirt gives me life.
Looks like fun was had by all- love the caricature!
Tami says:
Love, Love the pictures.. I love James Face drawing and Annies face panting just so cute.. Now the snake picture creeped me out!! Brave kids you have.LOL