Halloween Fun in Kelowna

I love Halloween.

Not because I love getting dressed up or because I can’t wait to sneak into the kids’ candy stashes after they go to bed (ok, well maybe a little).

What I love is that look in their eyes when they’re so excited to show off their costumes, see what their friends are wearing, practicing their awesome trick-or-treat chants, and just generally being giddy. I love when we return home from trick-or-treating and pour their haul out onto the floor to assess their treasures. I love the trading of candy, the planning out of how to enjoy their spoils, and those cute passed-out-with-a-lollypop-stuck-to-their-face moments (which result in the best photo-ops).

Oh, and don’t get me started on babies in Halloween costumes! Especially when they’re dressed like Anne Geddes poster-children. It’s truly heart-melting deliciousness. And probably causes baby fever for millions of women across the country.

Anyways, to get to my point, because I love Halloween so much, we always try to find fun activities to include in our schedule around this time. This year, we’ve already done the Corn Maze and visited Davison Orchards, but there are also a bunch of other Halloween must-dos, such as:

• The City of Kelowna Monster Bash at the CNC on October 27th from 1:00 – 4:00.
• Haunted Hall in East Kelowna (running nightly until Halloween).
• The YMCA Halloween Spooktacular at the Kelowna Y and the H20 on October 26th from 12:30 – 3:30 and 1;00 – 4:00.
• The EnergyPlex’s Halloween Party on October 30th from 6:30 – 8:30.
• Cupcasions’ Pump-Kids Cupcake Decorating Event on October 26th at various times.
• Family Daze at O’Keefe Ranch on October 26th and 27th from 11:00 – 4:00.
• The Halloween Haunt at the Little Travelers Safety Village on October 26th from 12:00 – 3:00

I’m hoping to make it to at least a couple of these with the kiddos. They’ll love it and we’ll get some extra mileage out of their costumes.

Plus, extra candy!

Oh, wait–I’m doing this in spite of the extra candy. Lord knows we don’t need any more of that. It’ll just mean three things:

1. Trying really, really hard not to pilfer through their candy after tuck-in time.

2. Trying to dissuade my husband from doing the same.

3. Enduring candy-overloaded children, who have enough energy to power a small planet without the candy. With the candy, it’s more like the squirrel from Over the Hedge.

Hopefully, I’ll have some fun stuff to report once we’ve taken in some of these events! Wish me (and my self control) some fun Halloweening!

A Visit to the Kelowna Corn Maze

So, my boys and I had a little date night last night, and I took them (well, baby slept the whole time) for frozen yogurt and a trip to the newest corn maze in town.

I was a little skeptical, since it looked a little like we were just driving up onto someone’s driveway, but once we saw that there were other cars and plenty of other visitors, it looked much more legit. My five-year-old loved the giant inflatables at the entrance and getting to lead the way through the labyrinth of corn stalks.

We went right before it got really dark, so it was before all of the maze was lit up with scary skeletons, ghosts, and the like. I was a little bummed that we were too early, but it turned out to be perfect timing. After looking at the scary stuff as we went through, I’m pretty sure the lit-up version would have been way too scary for my little guy. Plus, since we were there in twilight, it was dark enough for him to use his flashlight (a thrill for most kids) and it was still priced just three bucks (the night maze is five bucks).

He loved it and so did I. This is definitely a fun Kelowna Halloween activity that I would recommend. It’s just right if you’re visiting with little ones.

My tip–check out the time for the sun setting. That way you can time your visit perfectly.

Here’s a link to their website with prices and directions.

I love Halloween. Next weekend we’re going to check out the Gelatly Nut Farm Pumpkin Walk!

oh, the minions

We finally made the trip to Davison Orchards in Vernon to get some pumpkins and take in the sights, and it was a great time. It costs a little more than I remember, but it sure was fun.

The kids (ok, me) especially love the minions stashed along the wagon ride path. Oh, and the caramel apples were SO good.

My favourite part: it’s an amazing backdrop for some pretty fall family snapshots.

Oh, that and their Maple Pumpkin Butter. Dee-licious!

fun fall activities to fill the season

Fall is here, and slowly the weather is headed downhill (and by that, I mean I won’t be able to wear flip-flops soon). Keeping this in mind, I’m looking for things to do with baby during school hours, and the big kids during the afternoons and on the weekends. And, as I’ve mentioned before, I find it a little challenging to come up with activities that I can bring baby to.

Here’s what I’ve come up with during my brainstorming:

1. Check out the spawning salmon at Mission Creek (or if I’m feeling adventurous, drive to Peachland to visit Hardy Falls. So beautiful there.)
2. Pop into the library for babytime (bonus – I can pick up my next round of books!)
3. Go visit Davison Orchards to pick out a pumpkin, see the petting zoo, and have some apple cider.
4. Ride the hay ride at one of the local pumpkin patches (McMillan is our favourite in Kelowna – they have a pumpkin SLINGSHOT!), because you can never have enough pumpkins at Halloween.
5. Make a haunted gingerbread house (I buy the kit from Homesense or Michaels, since it’s under $10, letting me save my baking skills for Christmas).
6. Collect leaves and stick them in a flower press (or between wax paper sheets in big books), then using them for a Thanksgiving centrepiece.

I don’t have any more great ideas at the moment, but I think that documenting this list via a blog post will help motivate me to actually do the activities in question. Here’s hoping I get my butt in gear. That is, if we can escape the fall “everyone is sick at school” germs first.