Des Moines Holiday Events Extravaganza!

It just happened that my sister and my nephew were in town visiting this week from Boston, so what better time to fit in every Des Moines Holiday Event we could into the shortest amount of time possible.



The week started with the Ugly Sweater Run at Principal Park.  What a fun event!  Lots of gigantic Holiday inflatables for cool photo ops, candy canes and more.  Runner brought toys for Toys 4 Tots that went right to kids in our community.




If it wasn't -1 degree with the wind chill, it would have been a fabulous family friendly event.  There was a Groupon for it, so only $20 got you registration, a hat, hot chocolate along the 5k route and 2 beers or hard ciders at the end.  Fun event!  Looking forward to next year!



Next up, we hit the Jordan Creek Mall Santa and Build-a-Bear for their Holiday "Bears".  Nathan picked the Rudolph and of course we spent the ridiculous amount of money on the matching hat, scarf and sweater for Rudolph, you know, because it was too cute not to.



Our elf (Named Elephant) returned for the season which is fantastic because my kid always behaves a little bit better when he knows the creepy elf is watching him.




While at the mall, we also got to check out Live, Love, Bake which recently opened up near Banana Republic on the first floor of the mall.  They have a cupcake kiosk.  What a great idea and they have really great cupcakes!  I tried a gluten-free chocolate-chip and it was really fabulous.  It was a little more pricey than the competitors around town at $4, but it was huge!  It was moist and delicious though and worth every penny.





In the middle of all of this, we had time to meet my friend Carye for a painting class, via El Arte Uncorked, to make some festive Christmas ornament paintings.  We also got some matchy-matchy photos of the boys taken since they only see each other a couple times a year.




Continuing the fun, we had our Thanksgiving meal at Tally's in Beaverdale which was fantastic as always.  Robert's (the owner) wife has celiac disease, so there is always a ton at Tallly's that is gluten free for my family members to eat.



We don't discriminate around here and since we have all sorts of heritage going on in our family, we made time for Latkes and Hanukkah house building!  It was really for the kids, but they lost interest quickly and the grown-ups ended up doing the building...




What the kids did love was the chocolate we picked up at Beaverdale Confections! I just love this shop.  We picked up Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas themed chocolates along with fantastic gift baskets for only $10 each!  They'd make great teacher gifts!  (hint, hint...) A great stop to celebrate Small Business Saturday too.  



Once our Thankgivukkah celebrations were over (and my brief dabble in Black Friday Shopping in which I stood in line for an hour and a half for an iPad deal...not worth it),we headed to the Festival of Trees and Lights at Hy-vee Hall.  This is one of my most favorite events of the season and is for such a great cause that is very near to my heart.  Every year this events gets bigger and better is lots of kids crafts, train rides, beautiful trees including a scavenger hunt, snacks, silent auction and entertainment.  Definitely an event not to miss.


Luckily we still had time to take our annual drive through the Jolly Holiday Lights at Waterworks park where you can drive through thousands of holiday lights throughout the park for $10 (more for limos and busses and only $5 on Monday nights) to benefit Make-a-Wish foundation.  We love turning up the Christmas music, drinking hot cocoa and enjoying the lights.  They had 3D glasses available a few years ago and Nathan loves to wear them every year, they don't offer them anymore though, but that's what he's wearing in the photo.


That takes us to our road trip to The Scenic Valley Railroad and Museum in Boone for the Santa Express train ride!  This is always a hot with the kids.  You ride the train out to "The North Pole", read the Santa Express book, drink hot chocolate and eat cookies and there is of course a visit from Santa.  It was my 2 year old nephew's first train ride and he was enthralled for every minute of the hour and a half excursion.



We fit in a trip to the Science Center, which I highly recommend during the holiday to catch the Polar Express in the IMAX theater and check out the current traveling exhibit which is very cool.



Today, we end our very busy visit with family with DIsney on Ice at Wells Fargo Arena.  Many Iowans have made this a Thanksgiving week tradition every year.



Are there any Holiday events that you love to do in Des Moines (or close-by)?  We'd love to hear about them!



For me, it's back Ugly Sweater Party planning!  Our annual Contest/Party is being held soon and we can't wait!  Here's a photo of some of our friend's from last year's event!  I'm getting the fruit cakes and leg lamps ready!

PS...I almost forgot!  A new find (for me) this year is the Lincoln Place Lights this very cool house at 129 Lincoln Place Drive in Des Moines (not far from DMU).  They have a fantastic holiday lights display, that if you set your radio to 94.3, their light show is in sync with the music!  Check it out!

Boone & Scenic-Valley Railroad

Today's guest post comes to you from our friend Margaret who loves to do fun activities with her son around Iowa.  Here is a great review about her recent experience at the Boone & Scenic-Valley RR!  Thanks Margaret!

One special event at the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad is the Day Out with Thomas. For five days in September, the incomparable Thomas the Tank Engine comes to Boone. This event has everything any Thomas fan could imagine: a 25-minute train ride in coaches pulled by a full-sized Thomas, art activities, storytelling, temporary tattoos, several train tables for playing, inflatables, photo opportunities, and more. Sir Topham Hatt makes appearances before each boarding time, too.

Tickets get you in to all the activity tents and are sold with a specific train boarding time. They come with instructions to arrive an hour early. Beforehand, I thought this was excessive, but it turned out to be good advice. Given that we had tickets for only the second boarding of the day (the second of nine!), I was surprised by how busy it already was when we arrived. Parking is at a premium because the event tents take over the entire parking lot. We found parking in the grassy area adjacent to the museum, but ticket-holders for later in the day would have to walk and might take some time for the toddler set. Boone also has a very active railroad so we had to wait for 2 trains as we made our way through town to the depot. The crew positions Thomas in a way that provides great photo opportunities. We were there in time to see him arrive and got pictures before our ride.

The train ride is 25 minutes, so the trip does not reach the high trestle bridge as in other excursions, but for a first train ride, that was a selling point. In case your child doesn't like it, you're not too far from the depot! There was a lot of waiting involved with nearly everything at the event, but the train ride required extra patience. It took a long time to board all the passengers and prepare for the trip, so we were on the train longer waiting to leave the depot than the train actually moved. Had I known, I probably would have taken one of our Thomas books to read while we waited on board. I saw parents doling out snacks and drinks to fidgety toddlers, and it is definitely something to keep in mind if you choose a boarding time around lunch or snack time. 

There are several food vendors at the event selling snacks, drinks, and food for lunch. We chose to pack a picnic and found there are several picnic tables and a gazebo near the parking area to enjoy our lunch while enjoying views of the train yard.

After eating lunch, we visited the on-site museum which is half-price for Day Out with Thomas ticket-holders. The 9,000 square-foot museum has a Thomas play table (with fewer children vying for engines!), antique track maintenance vehicles, memorabilia, model trains, informational displays, a theater, plus a library and gift shop. Admittedly, I was a bit reluctant to head in to the museum initially, but I am very glad we did. I learned a lot, it was a welcome respite from the activity just outside, and it ended up being one of the highlights of our day.


In all, this was a special treat for our Thomas fan that won't be soon forgotten. Peep! Peep!

Boone is about a 50 minute ride from Des Moines and while it might be too late to get in on the Thomas event this year, they also host Pumpkin Express train rides in October and Santa Express train rides in December.  These rides are along the same lines as the Thomas event.  Here is the full Special Events Calendar.  They also offer weekly un-themed train rides and lunch and dinner train rides too.  Visit their website for more info.