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!

Work at a vineyard for a day!

I was so excited to see this e-mail in my inbox!  2 years ago, some friends and I signed up at Two Saints Winery for their annual grape harvest and we had a BLAST!  We did it again in August of this year.  Two Saints does not charge for their day of picking and provides you with all of the supplies needed.  Their next picking date is September 7th, 2013. at 8:00am.  Call Christine at 641-369-2102 to sign up.  You get lunch, a bottle of wine and a t-shirt for helping.

Summerset Winery also taking reservations for their harvest.  They charge for their harvest though. These spots fill up fast so if you want to get in on it, here are all of the details..

Summerset Winery is Now Taking Reservations their 16th Annual FALL HARVEST!
August 24, 31, September 7, 14, 21 and 28, 2013

You may now reserve your spot for our 2013 Fall Harvest!   As a harvester, you will experience the ambiance of the vineyard as you cut the grapes off the vine, feel them crush beneath your feet during the celebratory stomp and indulge your palate in the flavors of our delicious award winning wines throughout the day.  Harvesters receive breakfast, lunch, commemorative t-shirt, wine and the grape stomp celebration.

Reservations are required and the cost is $25/pp. Payment is due at time of reservation and is non-refundable. The grapes need picked even when it rains so come ready, rain or shine.

Schedule:

• 7:30 A.M. arrive at the winery for breakfast and brief tutorial on how to pick the grapes.
• After breakfast head into the vineyard and begin picking an acre of selected grapes.
• Once the grapes have been harvested, bottles of last year’s vintages will be opened andpoured and the vineyard party begins!
• Chow time! You'll be hungry after a long morning of grape picking and cavorting in the vineyard.
• After lunch climb into the barrel and stomp grapes, purchase a bottle of wine for some afternoon libations, place your footprint on the back of your commemorative t-shirt.
• Festivities should conclude around 1:00 - 2:00 P.M.
   

Harvesters should:

• Wear old clothes (grapes may stain)
• Dress in layers (it may be chilly in the morning and warm up in the afternoon)
• Bring pruning shears
• Bring bug spray
• Bring sun screen
• Bring gardening gloves
• Remember, the grapes need to be picked rain or shine!  Bring a rain poncho, if necessary.
   

CALL THE WINERY AT 515-961-3545 TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY!

Notes: We did this 2 years ago and we were able to bring a child along to help as you can see in the photo.  It is tough work to pick all morning, so please check with the winery for questions about age restrictions and make sure that your child would be able to handle working for 5 hours, etc. 

National Balloon Classic - Indianola

One of my very favorite festivals of the summer is the National Balloon Classic in Indianola.  The 2013 festival runs July 26th to August 3rd.  Activities for the week include a 5k walk/run, morning balloon flights that are free, evening balloons flights that are $3 per person admission (or $10 per car load). Entrance includes the nightly entertainment, the ability to watch the night glows, which are really cool where you can go right onto the field, all of the balloons light up in the dark and it's fun to watch. And there are food vendors and kids games there nightly as well.  You can even camp at the field for $5 per night.

On Saturday the 27th at 11:00am there will be the annual Balloon Classic Parade that starts at Irving Elementary School.  You can schedule a Balloon ride in advance by contacting the official balloon ride operation for the event "On the Fly" at 1-800-690-1287.

The weekday evenings are usually less busy, plan some time to get there as there is often a line to get in to park.

Here is the 2013 Schedule on the National Balloon Classic Website.

Sunday Tunes at Summerset

We LOVE to visit Summerset Winery in Indianola on Sundays from 3pm-6pm for their "Sunday Tunes".  $3 per person (or $10 per car load) gets you admission to the concert and a great time.  Concerts are year-round and on the colder Sundays, they hold the events indoors, while during the summer months, the concerts are outdoors.

You can purchase wine, beer or whatever special they have that evening like sangria (yum), some cheese, fruit, meat and crackers and just sip, snack and relax.  You can also take your own snacks or a picnic basket with you!  Just don't bring any outside alcohol.  Kids are welcome too so you don't even need a babysitter!

They have have local bands playing each week and you can see the schedule of who's playing each week here.  This is such a great thing to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon.  They can get pretty packed, so if you have your own lawn chairs, bring those with you in the summer months. They supply ice and ice buckets, cups and meat/cheese trays with knives too.  They also sell chips and candy along with meat, cheese, and fruit.

They make great wine to begin with and add in music and snacks...perfect.  I'm a big fan of the Caba Moch.  It's sweet and fruity and very easy to drink.  You can have some samples before you buy a bottle, or five =) We love the winery and Sunday Tunes and think you will too!

Don't play with my (glass) heart!

Today we took a short drive (25 minutes south of Des Moines) to Indianola to take a fused glass class at Indianola Glass Creations.  The store is so neat with lots of already-made, unique items to purchase.  Blown-glass earnings, rings and pendants make great Valentine's Day gifts guys!  It's also about 5 miles south of Summerset Winery so you can stop for some wine too to round out your v-day gift or stop in for the Sunday tunes from 2pm-5pm on most Sundays! Also very fun!

Indianola Glass Creations offers so many cool classes!  They have stained glass classes, jewelry making and beading classes, wire wrapping classes, lamp work and blown glass classes, and fused glass classes like we took today. (Click on the links for class times and prices.)  They also offer pottery painting and other general art classes, 32 classes in all!

The description of the class said "for all ages" so I brought my son along with us and he had a blast!  I think his glass sun-catcher valentine came out better than mine =) 

My sun-catcher before
being fired in the kiln.

Nathan's sun-catcher before
being fired in the kiln.

There was a wide age-range from seniors to little kids and everyone seemed to enjoy it!

Rachel, the instructor said that she does a lot of girls-night classes where she pulls out the mixer and whips up some margaritas to enjoy while they work.

A finished product. Wouldn't
you love to get one of these
from your little valentine?

Nathan had fun designing
his sun-catcher.

The class prices are extremely reasonable and these are definitely projects you wouldn't take on at home, I guess unless if you owned a kiln or torch and don't mind pieces of glass around the house. Rachel was extremely helpful and

    patient with us.  I need a lot of direction!

We can't wait to try some other classes! We are already signed up for the St. Patrick's Day decorations and Easter egg classes! These classes are only $10 per person and make great gifts!  I encourage you to give it a shot!  You may just have a new hobby!  

Note: Understandably, it takes a few days for

some (not all)  of the projects to be finalized           in the kiln, so make sure to ask if the class you pick will require you to come back to pick it up if you are coming from a distance for the class.