Witch Hazel @ Chocolaterie Stam

Every year, just before Halloween, Chocolaterie Stam on Ingersol hosts their Halloween event.

The event has been $10 per child for the last few years and is very well worth it.

The event usually takes place on a weekday evening and is announced on their facebook page a few weeks before the event.  Children arrive in costume and are greeted by staff who help the child pick a gelato flavor (included in the $10 fee) and they have all sorts of Halloween candy to top their gelato with.  Kids eat their sundaes until all the kids arrive and then Witch Hazel comes out and reads the kids a few Halloween stories with surprise Halloween treats in between stories.

I usually sit back and relax with one of my favorite drinks, a Stam Hot Cocoa and watch the kids have fun.

My son has enjoyed this event for the last few years and can't wait til next year!  Thanks for a great event Witch Hazel Chocolaterie Stam!

PS. Keep an eye on their facebook page for an announcement about their similar Christmas event!

Halloween Hoopla

The Halloween Hoopla is an annual event hosted by the West Des Moines Parks and Rec department.  It is held at the Nature Lodge at Raccoon River Park and it's a great place for this event.  Seeing the animals at the lodge is an added bonus for the kids.




We've gone for the past several years and my son loves it.  They offer Hack rack rides around the lake which is pretty cool at night, pumpkin decorating (pumpkin included in admission), crafts and roasting marshmallow for s'mores. Juice and coffee are included in admission as well.



The cost is $3 for ages 2-11, and $5 for ages 12 and up.



While this year's event has come and gone, keep your eye out for next year's event!  We'll be sure to let you know about it on our Facebook page!
https://www.facebook.com/EatPlayLoveDesMoines




Registration is done on the WDM website: https://reconline.wdm-ia.com



They start registration for this event in the late summer usually.  We'll keep you updated!

Eat Play Love Des Moines Night @ Confluence Brewery!

Don't miss it!  Proceeds from this evening's event will go to Buy Fresh Buy Local Des Moines!  This is a family-friendly event!  Please RSVP on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/407552842680118/?ref=3&ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

Fall Festival - WDM UMC

While Mandi was having a great time at The Great Pumpkin Party, we were having a great time at The Annual Fall Festival at The West Des Moines United Methodist Church at the corner of 8th and Grand in WDM.

This FREE event features inflatables (weather permitting), trunk-or-treating, a fire truck who throws candy, face painting and free food!  

The community is not only invited to attend, but to include decorated trunks to show off!  My son's favorite was the fortune-telling trunk.  

The fortune-teller told him he would grow up to be a gym teacher, I guess we'll find out if she was right in about 15 years =)

Another highlight was the fire-truck demonstration where the firefighter threw candy from stories above the kids.  Very cool.

Round out the night with hot dogs, chips, cookies and lemonade, all for just a free-will donation and you have a fun party!

What a great event.  Great to know our communities are offering such fun events in a safe environment and at a price that everyone can afford.

Great job WDM UMC!  Follow them on FB to keep updated on dates for next year's Fall Festival and other events that they hold throughout the year.

The Great Pumpkin Party

We are so lucky to have so many fun, free or inexpensive Fall and Halloween events around the metro.  We of course just can't make it to all of them (though we try!)! Luckily, I have super friends, like my friend Mandi (who is also the Des Moines Dishcrawl Coordinator) who loves to take her kids to do cool stuff.

Mandi had a great time at The Great Pumpkin Party at The Valley Church this week and was nice enough to share about her experience!

This was my first year going, and let me say I am disappointed that I haven’t taken my son every year! I walked in and was instantly in shock, I didn't know which way to go.

 I was as excited at my son was. We ran to the first bright and shinning thing, which happened to be a hall lined with tables of "hands on" chemistry things for the kids to get into.  Very cool. 

Thankfully in our front door goody bag there was a map. We began to come up with some organized plan to try to make it to everything. 

So many inflatables, games, face painting stations and crafts. They had two photo booths which I managed to drag my son to and get great photos at both. 

The lines where long for everything but well worth the wait. Across the street in the brand new community center, they had more inflatables and a petting zoo along with pony rides. 

As hard as we tried, we couldn't make it to everything, but the event runs for a few days so you could always go to the next night to enjoy anything your kid-o might not of enjoyed the first night. 


We especially love this event because they have a special evening just for special needs kids.  It's the same awesome party, but they understand that big crowds aren't always conducive to to some kids needs and they make it happen just for them.


And did we mention this event was all FREE?! Great job Valley Church!

Night Eyes

Take your kids trick-or-treating at the zoo this year!

After 22 years, Night Eyes at Blank Park Zoo has become the sweetest Halloween fun in Central Iowa, and this year’s 23rd annual event is sure to continue the tradition! A big thank you to our presenting partner, Dahl’s and to our many, many supports and volunteers for making this merry, not scary, event possible for everyone to enjoy!

Children and adults will go on a treat safari, travel along the yellow brick road, explore Fareway Food Stores Spooky Forest, and travel past the sea of orange at the Dahl’s Pumpkin Patch.  Don’t miss this sweet and enchanting tradition.  Inflatables and games are available.

Night Eyes is taking place on October 17-20 & 24-27

Thursday & Fridays: 5:30pm-8:00pm

Saturday & Sundays: 1:00pm-8:00pm
Gate Tickets: $5
Zoo Member: $4
Children under 12 months old are free
Children under 12 months old are free

Advance Tickets: $3 (purchased on or before October 16)  Ticket info here.

*Night Eyes admission supports the many programs and opportunities that are brought to our community and ensures quality care for our many animal friends.

Interested in volunteering during Night Eyes?  

For more information on this sweet event, please call 515-285-4722 or e-mail events@blankparkzoo.org.

 *All info from Blank Park Zoo Website

Living History Farms Halloween Info

Family Halloween Tickets on sale now!

October 17-20, 24-27  |  5:30-8:30 pm

Family Halloween is presented by Bob Brown Chevrolet/Buick & GMC

Horse-drawn wagon rides, marshmallow roasts, storytellers, scarecrow and jack-o-lantern displays

delight all during this non-scary family event. Children aged 12 and under can trick or treat through town, and we'll have free pop and popcorn for all!

 

Get advanced tickets and save!

Advanced tickets:
(on sale through October 16)
$4.50/member
$5.00/non-member 

 

Purchase tickets >

 

Tickets at the door:

$5.00/member
$6.00/non-member

*All info direct from LHF website.

Center Grove Orchard & Howell's Pumpkin Patch

I LOVE fall and everything about it from pumpkin spice lattes to cider donuts to apple pies....ok....I guess there is non-food stuff I like about it too, like visiting the pumpkin patch!



We are so lucky in Des Moines to live pretty close to some awesome farms that get decked out for the fall and provide some pretty great family fun.




My two favorite places to visit are Center Grove Orchard in Cambridge and Howell's Pumpkin Patch in Cumming.  Both are less than an hour from pretty much anywhere in the metro.  They both offer corn pools, tractor rides, duck races, hay rides, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, slides and much more!  Including apple slushes and cider donuts! YUM!



You can ride out to the pumpkin patch and pick your own pumpkins or pick from stashes ready to go.  At Center Grove you can pick your own apples too.  They both offer farm animal petting areas as well.





At Center Grove you can jump on the giant jumping pillow and sling shot apples.  Both have snack bars available.




Both locations are fun for any age and I would totally recommend making both stops this fall.  Howell's often has pony rides for kids.




Center Grove farm yard opens up on September 7th! Yay!  Pricing is $9.95 during the weekend and $7.95 on weekdays.  Kids 3 and under are free.




Howell's opens on September 21st and admission is $8.




Both locations actually offer birthday party packages!  How fun for a kid with a fall birthday.  And there are special discounts for school tours too.



There is also a farm in Ankeny called Williamson's Pumpkin Paradise that is FREE everyday.  We haven't been there yet, but it's on our to-do list for this fall!  They open on September 29th this year.




Wherever you visit you are sure to have a lot of fun.  Enjoy the Fall!