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.

Starbeque

Have you been to a Starbeque??

Out-of-this-world stargazing + summertime barbeques = SCI Starbeques! 

The Science Center of Iowa hosts this monthly event and here is their description:

Bring your blankets and get ready for a new summertime tradition. Gaze at celestial objects through telescopes.

This event is hosted at:

Ewing Park, 5300 Indianola Road, Des Moines some months and others on the front lawn of the Science Center.

This event is in partnership with City of Des Moines Park and Recreation the Des Moines Astronomical Society (DMAS).

Starbeques are free to attend and when at the Science Center they offer food and snacks for purchase.  Keep an eye on the calendar to see which location the event will be each month...here is the calendar.  September 2013's event will be held at Ewing Park on the 28th at 7:30pm.

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Des Moines World Food and Music Festival

Great food, awesome music, cooking demonstrations from some of the best Chefs in Des Moines.  It doesn't get much better than this.  Except that you can get a "taste" portion at any of the 45+ food vendors for only a $1! And all entries are priced at $5 or less! 

This annual event is definitely one of the best festivals of the year.  The 2013 festival runs September 20th to 22nd on Locust street in the East Village of Downtown Des Moines.

For more information including a complete list of vendors, hours, parking info, music schedules and cooking demonstration schedules, visit their website here.

As lots of the food vendors don't have brick and mortar restaurants and only participate in this festival each year, it might be the only time you get to try some of their delicacies.

You can get some wonderful Italian, BBQ, Mexican or Thai food, but you can also venture out and try something like Ethiopian, Korean, Czechoslovakian, Mesopotamian or Filipino cuisine!  There is something for everyone.

Some of my favorites this year were:

1. Hawaiian Chicken from Alohana 

2. Chicken Stew from Czech up Time 

3.Pasta from Street of Europe 

4. Larp from Blu 

5. Tabsi Tayuk from Afiyet Olsun 
(Mesopotamian) 

6. Chicken Kabob from Yanni's 

7. Chickencubes from The Ethiopian assoc. 


8. Fried banana roll from Cafe Fuzion 

9. Fried fish and potato on a stick with juice 
and chocolate covered strawberry from Sims 

10. Beef taco from Taco Loco

And every item I had was only $1!  Can't wait til next year!

Illumifest

Illumifest held on September 28th, 2013 at 4200 Mills Civic Parkway (West Des Moines City School Campus) is A Fall Festival of Light. It offers a variety of activities and events for people of all ages!  The excitement begins Saturday afternoon with the inagural edition of the Illumifest Car Show.  The carnival rides and games will open Saturday morning and run throughout the day, and well as a wide variety of food stands.  Saturday evening will feature many of the Illumifest events that have made this festival the fastest growing community event in West Des Monies. 

*all information taken directly from Illumifest website.

Schedule of Events 4200 Mills Civic Parkway Saturday - September 28, 2013
Illumifest Car Show Registration	11:00-2:00pm
Carnival/Food Vendors Open	1:00pm
Illumifest Car Show	2:00-4:00pm
FREE Paddle Boat Rides	3:00-8:00pm
Chinese Association Displays and Exhibits	4:00pm
FREE Lantern Making (Limited to first 1,000 people)	5:00pm
FREE Hot Air Balloon Rides (Rides are limited  & allow only two people per ride, riders must meet height restriction to ride)	5:30pm
FREE Facepainting by Library Teen Board in the    WDM Library Cafe.	6:00pm
FREE Outdoor Movie - Disney's  "Brave"	7:30pm
Fireworks Extravaganza over the Campus Pond	9:00pm
Festival Concludes	9:15pm

The hands-on lantern making activity starts at 5:00 pm.  Get creative and decorate a paper lantern to light the night!  Each lantern comes with its own LED light to illuminate your creation!  Supplies are limited to the first 1,000 people, and when they are gone...they are gone.

FREE Disney/Pixar movie "Brave" will be shown on a HUGE outdoor screen Saturday evening!  Bring your blankets and lawn chairs and enjoy this fun movie on the lawn of the WDM Library at 7:30 pm.

FREE hot-air balloon rides will be available Saturday evening starting at 5:30 pm.  Three balloons this year for shorter waiting lines!  Weather can play a huge role in the number of rides available.  Rides are limited to only 2 people per ride, and riders must meet a height restriction in order to ride.   

Dinner en Blanc/FlashDine

Have you heard of a Dinner en Blanc?  The concept originated in France as a private dinner party where everything, including the invitees are decked out in white.  A public place is chosen but not revealed to the guests until the day of the event.  Think of it like a FlashMob (You know where singers show up in a public place and put on a concert for surprised onlookers.) but instead of singing, everyone sets up tables, brings food and has a huge dinner party.  

This year marked the 3rd year that Des Moines held it's own version of this special event thanks to some dedicated food-lovers in the area like Larry Cleverly, Kim Wall and Rachel & Sheila Formaro.

The fun part about Des Moines' version is that you don't have to be invited to attend.  Everyone is welcome!  

This year's surprise location was the Riverwalk, right beneath the The Hub restaurant.  It was a perfect, beautiful, shady location.  Last year's FlashDine was held in the Sculpture Park downtown.


I'm already excited to start planning my menu and decorations for next year's event as the best decorated table wins a prize!  Make sure you follow us on Facebook because I'll post the link to the event as soon as it's posted for next year.

While sitting by the river with a glass of wine and our picnic dinner was a perfect date-night, the fun came when we started sharing our dishes with old friends and new.

My tip for this event when you come next year (and I hope you will) is to bring extra food for sharing because conversations happen and friends are made over food.  Don't be afraid to go to other tables and make new friends.  

We are so lucky to live in a city where new concepts are welcomed and embraced!  Such a cool event.

Polk City Lobsterfest!

How often is there a local lobster bake in Iowa?!  Well, once a year if you go to Polk City!  The Polk City Lobsterfest is held annually and it's such a cool event!

We went for the first time this year and I'm so glad we did!  It was about a 35 minute drive for us to Polk City from Des Moines which wasn't bad.  We pre-purchased our tickets for $25 at the Ankeny Hy-vee so we'd be ready for action when we arrived.  We got there right around 4 and the event was from 4 to 8 with live music afterward.  There was no wait and we were eating our lobster within minutes of arriving.

The lobsters looked to be about 1 1/4 lbs. And while they weren't quite as fresh as live Maine lobsters, they were still pretty tasty as they were flash-frozen and then cooked on-site.  

The meal was completed by Iowa Sweet Corn (how often do those New Englanders get to enjoy their lobster with the best corn on Earth?!), baked potato and a fresh roll.

There were a la carte options like hamburgers, chips, corn on the cob, etc. for purchase for non-lobster lovers as well as beer and a few other drink choices.  

They had a huge tent set up to eat under and did a great job with the lobster-themed decor.  We will definitely be back for this fund-raising event next year.  

Des Moines Renaissance Faire

If you or anyone in your family dreams of being a knight, longs to be a princess or is obsessed with pirates. You are going to want to hit the Renaissance Faire this year. Or maybe a turkey leg, a big glass of mead and a giant bog of kettle corn sounds like a tasty meal, then go too.


In it's 11th year, the Faire has evolved into a fun event for the whole family.

This Year's Faire runs for three weekends and boasts a different theme each weekend:

August 31-September 2
- Knights, Barbarians & Heroes

September 7-8
- Scots, Britons & Irish

September 14-15
 - Pirates, Scallywags & BuccaneersKids under 5 are free and my son's favorite part is when he is knighted by the king. Very cute. The hours are 10am to 6pm and it is held rain or shine.

Ages 5-12 are $8 and adult 1 day passes are $16.  There is multi-day price info on the website.


The Faire is located at the Sleepy Hollow Sports park near the State Fairgrounds.

There is lots of entertainment and food vendors, pony rides and jousting and lots more to do and see.  Check it out!

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!

Fireball!

We had a great time at the Des Moines Social Club's most recent event and fundraiser "Fireball".



I really didn't know exactly what to expect since it was our first time attending the event.  But since kids under 12 were free, and they ran a $10 special on tickets, we packed up our family and headed to the mid-August evening event.  The tickets were normally $15 and they had a VIP option that included front row seating, s'more and a few other perks.



I'm so glad we went!  We showed up to free spin-art, free face-painting, $1 cotton candy and popcorn.  Food available from The Mediterranean Grill and FREE Ice cream from 2nd Street Creamery.



You bring your own lawn chairs or blankets so there is plenty of room for kids to run around and not have to sit still the whole time.


We enjoyed the casual atmosphere and two local bands and acrobatic routines that took the stage before the main attraction which was a group called Pyrotechniq.  They called all of the kids up to roast s'more in the fire pit for free as well.  Very cool.



The fire show began a little later than expected at about 9:30pm but was pretty cool to watch the flames light up the stage when it was completely dark out.




Our whole family enjoyed this event and are excited to attend again next year.  We are also excited about the new location of the Social Club that will be offering lots of family-friendly events like cooking classes, theater shows, martial arts classes, music classes and more.