Halloween Celebrations for 2015

I love fall in Utah when the weather is delightful (except when it's crazy), and I really love the holiday season which stretches from Halloween to New Years for me. I love to get family and friends out for not-too-scary seasonal activities from Ogden to Provo. This is the annual list of our favorite family activities and events, including a few that are real traditions for our family and some new ones we want to try this year. I've generally listed our favorites first, and I've included links to the blog stories from previous years. Hope to see you out there!

Retirement Home Costume Parade

We love to dress up in our costumes, stir up a batch of Grandma Doris’s peanut butter fudge, and make new friends with people living in retirement homes. The kids learn a few Halloween songs (Ghostbusters, Witch Doctor, Purple People Eater) and entertain us all. The residents seem to have a good time, and the kids absolutely love it. We even hung out for a glass of apple juice and a rousing game of bingo last year. Check out the stories from 2012, 2013, and 2014. 

Red Butte Garden – Garden After Dark

Oct 22, 23, 24 and 29, 6-9pm; Oct 30 6-10pm 

This is a family favorite! The Garden has developed the annual theme more and more each year, which has made it more of a learning journey for everybody, and still lots of fun. The kids start talking about this event months before the season changes. The theme this year is Legends of Camelot, so we expect to find out how the natural world plays a part in the stories of Merlin, Guinevere, Lancelot and the Knights of the Round Table. This is an indoor/outdoor, costumed (dress warm!) and kid-friendly experience. We've got photos from this event in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

http://www.redbuttegarden.org/garden-after-dark

Utah Symphony – A Wizarding Halloween Spooktacular

Oct 27; 7pm

This is a kid favorite too! The musicians trade in their black ties for crazy costumes and the whole audience dresses up too. The program this year includes songs from Harry Potter and other magical favorites. The costume contest is very impressive and the kids always have a good time. Tickets start at $6 and little kids three years old and younger can sit on a lap. Check out the program line up, and borrow some of the music from your library or buy it for your iPod and you’ll be a musical expert. You can see our annual report on this event from 2012 and 2013.

http://www.utahsymphony.org/15-16-season/special-events/1098-a-wizarding-halloween-spooktacular

Tracy Aviary – Halloween Hoot

Oct 17, 24, 31; 9am-5pm

Wear a costume to get a 50% discount on admission to the Aviary in Liberty Park. They have Halloween-themed decorations and programs and the Owl Forest seems particularly cool this time of year. This is another chance to wear something goofy in the great outdoors, so we’ll take it. You can see us at the Aviary in 2013. 

http://www.tracyaviary.org/upcoming-events/#hh

Hogle Zoo – Boo at the Zoo

Oct 24; 9am-3pm

This tradition is over 20 years old, and we’ve been doing it for about six years. Everybody dresses up in cute costumes (lots of lions, zebras, monkeys!) and the kids collect candy at booths set up throughout the zoo grounds. It’s a very busy day at the zoo, so we always go early and try to get the kids to focus more on the costumes and animals than the candy. The trick-or-treating activity is free with regular Zoo admission or membership. Read about our Boo at the Zoo trips for 2010 and 2013. 

http://www.hoglezoo.org/event_registration/?ee=210

Gardner Village – Witchfest

Now – Oct 31

The village hosts lots of events (Six Hags Witches Adventure, Breakfast with a Witch, Wee Witches Weekend), but our favorite is the (free!) scavenger hunt. It's fun to peek around every corner to see the witches' antics. The kids completed the scavenger hunt with a babysitter while we were on vacation this year, but it won’t be hard for me to talk them into going back so I can see all the colorful decorations. See pics from 2010 and 2011.

http://www.gardnervillage.com/witchfest-calendar-of-events

Sugarhouse Park - Ginormous Pumpkin Regatta

Oct 17; Carving: Noon – 1pm, Race: 1 – 3pm

The 5th Annual Mountain Valley Seed Co. Ginormous Pumpkin Regatta will take place Saturday October 17th from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm at Sugarhouse Park Pond. Bring everybody to see these heroic growers and racers put their honor and their pumpkins on the line for prizes and bragging rights.

http://www.utahpumpkingrowers.com/events.html

CLAS Ropes Course in Provo - Halloween River Cruise

Oct 1-31; 6:30-9pm on weekdays, until 10pm on Friday and Saturday, closed Sunday

A chill 20-minute boat ride along a jack-o-lantern decorated stretch of Provo River. This is not a high-adventure river rafting event. You just sit with your family on a flat-bottomed boat that a costumed boatman pulls along a short course while reciting a cowboy poem or telling jokes.  I've heard that it can be scary if you go later, but we've always been on one of the first boats, so we've just enjoyed the scenery. Be sure to print a coupon from the website, dress up warm, and bring some money for hot chocolate! Here are pics from 2011 and 2012 and an event recap video.

http://clasropes.com/halloween-cruise.php#Christmas

Ogden’s Dinosaur Park - Carnivore Carnival

Oct 15, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30; 6:30-8:30pm

In our quest to get outside every day in fall, we stumbled upon the Dinosaur Park’s Halloween event last year. We usually go to the park to see the life-sized dinosaurs during the day, but the Carnivore Carnival is the one time that you can visit at night. Since we’re more grown up and slightly less spookable than before, we’ll plan to join the park for trick-or-treating, carnival games and a costume parade this year. Here are pics from 2014.

http://www.dinosaurpark.org/

Wheeler Historic Farm – Pumpkin Days and Haybale Maze

Now-Oct 31; 11 - 8pm weekdays, until 9pm weekends; 10am-3pm Sundays

Your ticket includes the haybale maze, a wagon ride, and a pumpkin to take home. Make sure you check out the scarecrow festival at the farm too.  Seriously, put on a costume and head outside to enjoy our fantastic fall season. We visited the Farm in 2012 to check out the evening activities. 

http://www.wheelerfarm.com/events/fallFestival.html

Thanksgiving Point – Cornbelly’s Corn Maze

Now – Oct 31

Cornbelly’s Corn Maze is like acres and acres of fun kid's stuff. This is a huge Halloween and fall event that is like paradise for kids and a little bit of a nightmare for parents if you lose a kid, which we did one year. We found our little monkey in a maze, stuffed our hearts back down our throats, and hopefully grew out of the running way phase. You can add on the Insanity Point haunted attractions if you’re crazy and brave. We are only crazy, so you’ll have to look for us on the cow train, a singing hayride, or playing pumpkin tetherball. This is a favorite activity for one of our friends whose kids are a little older than ours. You can read our recap from 2012. 

http://www.cornbellys.com/

Tumbleweed Film Festival

Ikey, Theo, Christina, Jovie and Aimee at opening night.
(I commonly do this weird thing with my foot in posed photos...reminiscent of my junior prom photo. I've been awkward for years.) 

Our friend Holly invited us to the Tumbleweeds Film Festival downtown. We met Christina and Theo for the opening night dinner party (grilled cheese, tomato soup, and Girl Scout cookies) and watched the US premiere of "Oddball", a very enjoyable Australian dog-and-penguin show. 

Christina and Jovie enjoy the opening night dinner, including grilled cheese sandwiches and Thin Mints.

Salt Lake Comic Con was in full effect this evening, and we saw a lot of cosplayers, including a big group of official-looking StarWars characters. Darth Vader asked Isaac his name and said, "The force is strong with this one. He has a sister, if he won't turn to the dark side perhaps she will." Jovie said, "Oh yeah sure. No problem." Dudes, she would. 

School update

The kids like their cheerful school.

 The Fun Run was an exciting event. 

 Grandma Rainey sponsored the kids at the event, and I thought their thank you cards were so cute. 

She drew the bill shown above with a green, long-haired president and asked, "Hey, Is Hillary Clinton elected yet?" I said, "Not yet." She said, "Well, I already drew her on the money." The president drawn in blue is Washington. He has a long pony-tail and curls on top. 

Piglet Plunge at the Dirty Dash

Jovie tells us that she has been practicing for the Dirty Dash for practically her whole life. She recruited TB to run the mile course and brave the muddy obstacles. 

Here's the video: https://youtu.be/MNJBgUOknJ8

After the race, they paid $6 for a warm shower (cold ones were free) and Ikey and I delivered hot chocolate and dry clothes. We checked out the cool crater pool at Homestead in Midway, and ate a burger (along with all the other muddy people) at Dairy Keen. 

Ikey's cheering poster for the racers.

Ikey and I went to Scheels to register Jovie for the race the night before. 

Pre-race tattoos. This baby didn't scrub off for a week!

Jovie's motto

The first event of the Piglet Plunge was to make a mud beard for your parent.

Ikey and I cheered and cheered. We chased the racers along the one mile course and yelled and photographed. We were hot. They were cold.

Two obstacles in and the racers are a little muddy. 

Very muddy at the finish line!

Jovie shows off her biceps.

Dad is such a good sport!

Warm showers!

It was a beautiful day at Soldier Hollow.

This is the bridge overlooking the crater at Homestead. We yelled down to the divers and they complimented the kids race shirts.

Calvin Smith Library

We still use the SL County Library system, even though we are half a mile from a SL City Library and really kind of far away from a County Library. We have to go to the library about once a week, which was very convenient when Jovie's dance class was at the Millcreek Community Center. I could switch over to the City system, but I have my 14-digit library card number memorized and our hold list is at the county, so it's harder than it sounds. 

This week, Ikey was desperate for a new book, so I traipsed all over the county to find the next book in the Heroes of Olympian series. I found myself at a library we haven't been to yet, the Calvin Smith branch in Millcreek. 

 

Look at this happy face! He's glad he's got his 600-page book and we're glad too, until he told Jovie and me to "cut out the distractions" so he could concentrate. He finished this book in two days, school days when he was in class for about seven hours. Since school started, he's read the Percy Jackson series, Heroes of Olympus series, and the Kane Chronicles. 

Utah State Fair

As is our tradition, we went to the State Fair on opening day with Grandma Rainey. Our list of must-see items are: butter cow, 4-H displays, horticulture, photography, fine art, home arts, farm animals, bee hives (no bees at the fair this year).  

The vegetable oddities are our favorites! This is a giant pear squash.

This was the first time we rode on the squeaky and rikety Ferris Wheel.

Idaho Wedding

We traveled to Idaho Falls to celebrate Kelly's wedding. It was a beautiful/chilly affair. 

Ikey came on the trip too, but he chose to stay at the hotel to "roughhouse" with Ellen's teenage boys instead of attend the wedding.