It's been a few months since I've posted on here. We haven't really done anything new and exciting, except Ryan started junior kindergarten in September. I can't believe how much he loves it! He can't wait to go each day and loves his teachers, all three of them. His teacher's name is Mrs. Johnston, who has a helper named Mrs. Farr, and there is a teacher named Mrs. Rowe that comes in several times a week to do music and games with the kids. He has been learning prayers, songs, stories, and has come home with a smiley face "WOW" stamp on his hand more than once.
Halloween will be here in a few short weeks. Ryan already picked out his costume and he will be Luigi from Super Mario Brothers. Halloween is not my favourite holiday. I don't like kids being inundated with scary witches, skeletons, and all things that represent death. I much prefer Christmas and Easter. However, while I try and limit Ryan's exposure to the more morbid aspects of Halloween, I still want him to experience the fun parts. We'll decorate with spiders and pumpkins instead of skulls and witches. I will not allow him to dress up as some evil monster but will stick to animals, fun characters, and cute costumes, at least till he is older. So far he would not want to be a monster anyway! Hopefully he won't in the future too.
We usually have a few favourite things we like to incorporate into our fall schedule. I have made a list of the ten top things I recommend to do with kids around this time of year. These are mostly in Milton - I haven't been able to find as many events in Mississauga or Brampton this year.
1. Harvest Festival at Springridge Farms in Milton - every weekend in Oct - I have not been to this festival but if you are one who likes or needs to go places on weekends, this may be a good option for you. It is $10 a person ages 2-92 and includes a professional puppet show, wagon ride, boo barn, spiderweb climber, pipe slides, animal barn, sandbox, milking cow, corn mazes, straw bale jumping and pyramids, with pony rides an extra $3 per child.
2. Heritage Fall Harvest Celebration - Oct 13 & 14 only. We went to the teddy bear picnic at this place (Milton Heritage Farms) and it was awesome. So if I could I would go and check this out. Adults are $8 and children 5 and under are free. It includes a visit to a pumpkin patch, a wagon ride, attend and early 1900's school, corn maze, farm animals, historical buildings and displays, fun games and rides.
3. Fall Fairs (Brampton, Milton, Georgetown, etc...). We were planning on going to the Brampton Fall far but the weather didn't work out. We went to the Milton Fair though and it was great! It was expensive, especially the rides at an average of $3 each. Though if the children required adult accompaniment adults had to pay too ($6 for the ride). We didn't do too many of those. The fair had an animal area (called a petting zoo but you couldn't really pet the animals though they did have some unique animals such as a kangaroo). There was also a craft area which was really great (better than Brampton which we visited last year) - there was stamping with paints, puzzles, marble races, a clown with balloons, face painting, popsicle stick craft, coloring, painting derby cars and more. You could spend at least a few hours doing the stuff included in the $8 adult admission (plus $5 parking).
4. Halloween on the rails - Oct 20 and 27th at 6:30pm - At the Halton County Radial Railway - All ages event! Walk through the haunted car barn and travel in the old, creaky streetcars along the mainline and enjoy some hot apple cider & scary snacks. If you’re a Halloween fan this is definitely a spooky experience not to be missed! Costumes encouraged. Reservations not required. Tickets sold at the door. $10.25 per person.
5. Milton Mallo'ween Spooktacular - Sat Oct 29th from 10am to noon. I'm thinking of bringing Ryan to this this year, mostly because of the magic show. He loves magic right now. It depends on the weather (because if it is nice we will probably do something outside instead). The mall is a small one we rarely visit , but this event includes pumpkin carving, crafts, a costume parade and loot bags for free. Bring the kids to Milton Mall to enjoy pumpkin carving and spooky crafts they can take home along with their loot bag. There will also be a musical concert at 11 am and a magic show at 11:30.
6. Tiny Tots on Parade - Downtown Milton on Saturday Oct 29 from 10am-Noon, and in Downtown Oakville on Mon Oct 31 at 10am. Children 5 and under can go trick or treating at participating businesses. Costumes encouraged. Free. Also a possibility for us for this morning.
7. Camp Spooky at Canada's Wonderland - We are planning on going next Saturday if the weather is decent. I have been wanting to take Ryan one last time for the year, but the weather on Saturdays has not been co-operating. There is a scavenger hunt where the kids can go around collecting candy and halloween treats. There are also special hallo'ween mazes set up along with all the usual fun rides we enjoy.
8. Farm fun at Chudleigh's in Milton - In past years we made a trip here for apple picking but there is not much apple picking happening this year due to the weather we had in the spring ruining the apple crops. However, chudleigh's is still a fun farm to visit at this time of year with mazes, sand play, slides, a petting zoo, and ready picked apples for sale. The cost this year was just a little high for me to take Ryan though at $8 a person (4 and up) from tues-thurs and $11 a person (4 and up) from fri-mon.
9. Spooktacular at Vic Johnston Arena at Streetsville's Memorial Park in Mississauga - from 10am to 2pm, for kids age 2 to 10. Wear your halloween costume. Activities include crafts, coloring, games, scary tales, face painting and loot bags to the first 350 kids.
10. Pumpkin Fest at Downey's Farm in North Brampton / Caledon - We went here yesterday and it was great! There is a lot to do for the kids. It was $6.75 each yesterday but goes up to $12 each on the weekends (though on the weekends there is face painting, a puppet show, and other entertainment happening that does not happen in the week). There were bikes to ride, a duck race, bouncy cows to ride, a pirate ship to climb and explore with a slide, a truck to climb and slide down, a huge pipe slide (where we spent most of our time), a petting zoo that kids could actually enter, a hay bounce which was like a huge trampoline covered in hay (lots of fun and Ryan looked like a scarecrow by the end after all that jumping), a big pumpkin patch for pictures (and Ryan just enjoyed walking through it), a scary boo barn (we only got a few feet in and had to turn around as Ryan was scared), a wagon ride, and a big hay maze I didn't feel up to doing (chasing Ryan through it). We were there for 2.5 hours and Ryan cried when we had to leave. It was lots of fun.
Hope everyone has a safe and happy hallo'ween.
