pumpkin carving is a serious business, bandannas required |
Friday
we headed to Taylors for Enchanted Tracks. At the Greenville County Rec area “Pavilion,”
the Safe Kids Upstate sponsored event was billed as a fairytale trick-or-treat
experience. Typically the Thursday through Saturday before Halloween, the kids
get to trick-or-treat with some of their favorite fairytale (read Disney)
characters and play carnival games in a safe environment. We paid $5/child in
advance ($7 at the door) and had a great time – but it would have been better
had it not been freezing outside. The temperatures really dipped for a few nights
only, and I regretted not taking gloves and snowsuits for the boys. They most
enjoyed the ride on George the Train*, which looped around and through the woods
for a spooky but not scary treat for children and adults alike. The lines were
not too bad, although certain carnival games and the train proved a longer
wait. I felt slightly let down by the treats, as I had been led to believe
there would be more non-candy treats like stickers and trinkets, when in fact
it was almost 100% candy. We might return next year, depending on the weather.
Saturday
it was a neighborhood block party, complete with Halloween parade, giant blow-up
bounce house/slide, chili cook-off, tons of games and good food. It was spooky
how exhausted we were afterwards.
Sunday
it was off to Boo in the Zoo. We went last year and learned a good lesson; buy
tickets beforehand. This year we probably avoided a good hour’s wait in line by jumping in the "pre-purchased" line,
and it was shortly after the gates opened (albeit on the last day of this
two-weekend event; for more information on cost, times and schedules please
visit the Greenville Zoo’s homepage). However last year I remember the crowds
diffusing once past the front gates, this year it was crowded! It was hardly
worth the wait to try and see any of the animals (since we are there almost
once every two weeks anyway), and if it hadn’t been for all the amazing
costumes I would regret going. The boys came home with a bag full of candy and
little Halloween trinkets (which have mostly broken in the 48 hours since) as
well as a couple of cans of Pepsi. Yeah, Pepsi. If we go next year I will buy
tickets in advance and we’ll go the first weekend of the event.
Happy 1st birthday Kiko! |
Yesterday
we had tickets to SC Children’s Theatre’s “Tell me a Story Costume Party.” We
enjoyed the Pirate production early this fall and often go to storytime, so knew we
would not be disappointed with their Halloween Boogaloo! The boys (skeleton
& dinosaur) stared wide-eyed as witches, robots, princesses and animals
(and a full McDonalds set: fries, burger & shake) arrived, and listened
with rapt attention to the two stories read and enacted. Audience participation
and a Halloween parade got the kids moving, and children didn’t leave
empty-handed; each participant received a Halloween-themed finger puppet to
take home. I hope the boys want to go next year!
I was
disappointed the Roper Mountain Science Center didn’t put on their
environmentally-themed “Green Halloween” this year, but I’m not sure we would
have been able to squeeze in another event. It’s lucky the boys haven’t overdosed,
although the rate of sugar consumption in this household has increased in the
last week. Let’s see if we can make it through the actual holiday to the
weekend… Oh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Bū-čas!
Had to put this one in here Monique... |
* George the Train was originally built by the Kiwanis Club in 1952 and ran in McPherson Park (then known as City Park and just around the corner from our house) until the 1960s. In March of 2001 the Greenville County Rec department brought it back to Greenville from Hattiesburg Mississippi, and it's been running its route at Pavilion ever since.
Sounds fun! We only did a couple parties this year and the Ghost Tour in downtown Greer but we've done Boo in the Zoo and Enchanted Tracks in years past. When we went to Enchanted Tracks they mostly handed out trinkets so I'm sad they've changed that!
ReplyDeleteOoh, a ghost tour!!! Maybe once the boys are a bit older, they tend to scare easily still. Thanks for the great idea!
DeleteThat's a busy Halloween week. I'd be done, too, but it sounds like you found lots of fun things to do!
ReplyDeleteThat's what's so great about Greenville - there are tons of kid-friendly things going on, all the time! Sometimes it is hard to choose...
DeleteLove your write up of the Children's theatre. And jeez, Deer-In-The-Headlight look for Finn and moi! We had fun though!
ReplyDeleteThanks Monique, and yes, we did have fun. Some more than others perhaps? (Roberts!)
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