Santa's North Pole Adventure at the Georgetown Loop Railroad

Andrew and I took the kids up to Georgetown to meet my friends for a train ride with Santa Claus! Oliver went on their Pumpkin Fest train this year with Grandma Judy and last year with us and Grandma Colleen. This was his first time doing the Santa's North Pole Adventure. Tickets were pricey, but they included a nice, long visit with Santa (complete with photo op), a jingle bell ornament for the kids, hot cocoa, a cookie, and a candy cane. We had a great time, but Oliver decided the train didn't go fast enough. 

There were many light displays along the loop. I guess they run a nighttime Holiday Lights train and have all of the decorations lit up. That would be fun to do one year!

Oliver adores Baby Grace.

Family photo!

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

This past weekend was also the Georgetown Christmas Market. After the train ride, we went to town to enjoy the market. Georgetown is such a cute mountain town. It's a charming place for the Christmas season.

Birthday Party at Boo at the Zoo!

Every year, the Denver Zoo holds an event called "Boo at the Zoo," where kids get to go dressed up and trick-or-treat. We decided to have the kids' party at the zoo this year during "Boo at the Zoo." It was so fun (and so exhausting). I think this was my favorite birthday party that we've thrown for the kids yet! And because we weren't allowed to bring in any outside food (with the exception of birthday cake), it was also the easiest party yet.

Oliver helped me bake cakes on Saturday. We made a chocolate round cake, and we made yellow cake pops, which I formed into pumpkins. The cake pops held up better than previous ones because I used a little extra frosting in them, but they were still pretty challenging. Out of a whole box of cake mix, I think we ended up with 20 usable ones.

Here's the spider cake we made! Joanna loves spiders (and monsters and pumpkins and dinosaurs). A few months back, I spotted a spiderweb cake on Pinterest. It was just a photo, but it was enough!

I searched high and low for a pumpkin cake pop tutorial and finally found one. Mine didn't turn out as nicely as the one I found, but too bad!

And I filled little goody bags with goodies and monster hats.

The next morning, we ran around like mad trying to get everyone dressed and ready to go. Oliver dressed up in his chef explorer costume, I was Lady Justice, and Joanna was Amelia Earhart. The costumes were great for a couple of hours, but then it got too warm outside for all of the layers. We had to ditch our costumes by the end of the day.

Parking at the zoo was a total... zoo! We ended up starting the party about half an hour late because people couldn't get there. Most had to park at the nearby museum or City Park and then hoof it over to the zoo. Oliver and Jo's Grandma Colleen & Grandpa Paul came dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2. They were basically celebrities! Everyone wanted their photo.

Oliver was excited to see everyone, but he was most excited that Baby Grace came.

The kids got to meet and pet some animals at the party.

And then we ate cake! Some of these photos came from friends & family. Thanks, friends & family!

Oliver really got into presents this year! Also, he seemed to fully grasp the concept that they were given to him by his friends. He tells me that Dominic gave him Thomas the Train!

Some more photos from friends:

There was a giant, talking pumpkin at the zoo! It was operated by a lady with an iPad, so it was really interactive. It would answer the kids and comment on their costumes. Very cool! Well, it was also terrifying for some children.

The animals were celebrating Halloween, too!

Each kid at the party got a token to ride the train or carousel. I'm pretty sure everyone chose the train. Oliver and Dominic were very eager to get on the train!

It was such a full, fun, and exhausting day! We had a great time, and it was really fantastic that the zoo handled basically everything. Oh, and on our way out, Paul & Colleen (err, Thing 1 and Thing 2) were stopped by Fox 31 News and interviewed about their experience at the zoo! Jo was in the interview, too, but not in costume. Unfortunately, it didn't air because of the World Series game, but I thought it was too cool!

National Wildlife Federation's "Hike & Seek"

Andrew had his first of three MCSA certification tests on Saturday (he passed!). I told him that the kids and I would keep busy so he could spend the morning studying without interruption. I stumbled across an advertisement for a kids' event called "Hike & Seek." It's an event hosted by the National Wildlife Federation in a number of different cities around the country. While ours in Denver was last weekend, there are others in October and November in different parts of the country. The website said it's an event designed for kids ages 3-10. Each city has a hike that's between 1 and 2 miles long (ours was 2 miles). There are stations set up along the hiking path for kids to learn about trees and various animals. It sounded fun! I wasn't sure if I could do the hike by myself, so I asked my parents if I could sign them up, too. I'm so glad I did because it took all three of us to juggle the two kids!

On Saturday morning, we set out for Carson Nature Center in Littleton, near the Mineral lightrail station off of Santa Fe. I'd never been to this nature center before. It's really stunning, although it is very close to the highway. The event wasn't too busy when we arrived. We quickly found a parking spot, helped ourselves to some coffee Starbucks had donated, and spoke with a man who got Oliver set up with a notebook and backpack. There was someone dressed as a raccoon for the event, and Oliver was not happy about that. 

Oliver had been looking forward to the hike, but, once we started out, he just had meltdown after meltdown. We ended up putting him in the stroller for the hike and carrying Jo.

At the first station, we learned about trees. Oliver was grumpy at first but then enjoyed picking a leaf for Jo and one for himself. They made leaf imprints, and he got a sticker for his notebook. He was still too grumpy to walk, but things were improving!

At the second station, Oliver learned about amphibians. He told my mom he got to color a picture of a frog because he couldn't say, "salamander." He did get a frog sticker, though.

The third station was about birds, and Oliver started to get really into the stations. He wanted to go to each one to get a sticker. Once he was interested, his mood drastically improved. He agreed to walk so Jo could ride in the stroller. That made it a lot easier!

Joanna was very easy-going throughout the event. She loved looking at all the trees and playing with the rocks and dirt. At one point, a woman from the National Wildlife Federation came up with a camera and asked to take Jo's picture as she played in the rocks. I wonder if we'll see her on their website or on their Facebook page!

Here's my dad by the Platte River, wearing Oliver's Ranger Rick backpack.

Oliver walked almost all the way from station 3 to station 4, which was probably about a third of a mile. Then, he needed a break, and Jo got to hike with Grandma Judy.

When we got close to the next station, Oliver wanted to hike again. I was so happy that he started to get into it!

At the mammal station, Oliver learned about smell. He was a little mad that the person running the station wouldn't let him have the mammal sticker for his notebook until he smelled all four of the scented boxes they had set out around the immediate area, but then he got really into it! He ran around with grandma and smelled them all.

Here's Jo running up a hill on the way to the last station!

When we finished, Oliver was getting cranky again. He didn't want to see the animals on display, but Jo was eager to look at the bald eagle and owl with me.

The Hike & Seek event was a lot of fun for us, but I thought the hike was a little too long for little ones. Almost all of the other kids we saw at the event were a little older--school aged. I think those kids got more out of the stations, too, but Oliver still enjoyed going and getting his stickers. It was really nice to get Oliver outside and exploring, so it was a definite win. I would do this again as long as I had help juggling the kiddos like I did this time! It was perfect for family groups.