How an Elephant Celebrates Halloween

Last year Grant was only six months old when Halloween rolled around. Though a baby  in costume is one of the cutest things in the world, the reality of it all is that there isn’t much else you can with an infant on Halloween. Our day consisted of rushing home from work, throwing on Grant’s costume, and getting approximately ten full minutes of picture attempts before tired Grant had enough and wanted to go to sleep.

Halloween 2012

But this Halloween things would be different. Grant was a toddler now. A toddler that was going to dress up in an elephant costume. And this is how an elephant celebrates Halloween.

Halloween 2013

First an elephant maximizes fun and starts the party early. Our party started at the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center’s annual event, Air & Scare.

We had never been to this event, or this museum,  so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. We drove about 40 minutes to get there and were welcomed by a line of cars… as far as the eye could see! I began second guessing my decision to check this event out. But we waited, and it was worth the wait.

National Air & Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

The museum itself is very cool. Huge space, lots of planes, helicopters and space shuttles to check out. For the Halloween event, special activity stations for the older kids were set up, there picture opportunities with a variety of Star Wars characters and a tot zone. The best part of the event was the indoor trick-or-treating, which was sponsored by Mars (aka all yummy chocolate!). It was a very fun way to kick of Halloween.

Trick-or-Treating

Playing in the Tot Zone

Checking out the museum

Elephants also like to have carved pumpkins for Halloween. But this elephant, being a toddler and all, wasn’t quite big enough to tackle this task himself. The day before Halloween Mommy and Daddy took on the challenge and created a family of pumpkins!

On Halloween, it was a cloudy but warm 70 degree day. Not exactly ideal for a  toddler in a two piece fleece elephant costume, but it did not seem to phase Grant much. The families in community we live in organized a pot luck with the intention of providing everyone with a good meal before heading out to the sugar filled main trick-or-treating event.

Of course it was also an excuse to have some extra play time and see all of the other kids in their costumes.

Grant  couldn’t get enough of watching the older boys run around.

He of course did a lot of running himself!

After attempting to try a bit of everything and eating much more than we probably should have, it was time for the little elephant to go trick-or treating for the very first time!

Off to trick-or-treat

Trick-or-treating in action

We stopped at a few houses but that was all this little elephant could take so we headed home. Being sentimental and all I thought I would try to recreate Grant’s Halloween picture from the previous year, sitting in front of the pumpkins (see above).

Instead, this is what I got. The toddler version!

Happy Halloween!

Toddler Meal: Butternut Squash Risotto Dinner

How I miss the days when my son Grant would eat whatever I put in front of him! We have been in picky toddler mode for a few months now. After experimenting with different foods I got an idea of what appealed to him and one thing he cannot get enough of is butternut squash. Keeping this in mind I embarked on a quest to make him a healthy dinner he would actually eat.

I was feeling daring and made a huge batch of this risotto with the intent of portioning it off to freeze for later use. Luckily, it paid off because this is one meal my toddler gobbles up!

Here is the recipe (modified from Skinnytaste’s Butternut Squash Risotto Recipe)

Toddler Butternut Squash Risotto Dinner

Ingredients:

3 cups fat free low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup butternut squash puree

1 tsp butter

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup arborio rice

½  tbsp dried sage

1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

1 lb broccoli crowns, cut small and steamed

1 can cannellini (or other white beans), rinsed and drained

1 cup cooked, cubed chicken

1 cup cooked butternut squash, cubed

Directions:

In a large saucepan, heat broth and butternut squash puree over medium-high heat. When it boils, reduce heat to a simmer and maintain over low heat.

In a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, heat butter until melted. Add garlic and rice; saute until the rice is well coated with butter, about 3 minutes. Add additional two ounces of chicken broth and sage and stir until it is absorbed.

Add a ladleful of the simmering stock; wait until it is absorbed before adding another ladleful stirring gently and almost constantly. Stirring loosens the starch molecules from the outside of the rice grains into the surrounding liquid, creating a smooth creamy-textured liquid.

Continue this process until the rice is creamy, tender to the bite, but slightly firm in the center and all the stock is used, about 25-30 minutes from the time you started. When all the liquid is absorbed, stir in the grated cheese and remove from heat. Add beans, chicken, cubed butternut squash and broccoli crowns. Stir to combine.

Pumpkin Day

On Columbus Day we celebrated one of our family traditions and what could arguably be considered one of the highlights of Fall…Pumpkin Day!

What is Pumpkin Day? It is about all things pumpkin, centered around the main pumpkin picking event of course.

It all started last year with the simple plan of visiting the pumpkin patch. Then the challenge… how much “pumpkin” can you fit into one day?

This year we started the day strong by selecting a breakfast of pumpkin bread.

Breakfast selection was critiqued by one of the world’s toughest critics…a toddler.

The judge was pleased which made us all happy to get the day off to a good start.

A content toddler in the morning, what else does a parent need? CAFFEINE! A quick stop to Starbucks for some pumpkin lattes. Then we were off!

The sun was shining for most of our hour ride to Bluemont, Virginia. While I always welcome a sunny day, it was especially appreciated since it had rained for five days prior to our excursion.  Yes…five. long. days.

But I digress. The time passed quickly and we had made it to our destination, Great Country Farms.

Great Country Farms had been on my radar to check out for awhile. They host a variety of events throughout the year and we were attending during their Fall Harvest Festival. Since our trip fell during the week, we didn’t get to experience all of the fun they offer. Some things are exclusive to the weekend, to include a pumpkin eating dinosaur, pig races and to my disappointment. a free wine tasting from Bluemont Vineyards. However, there was plenty to see and do!

We started on a wagon ride to take us out to the pumpkin patch to select our pumpkins right off of the vine!

The view was gorgeous and the pumpkins were plentiful. There was only one downfall to this entire experience. You may recall that I said it had rained five days prior? Well rain and dirt equal mud. But mud would not stop us!

Tom of course picked his pumpkin almost immediately. Grant had fun running in the patch (and tripping on the vines).. I took more time, scoped out much of the patch, and found my perfect round pumpkin just in time to catch the next wagon back to the main area of the farm. Included with admission was a small pie pumpkin so we chose two of those, paid and loaded them up. Then we decided to check out the rest of what the farm had to offer.

There was so much to do! We visited some of the residents of the farm, to include the miniature horses, goats, pigs, chickens (including lots of adorable chicks!) Grant had the opportunity to climb on a hill of tractor tires, “drive” a tractor, play with trucks in a room of corn and took several trips down a tunnel slide.

 

 

The highlight of my visit was the fall treats they had on the farm. We enjoyed kettle corn and bought apple cider and cider donuts to bring home. We all had fun!

But pumpkin day was not over yet! We all enjoyed some pumpkin ravioli for dinner  from Trader Joe’s (Which I have discovered is THE destination for all things pumpkin in the Fall.  Mental note for next year). What a great day it had been! Now it was time to relax and unwind and on Pumpkin Day there is only one way to do that. With some Pumpkin beer of course!

Happy Pumpkin Day!