Enchanted Forest

Today we had an early Halloween celebration and went to Lenexa's Enchanted Forest. Peg and Ron were able to join us, which the kids loved.

At some point the kids will choose not to do a single theme probably (though I really would be thrilled if they allow me to keep it going for a long time), but not yet. So this year we are doing super heroes. My plan was Spider-Man, Supergirl, and Batgirl. That came together as I had hoped, but Hannah repeatedly informed us that she was not Batgirl, she was Batbaby. So we had Spider-Man, Supergirl, and Batbaby.

We went to Enchanted Forest last year as well, but last year it was quite cold, not too much above freezing. This year it was super pleasant and we didn't even need sweaters. This is a great event for small kids as there are a lot of pretty lights and performers as well as an entertainment area with bounce houses and trick-or-treating and the great weather made it even better.

We walked the loop around the lake and saw lots of fun performers including a fire-juggler and some marionettes. Well most of us walked. Hannah was pretty much like, "Hello? I said I was Bat BABY. You can push me in my stroller. Babies don't walk."

We couldn't resist a photo-op with Joshua by a spiderweb. It seemed appropriate. He had a really good time, but he basically stayed in stoic character for every photo. We promise he doesn't hate his life as his facial expressions seem to indicate.

This event is held at Sar-Ko-Par Park, which has stepping stones out to a tiny island in the lake. The island has a little serpent statue on it. The kids really wanted to see the "dinosaur", so Jason took them out there for them to see it.

After seeing performers and walking the loop, we decided to do some trick-or-treating. The kids were  very excited about the candy, but then Joshua saw a balloon and wanted one. One of the companies had hired a balloon guy. The balloon guy was a super sweet 11-year-old, with his mom assisting. He was quite good, but incredibly slow. Joshua and I waited in line for a balloon for at least 30-45 minutes. Waiting is really not what I do. Like ever. So it is a testament of my love for Joshua that I waited with him. And it's a testament of his love of balloons that he stuck it out because I pretty much was constantly enticing him with candy if we could forget about the balloon and go do something else, but he wanted a balloon.

If you consider the value of my time, here we are with the most expensive balloons in the world. It is kind of an awful picture since my eyes aren't even open, but we need documentation of these balloons. Joshua got a spider. Clara ended her evening by the balloon line since they were playing the movie 'Monsters vs Aliens' and she's a girl who really likes watching tv, so she got one too due to her proximity. She got a ghost because I asked for the fastest thing he could make.

Of course Hannah saw the balloons and immediately had a big problem with this. So I asked for a non-creative balloon and they gave her an orange balloon with a face so totally a "jack-o-lantern". She didn't buy into it at first and wanted a better one, but I think she was convinced after awhile, especially when she realized that's all she was getting either way.

We had a really fun time and will probably try to do this again for at least a couple more years before the kids want to do something scarier.