Pumpkinville Party

This evening Kari, the kids, and I went to the Halloween Party in Pumpkinville at the Myriad Gardens.  The party is included in our membership to the Myriad Gardens and our two visits to Pumpkinville this month mean we've more than gotten our money's worth from the membership this month alone.  --- I digress.

The party was capped at 500 and this was such a great idea.  I think there were quite a few less than that given the drizzly weather  and the late start of the OU game.  It was so wonderful to not feel crowded or rushed or have to wonder where my kids are in the swirl of bodies.  The party included a hot dog, chips, and drinks (including witches brew) all around + lots of popcorn balls, candy from treat stations, fun Halloween tunes, stories read/told from the "Where the Wild Things Are" themed portion of the garden, crafts, making slime with the SMO folks,  and all the fun of Pumpkinville/the Children's Garden on a normal October day.  I hope it stays this way as I so liked the simple, beautiful fun of this evening.  

 Oh, and the Myriad Garden folks were smitten with our little monkey.  They game him a (too big) Pumpkinville shirt to celebrate his cuteness and posted this photo to their FB page. 

Everyone could leave and reenter so we ate out under the pavilion, wandered the Myriad Gardens grounds.  The kids explored, climbed on rocks and check out the fountains.  Then we headed back inside for pumpkin bowling, "corn hole", fun with Uncle Able who joined us for the waning moments of our adventure, and a few more treats. 

This is the new story teller's chair in the Children's Garden.  Cool, huh?  I loved the atmosphere as darkness fell.  The twinkle lights coupled with the rolling fog from the nearby storms was great. (Hmmm, I swear this costume fit and was almost big two weeks ago....)

Can you find our little cat?  Oh yes, at the last minute she had to be a cat instead of bat girl due because we thought the bat shirt was in the laundry (only to later be found hiding with some stuffed animals).  So, Kari again came to the rescue and brought a little makeup to help us with the whiskers/nose after our first attempts largely ended up on those white "paws". 

In never ceases to be bizarre when they play on this tractor as we totally have some like this back on the farm.  B regaled M with stories of when he used to ride tractors "all the time" when Grandpa was alive.  

I have to share these even though they are blurry as it was so much fun.  E stayed here putting the bean bags in and out of these holes and carrying them around for a very long time.  

Ps. Yes, I have more and probably better pictures on my big camera, but sometimes remembering now is more important. 

PPS - Brent was at the OU Homecoming Game with his Dad, but I didn't know about that when we signed up.  Having Kari there with us to help was HUGE.  The whole thing was just way more enjoyable and feasible with her help.  Thanks so much Kari!