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Top Places to Visit Santa in Des Moines

It’s that time of year! Santa is going to be one busy guy this holiday season. There are several events and places to meet and see Santa. I have only listed a few popular events and places, but make sure to check out my calendar on the right hand side for a complete list!

1. Brunch with Santa at Center Grove – November 29 – December 21: Every Saturday & Sunday 

Eat breakfast, do crafts, and visit with Santa & Rudolph! There will also be a coloring contest! Saturdays 9 am – 12 pm and Sundays 11 am – 2 pm. Cost $7.95 ages 3 and older $5.95 ages 2 and younger. Check out the Center Grove website for more details!

2. Santa Express – November 28- 30, December 5-7, December 12-14 and December 19-21

Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad  is offering the Santa Express again this year! A perfect event for your little ones. You will travel to the “North Pole” while singing Christmas carols, have hot chocolate and a cookie, meet Santa and receive a silver bell! Tickets are on sale! Make sure to reserve your ticket soon, because they will go fast. Check out the website for times and prices.

3. Santa at Jordan Creek Mall – November 21st – December 24th 

Visit Santa at Jordan Creek Mall and get pictures done! No specific times are listed. Check out the Jordan Creek Towncenter site for more information!

4. Santa at Valley West Mall – November 14th – December 24th 

Visit Santa at Valley West Mall, ride the train, and take pictures! Monday thru Saturday 10 am – 8 pm; Sunday 11 am – 5pm; and  Christmas Eve 10 am – Noon. For more information check out the Valley West Mall website.

5. Santa at Merle Hay Mall – November 16th – December 24th 

Visit Santa at Merle Hay Mall. There are no hours listed, hours may vary. For more information check out the Merle Hay Mall website.

6. Santa’s Wonderland at Bass Pro Shops – Now thru December 24th 

Get a FREE 4×6 studio with Santa, lots of kids activities and crafts! Games, trains, coloring, wildlife carousel, and SO MUCH MORE! For more information check out the Bass Pro Shops website for more information!

7. Windsor Wonderland – Saturday, December 6th at 6:30 pm 

Located at the Windsor Heights Community Center in Colby Park. Admission is $3.00 per person & 2 and under are free. Admission includes a hot dog, hot chocolate, activities and the viewing up the three classic movies; Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and A Charlie Brown Christmas. Windsor Wonderland flyer.

8. Santa at Blank Park Zoo – Saturday, December 6th & Saturday, December 13th 10 am – 2 pm  

This event is for the whole family! Take a picture with Santa and his reindeer, write a letter to the North Pole, enjoy hot cocoa and cookies, and explore the zoo! For more information visit the Blank Park Zoo website for detail and scheduled events.

9. Holidays in Johnston – Saturday, December 6th 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm  

There will be a gingerbread making contest, crafts, cookie decorating, entertainment, food and more! Santa will make an appearance on a fire truck! For more information and registration for for the Gingerbread House Making contest check out the Johnston Patch website!

10. Breakfast at the North Pole: Reiman Gardens – Saturday, December 13th 

There are two sittings available one at 8 am and 10:30 am. This event is for the whole family where you will enjoy a healthy breakfast in the Winter Wonderland, activity station, and carolers. You must register! For more information, prices, and to register check out the Reiman Garden’s website.

11. Brunch with Santa: Urbandale – Saturday, December 13th 9 am – 11 am 

Bring your kiddos, camera, and wish list! Join Santa for donuts, juice, holiday crafts, cookie decorating, and so much more! $10 per child. For more information and to register check out the Urbandale event page!

12. Breakfast with Santa at Pump it Up – Sunday, December 16th 

Jump your little hearts out and take a break and share breakfast with Santa! Private time with Santa will be first come, first serve. Pre-sale $8.00 per child. $10.00 per child for tickets purchased online. $12.00 per child for tickets purchased at the door. Check out the flyer here!

13. Breakfast with Santa at the Science Center of Iowa – Saturday, December 20th & Sunday, December 21st 

Enjoy a delicious buffet-style catered meal in the Food Chain Café, decked out specially for the season, snap a picture with Santa and share your wish list! Explore SCI, see science demonstrations and live programs. Science Center of Iowa members receive a discount! Check out all the information here.

 

Small Business Sunday Holiday Shopping Extravaganza

It’s the holiday season and one event to kick off the holiday shopping season is Small Business Saturday! Remember my post last year of all the awesome places to shop local in Des Moines? Well, Small Business Saturday is happening again this year on Saturday, November 29th!

In celebration of Small Business Saturday another great event is taking place on Sunday, November 30th … The Small Business Sunday Holiday Shopping Extravaganza.

This event is specifically for local vendors to showcase all their art and businesses. Shannon Stimple, a local artist in Des Moines, participated in a Small Business Saturday event and there was such a great turn out that she decided to host one herself, this year on Sunday, November 30th from 12 pm – 5 pm at Z’s Bar and Grill/Legion Hall.

There are so many participants signed up representing so many realms of art including: cooking spices, airbrush, photography, fibers, jewelry, pottery, gift baskets, body art, and tons more!

Vendors include :

  1. Shannon Stimple with SMS Custom Designs–jewelry and not your typical Tie Dye
  2. Lynsi Pasutti with Turtle Star Studio–functional & decorative slab pottery
  3. Gayle Curtis with herbal delights
  4. Karla Risius-Schumacher and Angela Perez with Gift Baskets and other Handmade Giftables
  5.  SkeieScapes (Cindy Skeie) with bright, wonderful Photography
  6. Veronica Deitrick and Fuku Wonwon with Dog Hats and Accessories
  7. Steve Baier with Air Brushed Masterpieces
  8. Maggie Howe with Girl With A Sword Productions- Fibers and Scarves
  9. John Gibney with JAG Photography
  10. Sarah Norman with Alternative Artistry Body Art
  11. Spice Shed has delicious, organic, salt free spice mixes
  12. Joy Hockensmith with funky, cool Jewelry
  13. Danèlle Stamps with savory kitchen must-haves from her family farm
  14. Betsy Hemping with Deep Rooted Fine Beaded Art
  15. Kim Bat Kreatures with Spooky Art
  16. Kaitlin Flury with fantastical paintings
  17. Anne Llewellyn with Shaded Tree Bakery will have scrumptious treats
  18. Annie Wood-Long with her fashion-forward hair accessories for teens and kids
  19. Meagan Tron of Trondo airbrush/spray paint art
  20. D.Ryan Allen with his captivating and curious illustrations
  21. Michael Lundberg with Meeka Mouse –painting
  22. And perhaps a few more still to come!

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Why is it important to shop local?  When you buy local  you are doing four important things:

  1. Supporting entrepreneurship
  2. Building a strong community
  3. Helping create local jobs in the community
  4. Keeping money in the local economy

Spend your Black Friday cuddled up at home, digesting that wonderful turkey feast and go out to shop Saturday & Sunday to help your local community!

For more information about the Small Business Sunday Holiday Shopping Extravaganza please check out the official event page on Facebook.

The Playground for Kids

We checked out another FUN indoor activity … The Playground for Kids!

Another great place recommended by Des Moines Beyond 4 Walls!

Playground for Kids

Playground for Kids is such an awesome place, located in Ankeny. It is full of so many activities. We went on a Monday and for the first hour we were there, we were the only ones playing!

You know when you go to carnivals and other kid events, they have the bouncy houses and inflatable slides? AND your children have to wait in line for their turn to go?! Well, we had none of that! Monte was so excited to go up and down the slides, over and over again. No one telling him to WAIT!

There was also a large tree house you could climb up and there were tunnels up above, that you could crawl around and slide down the many, many slides available to get down.

There was also a fun bouncy house that had a large “hoop” that you could throw balls into!

Admission into The Playground for Kids is $8.50 for 2-12 year old. Walker up to 23 months are $5.50. They also offer a $50 punch card for 10 plays, which saves you $3.50 each time you visit. I highly recommend purchasing this now, because this is a place where you will WANT to take your children to burn some energy this winter.

They also offer a3 month membership for $99, which allows discounts on concession treats, birthday parties, and unlimited visits!

I mentioned birthday parties … check out the awesome packages they offer! They also offer rentals of their inflatables if you decide to have your own party, at your house!

I definitely recommend visiting! You could even ask for a punch card OR membership for the holidays!

Imagination Playschool

Winter has hit and settled in the Midwest! Sadly, no more parks for awhile, so we are checking out some great indoor places to run and burn off some energy. We checked out another great place last week … Imagination Playschool.

Imagination Playschool is located at the Pioneer Columbus Center is Des Moines. This was another place I learned about from Des Moines Behind 4 Walls!

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It’s a large gym that is full with fun activities to do including foam blocks, play houses, tumbling items, and even a walk climbing wall!

Monte’s favorite were the cars and cars that went down a hill, kind of like a roller coaster!

Imagination Playschool is not officially open full time yet. They are hosting a few preview dates and last Wednesday was one of them. They have the following preview dates …

November 26th, 9 am – 2 pm

December 10th, 9 am – 2 pm

Starting in January it will be open certain days of the weeks, every week! It’s $2.50 per child to play. It’s well worth it, to keep the kiddos busy on a cold, wintery day!

I highly recommend putting this on your list of places to check out!

Have you ever been to Imagination Playschool?

Hike It Baby

I want to share an awesome group, I learned about these past couple of weeks …

Hike It Baby!

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I learned about Hike It Baby from another local babywearer in the Babywearing of Central Iowa group.

Hike It Baby all began in July of 2013 and has EXPLODED since then. It all started when one mother, Shanti Hodges, from Portland, Oregon, asked a group of other women if they wanted to go hiking with her. Week after week, more and more women joined. As the numbers increased, Shanti decided to create a website and newsletter to keep everyone in touch with each another.

Shanti created this group with the main focus to get moms (even dads) and babies out into nature. The hikes also help minimize postpartum depression, allows you to learn more about your city, meet other people who have the same interests as you, and give you some exercise.

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By word of mouth, and social media, several moms AND dads volunteered to lead hikes. The number of hikes that were lead weekly and daily, grew and grew! At this time, there are 40-80 Hike It Baby lead hikes across America. Each location has their own Facebook group, where leaders plan hikes and everyone who is in that area can talk and plan.

I absolutely love babywearing and to hear that an activity like Hike It Baby exists, makes me so happy!

Hike It Baby is completely free. It’s free to lead and it’s free to hike. It does not take much to become a leader. You can wear your baby, you can push them in a stroller, or if they want to hike along with you, they can do that too!

Right now, the Hike It Baby 30 challenge is taking place during the month of November. The challenge is to hike 30 miles in the month of November. Every 10 miles you hike, you are entered into a giveaway and there are some AWESOME prizes to be won! You can register for $10 to be officially part of the Hike It Baby 30 challenge and have a chance to win prizes OR  you can do it on your own, without registering, but you will not win prizes.

There are several levels of the challenge if you really want to challenge yourself even more. Such as hiking on only dirt trails all 30 miles, or you can walk around anywhere in your city as long as you hit the 30 miles. Amelia and I signed up for this challenge. Since it has been getting colder, it has been hard to get out and hike/walk, but there is still time! I know we can do it!

There is still time to sign up for the Hike It Baby 30 Challenge and if you belong to the Babywearing of Central Iowa Group, there are a group of women who are planning some hikes to meet this challenge. If you have not joined Babywearing of Central Iowa, read this to find out how!

As of now, there is no official Hike It Baby group in the Des Moines area. After the Hike It Baby 30 challenge, there has been talk of one being created! So, keep your eyes and ears open!

Valley Community Center

Monte and I have fallen in LOVE with the Valley Community Center!

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I learned about the Valley Community Center from my favorite Facebook group, Des Moines Beyond 4 Walls! This place has so much to offer for FREE and/or not very much money! Not only for children, but for adults also!

Our favorite thing is the kids play area. It is a great place to take your kiddos when the weather is icky and cold. Monte can spend hours running around, playing on the equipment and meeting new friends. Oh, and it’s FREE! Score! 🙂

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There is free Wi-Fi and a small little cafe, Maplenol Cafe, where you can order espresso, coffee, smoothies, and small snacks. There is also a  fire place in this area with big comfy couches. You should always be supervising your child while they are in the play area, but there are large glass windows so you can sit in the cafe, sip coffee and watch!

The Valley Community Center also offers classes for a small fee for children and adults. Right now they are offering …

  1. Creative Dance for Kids
  2. Zumba Fitness for Kids
  3. Barre
  4. Cardio Low
  5. Zumba Fitness for Adults
  6. Mat Pilates
  7. Kids in Motion
  8. Homeschool PE

These classes are between $3-$5 a class. You can buy a punch card and save some money! Some of these classes and other classes, I have not listed, may require pre-registration. Check out here for an entire list and calendar!

The Valley Community Center is only open during the week, but you can reserve certain areas during the week and/or weekends. I think this would be an awesome place to reserve out for a winter birthday party! Check out here for more information and prices.

What is your favorite thing to do at the Valley Community Center?

Des Moines Beyond 4 Walls

Let’s talk about an AWESOME free resource that keeps you up to date with fun events and activities going on in the Des Moines area … Des Moines Beyond 4 Walls.

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I wish I could take credit for all the fun events and activities we go to, but I cannot. Des Moines Beyond 4 Walls is an open Facebook group ran by two great ladies. They spend a lot of time and work creating documents for each season, holiday, etc. of things going on in the Des Moines area.

Each week a thread is started for events going on for that specific week and a thread for events going on for that specific weekend coming up. It’s great because not only do the administrators put what they have found on the thread, anyone who is a member of the group can add an event and/or activity they would like others to know about.

This group is also a great place to announce anywhere you have been and that you have enjoyed, such as a park.  You can also announce if you really love a place your child is taking gymnastics or violin lessons. It’s a great place to get recommendations from people who may be involved in something, you are looking into!

Please click here and request to join!

OR

You can search for Des Moines Beyond 4 Walls on Facebook.

 

Des Moines Halloween Events 2014

There are so many Halloween events that go on this time of year, in the Des Moines area! It’s so hard to pick and choose a few to do and see. We did some more fun activities this past week and none of them disappointed!

The Great Pumpkin Party was a three day event held by Valley Church in West Des Moines. We were not able to make it out until the final night, Thursday. Tuesday night was was specifically for families with special needs, which I thought was awesome! This event was so large, it was held at the Valley Church and the Valley Community Center across the street.

We were there right at 6 pm when the doors opened!

They had pony rides, right outside. Monte was soooo close to ride, but he got very nervous once he sat down on the pony.

The worship area was full of inflatables and right when you walked in,there was a huge Lightning McQueen inflatable slide. You should have seen the look on Monte’s face!

This event also consisted of live music, an illusionist, face painting, photo booth pictures, games, a petting zoo, ice cream, popcorn, lemonade, and MORE! All of this was FREE!

Monte’s favorite part of the evening (besides the large inflatables) was taking his picture with the super heroes!

Saturday evening we made it to the Annual Grimes Halloween Fest at the Grimes Community Center.

The whole building was filled with fun activities. As you walked through the building there were people dressed up, handing out candy. There were two different bake sales going on! Inflatables to play on (one of Monte’s favorite), a haunted house (we did not go in), a soft-play area for the little kids to run and jump, AND free tours of an ambulance and fire truck!

Monte though the fire truck and ambulance were way cool!

Sunday after carving and painting our pumpkins …

We went to the Valley Junction Pumpkin Walk. The event was 2-6 pm and we went a bit late, around 4ish. A lot of the things were just finishing up when we got there, but we still enjoyed ourselves.

The highlight of the event was, of course, getting candy.

A lot of the stores participated and as you walked through the junction you could stop and get candy! One store, gave away fancy, collectible rocks! Monte thought that was pretty neat!

Green Grounds Cafe hosted children’s activities and you could get a balloon animal! Monte got a GIANT sword! There was also a chance to get a FREE pumpkin.

What fun Halloween activities have you been checking out?! 

Susie Switch, Teal Pumpkin Project & Beggars Night

Let’s talk about Beggar’s Night!

Every year thousands of kids trick or treat, door to door and receive TONS of candy. I thought I would share a couple of different trends that are going on this year and you should participate to spread the word!

1. Susie Switch

Susie Switch is a witch that will come to your home on the evening of Beggars Night. Each child should pick out a few pieces of candy, they would like to keep for themselves. They will then set out the rest of the candy for Susie Switch. Susie Switch will come and take it to feed to her bats and leave another small gift for your child.

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook, which is where I learned about Susie! I think this an awesome idea. We always get stuck with so much candy and I usually end up throwing away half of it. Also, Monte is at the age where he WANTS candy and he knows what it is. Since we went to Night Eyes the other night, we put his pumpkin bucket on top of the fridge and he asks for it all the time. If you ask me, the candy he received that night, is enough for the rest of the season.

We will be  printing this poem, explaining Susie Switch, framing it, and placing it out every year. It will become a great tradition!

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Susie Switch is a great alternative to get rid of the extra, sugary candy and give your child something else they may enjoy more!

2. The Teal Pumpkin Project

This is a great idea! There are a lot of children who cannot trick or treat or cannot enjoy it very much due to food allergies. The Teal Pumpkin Project was created by the FARE: Food Allergy Research & Education Blog. If you are a home that will be passing out non-food treats, purchase a pumpkin, paint it teal, and place it on your doorstep. The teal pumpkin will let children and families know that you have something to give them, that is safe for them. Not only is this great for children with food allergies, but this is also another great way to cut back the sugar children receive this year.

You can purchase non-food items from Amazon, Target ($1 bin items), Nobbies, or Oriental Trading Company.

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This is a new concept being introduced. The more people who get involved and participate, the more awareness this brings to food allergies. So get involved!

Adel – Friday, October 31st 6 pm – 8 pm

Altoona – Thursday, October 30th 6 pm – 8 pm

Ames – Saturday, October 31st 5: 30 pm – 7:30 pm

Ankeny – Thursday, October 30th 6 pm – 8 pm

Bondurant – Thursday, October 30th 6 pm – 8 pm

Clive – Thursday, October 30th 6 pm – 8 pm

Des Moines – Thursday, October 30th 6 pm – 8 pm

Grimes – Friday, October 31st 6 pm – 8 pm

Indianola – Thursday, October 30th 6 pm – 8 pm

Johnston – Thursday, October 30th 6 pm – 8 pm

Norwalk – Thursday, October 30th 6 pm – 8 pm

Urbandale – Thursday, October 30th 6 pm – 8 pm

Waukee – Thursday, October 30th 6 pm – 8 pm

West Des Moines – Thursday, October 30th 6 pm- 8 pm

Winterset – Thursday, October 30th 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Windsor Heights – Thursday, October 30th 6 pm – 8 pm

 

Will you be participating in Susie Switch or the Teal Pumpkin Project this year?

 

Blank Park Zoo Night Eyes 2014 & Giveaway!

We made it out to the Blank Park Zoo Night Eyes again this year! Monte really enjoyed himself last year, so we made sure to check it out this year.

He went as a minion this year! It was hard to get a picture of him with the entire costume on (classic 2 year old), hopefully, before the end of the season, I will get one. I bought it off Etsy … I seriously have an Etsy addiction. Everything is so unique on that site!

I tried to get some good pictures of the event, but as the night went on, it got darker and darker and my pictures did not turn out the greatest 🙁

There were a lot of the same themes as last year like the Wizard of Oz, Pirates, When I Grow Up; but they did a great job of setting it up differently and adding some new things!

They also had the Fun Zone set up this year, which includes bouncy, inflatable houses, kettle corn, hot dogs, and more. We did not make it to this area in time. The Fun Zone closes at 7:30 pm

Monte enjoyed receiving candy from all of the different characters dressed up such as Woody from Toy Story and a Princess! He was a little shy when he met the princess. He wanted to go over, but never got enough courage to go and take a picture.

Monte also enjoyed riding the train, riding the carousel, and seeing some of the animals. While we were there the lion’s were super active and we saw the male lion get up and run! We also saw the tortisus’s up close.

I would definitely recommend putting Night Eye’s on your list of Halloween things to do! I love how the kids receive more then just candy, such as coupons, and how it can become a learning experience by viewing the animals and seeing some different, kid-friendly characters!

This weekend is the last chance to check it out.

It will be open Thursday – Sunday

Thursday & Friday 5:30pm – 8:00 pm

Saturday & Sunday 1:00 pm – 8:00 pm

If you go Thursday or Friday I would recommend being there right at 5:30 so you have a chance to check out the Fun Zone!

Giveaway!

I am giving away TWO free tickets to Night Eyes. All you have to do is go to my Facebook page and like, share and comment “done” on the pinned post at the top of the page. If the page gets to 120 “likes” by Wednesday, I will randomly announce a winner! Good Luck!

What is your favorite thing at the Blank Park Zoo Night Eyes?