Springs Preserve Haunted Harvest

We spent another weekend celebrating the Halloween season by attending the Springs Preserve Haunted Harvest!  Our good friends Erin and Jeremy joined us, and we started the evening by grabbing some dinner at KoMex (yum!), and then made our way to the preserve.  We got Nolan suited up in his costume (Pinterest inspired DIY scuba diver!) and started the fun!

When we entered, the preserve was decked out in Halloween decor, from festive lights, to scary clowns and monsters, to spiderwebs and fog.  They had carnival games and arts and crafts, but we passed those up and went straight to trick or treating!  As we made our way to each station, the garden paths were completely decorated and Nolan loved looking at all the lights, hanging ghosts and spooky witches that covered the entire area, but got scared every now and then and didn't want me to put him down.  Overall, Nolan did so well for his first time Trick or Treating!  He smiled and talked to different people, which was so much better than I expected!  I thought for sure he would get stranger danger anxiety and be very clingy, especially since we were out late, but he was the exact opposite and I couldn't have been prouder!  Everyone loved his costume and we got many compliments at each candy station.

We passed the butterfly conservatory and it was unfortunately closed for the evening.  We'll have to check it out another time!  They had a petting zoo and a haunted hay maze that we checked out next, and Nolan loved the animals just like I expected.  There was a mini horse, some chickens, ducks, rabbits and goats, and all the animals were actually clean and content!  I couldn't believe the chickens and ducks let us touch them, and Nolan went nuts chasing the ducks around.  He again could care less about the goats and focused mainly on the birds!  Silly boy.  

We finished up our trick or treating in the garden trails and made our way back to the main area of the preserve.  We got some amazing fried dough that may have been the best I've ever tasted!  Nolan drank his bottle while we chowed down on dessert, and once he finished, was up ready to party again!  This didn't last long, and as soon as we hit the freeway, he passed out and was out for the night. 

It is SO much more fun celebrating the holidays with kids and I am so thankful that we are able to do the many different events that we've already done for Halloween.  Nolan's first time Trick or Treating went great and he can't wait to do it again on Halloween night!