Holiday Fun Archives - Page 3 of 3

Holiday Fun

Irvine Park Railroad’s Annual Pumpkin Patch Now Open Through Halloween!

September 14, 2014 / Celebrations, Holiday Fun, Lifestyle, Orange County

With the start of a new school year and seasonal treats like Pumpkin Spice Lattes making appearances everywhere, I’d say there are signs of Fall all around. It’s a time of year that I absolutely love!

One of the things many families love about Fall is the opening of Irvine Park Railroad’s Pumpkin Patch! Nestled inside of Irvine Regional Park, the Irvine Park Railroad is one several family fun activities offered at the park. Others include hiking, biking (bike rentals available), paddle boats, pony rides, and The Orange County Zoo. We like to bring along a picnic and make an entire day of it.

(photo credit: Irvine Park Railroad)

This year, Irvine Park Railroad’s Annual Pumpkin Patch ` opened on Saturday, September 20th and will run daily through Friday, October 31st! Although we’ve had the opportunity to visit their Easter Eggstravaganza and their Christmas train recently, this will be our first time visiting their Pumpkin Patch in many years, so we’re very excited about it!

(photo credit: Irvine Park Railroad)

Some of the activities you can find at the Pumpkin Patch include:

the Irvine Park Railroad train ride through the park
John Deer tractor racers
A kid-friendly haunted house
face painting
Halloween bounce house jumper
carnival games (where everyone wins a prize)
pan for gold
cookie decorating
a giant hay maze
Halloween picture stands for photo opportunities

Emi could jump in this for HOURS! (photo credit: Irvine Park Railroad)

I haven’t panned for gold since I was in 4th grade! I’m doing it! (photo credit: Irvine Park Railroad)

I love these little Halloween faces! (photo credit: Irvine Park Railroad)

Watch this video for Irvine Park Railroad’s website, that shows how much fun the Pumpkin Patch is!

The hours for Irvine Park Railroad’s Pumpkin Patch are:

Monday through Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

There is no charge to enter the Pumpkin Patch, but tickets are required to ride the train and participate in Pumpkin Patch activities. Activity tickets can be purchased at the box office for $5.00 each or you can buy a book of 15 tickets for $60.00 ($15.00 savings). Also, please note that a gate entrance fee will be charged by the County of Orange for each vehicle that enters Irvine Regional Park.

He’ll be happy to give you a lift! (photo credit: Irvine Park Railroad)

For updates about all of the fun activities at the Irvine Park Railroad (sometimes even coupons),

follow them on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram!

The Box Trolls: A New Film from the Makers of Coraline

June 14, 2014 / Entertainment, Holiday Fun, Movies

I don’t know who gets more excited for the release of new family films, me or my daughter? I LOVE to watch kid-friendly movies with Emily, especially because the filmmakers always seem to include so many clever details to capture adults’ interest too. Now the the makers of Coraline and ParaNorman are coming out with another film, The Box Trolls!

How adorable are they? I already know my favorite one is the one with the shoe!

Here’s a synopsis of the film:

A family event movie from the creators of “Coraline” and “ParaNorman” that introduces audiences to a new breed of family – The Boxtrolls, a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead-Wright) in the amazing cavernous home they’ve built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. When the town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley), comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground, “into the light,” where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnie (Elle Fanning). Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs’ family.

In honor of día del Padre, here’s an adorable printable you can print out to use for a special father!

I don’t think I can wait until 9/26/14 for The Box Trolls to come into theaters!

It’s going to be such a fun film, don’t you think?

Check out their official site: http://www.theboxtrolls.com/

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theboxtrolls

Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheBoxtrolls

Irvine Park Railroad Easter Eggstravaganza 2014 & Giveaway

March 6, 2014 / Celebrations, Family Fun, Holiday Fun, Irvine Park Railroad, Lifestyle, Orange County

If you have ever been to Irvine Regional Park, you know how much amazing family fun it has to offer! Among some of the activities you can do are hiking, biking ( they even have bike rentals), rent paddle boats, pony rides, visit the Orange County Zoo, and even have a picnic! If you’ve never been, you need to take your family there right away!

One of our favorite things to do in the park is to ride the Irvine Park Railroad. In past years, we’ve gone in December for the Irvine Park Railroad’s Santa Train and festivities!

This year we’re excited to visit for it’s annual Easter Eggstravaganza, which begins on Saturday, March 29th and runs through Saturday, April 19th! Children and adults can ride the train through beautiful Irvine Regional Park. Children, ages 2 through 12 years old, also have the opportunity to participate in an Easter egg hunt, hunting for eggs that are each filled with either candy or a prize.

You can purchase tickets for your child(ren) to participate in the Easter egg hunts, which begin at 10:00 AM daily. Tickets will be exchanged for a wristband which will indicate a specific time for the egg hunt they’ll be participating in. Don’t forget to bring an Easter basket for each child who is participating in the Easter egg hunt. Irvine Park Railroad will also offer Easter baskets for purchase. Tickets must be purchased on the day of the event, in order to receive a wristband for the Easter egg hunt. Please visit http://www.irvineparkrailroad.com for complete details on the Easter egg hunts, including times and costs.

During the Easter Eggstravaganza, children can meet the Easter Bunny at a cost of $10.00 per family or group. This cost includes a picture that will be taken by Irvine Park Railroad staff and available for pickup shortly after the picture is taken.

There will be other activities to enjoy during the Easter Eggstravaganza including hay rides, a moon bounce, Easter cookie decorating, carnival games, face painting, picture stands and a lot more. Please visit http://www.irvineparkrailroad.com for full details including costs.

Irvine Park Railroad’s other annual events include the Anniversary Celebration, Pumpkin Patch, and Christmas Train.

Become a fan of Irvine Park Railroad on Facebook, follow us onInstagram (Irvine Park Railroad), view pictures on Flickr, and follow our tweets on twitter (@IrvineParkRR).

While at Irvine Regional Park, be sure and visit the parks other activities including Wheel Fun Rentals^® at Irvine Park bike and paddle boat rentals, pony rides and the Orange County Zoo.

The park entrance fee – charged by the County of Orange – is $3.00 per vehicle on weekdays and $5.00 per vehicle on weekends.

Irvine Park Railroad opens daily at 10:00 AM. The cost for train tickets is $5.00 per person; children younger than 12 months ride free. Irvine Park Railroad is located at 1 Irvine Park Road, Orange, CA 92869.

We can’t wait to go to the Easter Eggstravaganza 2014!

Emi already has her outfit and her Easter basket ready to go!

Now for the giveaway….you can enter to win 6 tickets (which can be used to ride the train OR participate in Easter Eggstravaganza activities) and 1 Wheel Fun Rentals at Irvine Park surrey rental (excludes double surrey)! Enter the giveaway in the Rafflecopter below!

Good luck to everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Giveaway open to U.S. Residence. No purchase necessary to enter. All fans have an equal chance to win, however, you must enter to win. A winner will be randomly selected via RaffleCopter and notified via email. No cash value. Winner will have 36 hours to claim their prize or a new winner will be selected the same way. Several different ways to earn entries. Not liable for unclaimed prizes or fulfillment. Sponsor has the right to refuse filling prize for duplicate winners from other blogs. Winner’s tickets will be mailed directly to home (or mailing address) and will not be available for will call at this event.

photos courtesy of Irvine Park Railroad

Holiday Monkey Bread

December 25, 2013 / Celebrations, Food, Holiday Fun, Recipes

Monkey Bread is a holiday necessity in our home! It’s so easy to make and is something that we all enjoy eating for breakfast on a festive day like 4th of July or Christmas. There are always leftovers to munch on throughout the entirety of the day too!
Lately, I’ve been trying to handwrite recipes that I make and put them into a recipe book for my daughter to have when she’s an adult.

Hand writing recipes takes WAY MORE time than just typing them out on a computer, but I think it’ll be more meaningful for her to have things I wrote.

Ingredients:

4 cans of Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits (not the flaky ones)
1 2/3 c. sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Generously butter a bundt cake pan.
Mix sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl.
Melt butter in a measuring cup in the microwave.
Cut up biscuits, 1 can at a time, roll pieces in cinnamon sugar mixture and layer them in pan.
After cutting up each can of biscuits, top the layer with some melted butter. Continue until all cans are cut up and layered.
Pour remaining butter over the top of the pan and sprinkle some extra cinnamon sugar on top.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, maybe a little longer if necessary. It should be golden brown on top.
Remove pan from oven and let it cool slightly prior to serving.

Just seeing this pic is making me want more!

Is your mouth watering yet?

Fun with our Elf on the Shelf

December 4, 2013 / Celebrations, Holiday Fun

Last year was the first year that we participated in the whole “Elf on the Shelf” thing. Emi came home from school one day talking about one of her classmate’s elf and asked if we could get one. I had seen others doing it online and there were some really cute ideas. I figured that it would be something fun to participate in. So, we hopped onboard the Elf on the Shelf party! . I thought I’d post some the pics from last year and how our elf “Sugar” ended up posing! The following images are from our Elf on the Shelf adventures last year! Enjoy!

Stay tuned for details about THIS YEAR’S elf shenanigans!

How many more minutes til’ Halloween?

August 18, 2013 / Celebrations, Holiday Fun

Today I almost fell over from excitement when I saw a TON of Halloween decorations at Pier 1 Imports that I *NEEDED! Seriously, there was even a Halloween tree with ornaments! I told myself that FIRST I need to get past “Back to School” before I’ll allow myself to think about anything Halloween. (I have little pep talks like that with myself all the time) Then I started looking back on some of last year’s Halloween party pics and I really just can’t wait!
Last year, I ordered these adorable shirts from https://www.facebook.com/sweetmadys for the kids. The girl’s version had a cute little witch on it and the boy’s version a Frankenstein. The shirts are personalized with their names. I was tempted to order myself one! Go check out her page!