Welcome to our weekly Thursday morning post about what's going on in the Des Moines, Iowa area. We'll share what we'll be doing, great finds, restaurants to eat at, shops to drop some cash at, and just all the great things Des Moines has to offer families
What We're Doing:
- Pumpkin Patches. We hope to head to The Pumpkin Ranch, Pumpkinville, and North River Adventures
Other Happenings:
- Covered Bridge Festival (Winterset, IA)
- Upcycle! Greenwood/Ashworth Park. You're finding invasive species and upcycling them into food for the animals at the Blank Park Zoo.
- High Trestle Hawk Watch (High Trestle Bridge in Madrid, Iowa). Don't care to watch for hawks? Just walk across the bridge then--great exercise and great views!
- Opening night for the Iowa Wild.
- Vintage and Made Fair.
- Fall Food Truck Showdown (Friday - Saturday, Pappajohn Sculpture Park)
Other Ideas (for those not in Des Moines or those who want to relax a bit):
- Head to a local high school football game. These are (usually) cheap to get in to and fun for the kids because they go fairly quickly.
- Pumpkin patches and apple orchards. Now is the time to go!
- Make Apple Cider Donuts for a special treat. Check out our favorite recipe here.
- Watch Halloween movies: Hocus Pocus, Casper, It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hotel Transylvania and for the adults go for classics: Halloween,Night of the Living Dead, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hitchcock movies are a great choice this time of year, Friday the 13th, Scream (total 90's flashback for me), and The Amityville Horror. Just to name some of my faves.
- Take a nature walk and collect things (pinecones, twigs, acorns, leaves, etc.). Head home and make a non-messy collage with all of your findings (learn how to make them here).