Haunted (local!) happenings

I’ve been wanting to do this every season for years now, but it always seems like life gets in the way and my endless reams of notepaper goes missing. This weekend is the last weekend of October—and presumably (at least for us Canadians!)—the last real weekend of fall. Frost has been gathering on the windowpanes, mittens are dangling from winter coats and a prediction of snow on Hallow’s Eve has got all of us just waiting for the other fur-covered boot to drop!

So, the end of another season—and once again, not a moment too soon for me! I’m already waaaaaay over Halloween. Yeah, you heard me. I bought my first Xmas album a week ago and I’m already planning out the Christmas card photo. Hot cocoa, wood-burning fires, even wore my new winter boots to work the other day. Sure, it was warm—but I was totally rocking the Fa-la-la-la vibe!

Anyhoot—reining myself back in here—if you have kids all eager to give their princess dresses and ghoul masks a dry-run, then I’ve got the list for you! If have a hankering for something spooktacular this weekend, Ottawa is definitely the place to be. Here’s a pretty comprehensive list (yes, I know, I do a lot of research. Yes, you are all amazed by how I find all this stuff, yadda, yadda....) of the haunted happenings in the area this weekend. Find yourself some fun!

Happy Boo to You!

Halloween Hoopla
• Fiery Faces at 2825 Dumaurier Avenue, Ottawa. See a light display of hundreds of carved jack-o-lanterns in support of Ottawa’s Boys and Girls Club. Nightly displays from October 28 to October 31 from 6:00pm to 10:00pm. Family Fun Day from 12:00pm to 5:00pm on Saturday, October 29 with Ray’s Reptiles, pumpkin carving and cookie decorating. Free, but donations accepted.
• Bat Hunt at Canadian Children’s Museum. Find all of the bats hidden throughout the museum and win a special Halloween treat.
• Happy Halloween at Canadian Children’s Museum. October 28 from 9:30am to 11:30am. Costumes parade, make a mask, decorate a trick-or-treat bag and take in a show.
• Sesame Street Halloween Party at Canadian Museum of Civilization. Sunday, October 30 from 1:00 to 3:00pm. Dress up in best costumes and visit the Grand Hall. Treats, cool crafts, DJ for a dance party and appearances by Elmo, Cookie Monster and Abby Cadabby.
• Pumpkin Patch Parties at Gymboree (373 Vantage Drive, Orleans). Friday, October 28 at 6:15 to 7:15pm. Open to everyone ($12 for members, $15 for non-members). Treats, crafts, costume parade, games and more.
• A-BACH-cadabra! at the National Arts Centre. Follow Samara, the Witch as she and the orchestra set out on a Halloween adventure to discover the music of Bach. Dress up for this special concert. October 29 to November 1.
• A Barnyard Halloween at Canada Agriculture Museum. Trick-or-treat scavenger hunt through the barns; take a wagon ride; make caramel apples, pumpkin desserts and other treats in the kitchen; and decorate your own pumpkin (extra fee) and take it home. 9:00am to 5:00pm.
• Halloween at the Canadian Museum of Nature. October 29 and 30. Creepy Crawly Show ‘n Tell in the Theatre, scavenger hunt through the galleries, airbrush temporary tattoos in the mezzanine.
• Vintage Halloween Hijinx at Cumberland Heritage Village Museum. Kids trick-or-treat around the village, play old-fashioned games and learn about the history of the holiday. October 29 and 30 from 10:00am to 5:00pm. $7 per adult, $5 per student and senior and $18 per family. • My Little Pony at St. Laurent Mall. Not really spooky—but had to share. My Little Pony characters (with a special appearance by Chuck the Truck) will be doing free 30-minute shows. Can meet and take photos with Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and Applejack at 11:00am and 2:00pm on October 29 and October 30 in the courtyard. Free.
• Trick-or-Treat with the Mayor at City Hall. Saturday, October 29 at 5:00pm to 7:30pm. Safe and fun haunted house trick-or-treating in the Heritage Building, followed by ghoulish tales in Andrew Haydon Hall and a pumpkin parade at Jean Pigott Place. Admission is a donation for Ottawa Food Bank’s Baby Supply Cupboard (formula, diapers, wipes, food, etc.).
• Spooktacular Open House at Tiny Hoppers (Orleans). Saturday, October 29 from 9:00am to 12:00pm. Dress up, enjoy baked treats, games, colouring contests, free play and draws for a birthday party and summer camp.
• Halloween Party at Billings Estate. Sunday, October 30 from 11:00am to 4:00 pm. Spooky crafts, trick-or-treating, costume pageant and scary games. $6 per person, $10 per pair and $16 per family.
• Halloween Haunted Community Centre at Dovercourt Community Centre. Monday, October 31 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Includes treats, a ‘friendly’ house for the little ones and a ‘scary’ house for the brave of heart. Free.
• Mini Hottie Halloween at Midway Family Fun Park. Grand re-opening of Canada’s largest entertainment centre and Hot 89.9 will broadcast live at this Halloween party. Dress up, come play black light minigolf and bumper cards, take part in the balloon drop and costume contests. Sunday, October 30 from 10:00am to 4:00pm.
• Bring Your Mummy to Bayshore Shopping Centre. Monday, October 31 from 1:00pm to 8:00pm. Movie Zone in front of HMV will play four Halloween movies throughout the day, popcorn supplied by Kernels and gift card prizes by HMV. Storytime by Cole’s employees four times throughout the day with illustrations on large screen. Refreshments by Timothy’s. YMCA craft table. Trick-or-treating, courtesy of Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s, starting at 3:00pm. Free.
• Wickedly Westboro Street Party. Saturday, October 29 from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Family zombie walk with makeup and drama lesson from Ottawa’s School of Speech and Drama, pumpkin-carving at Your Independent Grocer’s, neighbourhood scavenger hunt, trick-or-treating and reusable bags, magicians, jugglers, psychics and palm readers on street. Sidewalk sale from participating retailers. Free.
• Halloween at Place D’Orleans Shopping Centre. Monday, October 31 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Free face painting and crafts in Laura Court. Trick-or-treat at participating retailers. Free.
• Halloween at Rideau Hall. Trick-or-treaters will be led through several ‘Mad Scientist’ experiments on the pathways at Rideau Hall. Monday, October 31 from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. Free shows--and treats!
• Halloween at Michael’s Craft Store. Saturday, October 29 from 11:00am to 2:00pm – a costume parade, crafts ($) and free face painting. Sunday, October 30 from 1:00 to 3:00pm – free make-and-take craft from Crayola. Ages 3 and up.
• Halloween at the Currency Museum of the Bank of Canada. Saturday, October 29 (from 10:00am to 5:00pm) and Sunday, October 30 (from 1:00pm to 5:00pm). Spooky crafts, scavenger hunt, activities and a bilingual magic show and workshop.
• Spooktacular at Hazeldean Mall. Stop by the Lottery to get special bag and trick-or-treat from 11:00am to 2:00pm. Free.
• Trick-or-Treat to Win at Carlingwood Mall. Purchase a trick-or-treat backpack from the mall ($10) and receive a ballot for the Kid’s Crooked Play House on display. Then, on October 29 and 30 (from 10:00am to 4:00pm) trick-or-treat with participating retailers and be entered to win the house. All proceeds go to Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada.
• Halloween events at Ottawa Public Library branches. Each branch of the Library has a different Halloween-themed storytime or party (with games, crafts, costumes and treats) taking place over the Halloweekend. Check out the website and find your local branch to see what they are offering.


And this one's really just for adults! If you have a few hours to kill on Saturday night this Halloweekend, why not take part in a Guinness Book of World Records attempt? Check out Thrill the World Ottawa. It is the world's largest attempt at a flash mob-type dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Over 160 cities around the world will be taking part at precisely the same time. Here, in Ottawa, the event takes place in front of the giant spider sculpture (fitting, no?!) in front of the National Art Gallery downtown Saturday night at 10pm (there is also a 10am dance on the same day that will not be a record attempt, but will act as a rehearsal and great YouTube fodder). Registration is required and begins at 5:00pm at the U of O campus. There is a mandatory two-hour dance rehearsal (with instructions for the dance), followed by costume and makeup. Guinness officials and media present at 10pm dance, so there will be lots of photo ops and surprises. Even if you can't dance, might be worth checking out just to see the two-minute show!

Pumpkin patches and haunted houses
• Pumpkin Festival at Ferme Proulx. Wagon rides through a mysterious forest to the haunted shack and the cemetery of former employees. Cornfield mazes, children’s shows, playground structures and inflatables. Weekends 10:00am to 5:00pm.
• SKreamers at Ferme Proulx. Not for the faint of heart—or the thin of wallet. For $20, you can visit the Haunted Barn of Terror and go on the Scary Wagon Ride. Not recommended for children under 10. Nights from 7:00pm to 10:00pm.
• Chills for CHEO at Funhaven. Ottawa’s best haunted house experience with 100% of proceeds going to CHEO. New permanent location at Funahaven, a new entertainment centre in Ottawa. Offering two haunted houses—Magic Manor for kids under 10 ($5 for kids, accompanying adults for free) and Crypt of Torment for all adults ($10 each). Weekend days 1:00pm to 4:00pm and evenings 6:00pm to 10:00pm. Volunteers and donations always appreciated!
• Cannamore’s Spooky Wagon Ride in Embrun. The Ottawa area's premier Spooky Wagon Ride! Children's activities, petting zoo, games, pumpkin patch and Halloween characters. Evening wagon ride is not recommeded for young children.
• Saunders Farm in Munster. Halloween shows and musicals, hayrides, playground obstacles, corn mazes, pumpkin patches and other farm fall attractions. Evening ride not recommended for young children.
• McMaze in St. Andrew's. Farm activities with a special focus on corn mazes! Open until Halloween.

Ghost tours
• Ghost Hunting at Billings Estate. Psychic Connie Adams teaches you how to search for ghosts around the estate. Saturday, October 29 at 7:00pm, $15, ages 8 and up. Sunday, October 30 at 7:30pm. Advanced registration required.
• Haunted Walks of Ottawa in the Market and Sparks Street Mall. A lantern-lit, nighttime walking tour of all of downtown area's most haunted locations. Special tours for Halloween. Call for pricing and times.
• Ghost Walk at Pinhey’s Point. Creepy storytelling at haunted heritage house. October 29 at 7:00pm. Ages 12 and up. $15 pp. Reservations required.
• Horaceville Haunt at Pinhey’s Point. Creepy storytelling in the cemetery, followed by a séance with psychic. October 30 at 7:00pm. Ages 16 and up. $20 pp. Reservations required.
• Haunted Tours at Canadian Museum of Nature. Castle tour at night, led by a storytelling ghost guide. Select nights. Approximately 90 minutes in length. Children $10.75, students/seniors $16.75, adults $17.75.

My little pumpkins

Call it a 'Wordless Wednesday' piece. (Yes, I stole that concept from another blog, although I can't think which one right at the moment....) Enjoy.

Spooking the pants off the kids

Been spending the last few days whipping this bungalow in the woods into haunted house status for my nephew's surprise Halloween birthday party. You see, months ago, Big H came to my sister and said:

"Mommy, for my next birthday, I want to have a surprise party. And, I want you to film it, so I can see the surprise on my face."

Jax was left stumped by this request. How was she to throw Hunter a surprise party--if he was asking for it?

Besides, it has never been easy planning a party for him. His birthday is the week before Christmas, so it's always difficult to organize anything with his classmates and friends at such a busy time of year. Everyone is always visiting family, attending other parties or busy doing last-minute holiday planning.

Last year, because Jax doesn't really have the room for an indoor party (and since December means an indoor party!), she spent countless hours finding a venue for the party (everything was already booked up for Christmas parties and events!) only to have three or so of the dozen kids invited show up.

So, after we discussed the situation, we decided to throw him a party well in advance of his actual birthday. This way, it really would be a surprise! And, it wouldn't be at that crazy time of year, either. We also decided to have the party at my house to help keep it a surprise--and because I have more room, both inside and out. Yes, it means another party at our house (that makes four this month, I believe), but that's what October is all about!

The party plan began as a pirate-themed shindig since Hunter wanted to be a pirate for Halloween, but then slowly evolved into a general Halloween party. Jax wanted to make sure that all the kids could re-use their costumes for the event and would not feel obligated to show up in pirate attire. She decided to save the pirate theme for the twins' party this summer. Might work better as a pool party anyways.

Since Jax is handling party foods and cake, my only real job is decorating and coming up with the scavenger hunt. The idea is to not only surprise Hunter with the party decorations and activities, but to scare him a bit, too!

To that effect, Brooke and I have been busy bedazzling foam bats, stringing up gauze strips in our spooky tree and blowing up pumpkin balloons for the last couple of days now. We also made a mini "Grave Garden" (as Brooke calls it) under the tree with some skeleton garden stakes and foam tombstones we found at the dollar store. We even revived Ol' Brunhilda, my porch witch from Rockland. She is now frowning angrily at visitors by the door, her brewing pot overflowing with bones, spiders, snakes and eyeballs at her feet. The place has really morphed into a haunted house.

Was fun to do. Hadn't really decorated for Halloween since we moved, as we are really in the woodsy country here and won't likely get many trick-or-treaters. That, and we have decided to trick-or-treat in town with the cousins anyways, so I guess we will never really know how many kids show up.

Today, we'll tackle the pumpkins. We have about 20 or so in total, but only about 5 or 6 of 'em are worth carving. I found some great pumpkin stencils on the Internet and can't wait to see the girls' faces when we hollow out the jacks!

Farewell to fall

*Wrote this post last week, pre-snow and post-party. Kept meaning to make a Picasa mosaic of some of the photos, but haven't got around to it yet. Figured I'd post up now before the party becomes too distant a memory. In the meantime, a group pic of just some of the kids in attendance that day.

Woke to a wickedly frosty October morning. The skies are grey, the trees are bare and an icy sheen has coated all of the brown grass on the front lawn. The chill in the air has made me crank up the furnace, yank out some stretched-out slippers from the old pile by my dresser, and think about turning the closet inside out in search of warm winter gear. I know I have a snowsuit that should fit Avie stashed somewhere deep within....

In spite of the sparkling frost, the pumpkins still sit defiantly orange atop the haybales, surrounded by buckets and barrels of apples and gourds, all of them demanding autumn attention. And, they'll get it. Right up until the end of the month.

I fall in love with this season every year, but the affair is fleeting. As soon as the greys start to settle in, I yearn for the white blankets of snow, the glow of Christmas lights (the big, energy-consuming old school bulbs from the 1980s, not the weird LED lights that we all now own), the sentimental crooning of Bing Crosby and the scents of gingerbread and pine boughs. You're probably thinking ''same shit, different pile'' when you compare those tawdry words to others I've previously posted. And, you'd be right.

I have an intense romantic fling with each season--and it's a cycle that never seems to end. We flirt, we dance, we dream up all kinds of moments to sneak away and be together. And, when we've finally celebrated the season, consummated our love for the holiday--when the big climactic moment that we've been planning for so long starts to fall away, leaving us either gasping excitedly for air or spooning in satisfying post-coital cuddles--then I'm done with the relationship.

For me, it turns into a ''it's not you, it's me'' kind of thing. The season, a little blindsided by the abrupt declaration, agrees. And as we say our final farewells, we both tell one another that the break-up is mutual, that we'll remain friends, that'll we call one another for coffee sometime. I don't know about the season, but me? I'm ready to move onto the next big romance.

And that's what happened this weekend. After months of planning, we finally hosted the Fall Family Photo Fete, our big harvest thank-you to family and friends.

And somehow, all the details came together. The sun shone, the wind eventually died down, the people came, they downed soup and chili and popcorn and homemade sugar cones, they drank hot apple cider and chilled beer, the kids jumped on the trampoline and threw leaves at one another.

Sure, I completely forgot to play all of the games I had planned (like pumpkin bowling and apple bobbing) or ink up the kids with the pumpkin tattoos I had painstakingly cut out the night before. And, I forgot to mention to some guests to take caramel apples and the kids' goodie bags as they left. I even forgot to gather together the girls for a family photo on the haybales. I also tried to chat a little bit with everyone and in the end, felt like I really spoke to no one. And, of course, we had WAY too much food left over (I told Hubby to stop peeling potatoes and making soups!) and yet I don't remember eating anything. (I guess we'll be eating chili for lunch for the next month. Not such a bad thing, in retrospect.)

In spite of all of this, the party seemed to go off without a hitch. I only had a moment to take it all in, to look around and marvel at being surrounded by such love, by such laughter and joy, by such beauty--and I may have missed it completely if it hadn't been for someone else.

My sister shook me out of my 'party hostess' state-of-mind and reminded me why we were having this party in the first place. As I mixed salad dressings in the kitchen, she told me that she had walked up to Brooke and given her a hug and had explained to my little munchkin that the reason everyone was here was because they loved her so much. That they all came because they wanted her to get healthy and wanted to celebrate her. She said Brooke's eyes went round and big and said ''Really? Everyone's here for me?'' Of course they were. Of course. I myself was as stunned by the turnout and the implication.

After that story, I immediately went outside and watched over the deck railing as my girl jumped like a fiend with a dozen other toddlers on the trampoline, their shrieks of joy piercing through the chatter and 'surprisingly decent' (as my brother called it) music in the air. I then looked over at Avie, bundled up against the chill, in Grandmaman's arms. She was smiling a gummy smile as she people-watched, causing all of the aunts to coo over her adorable little face. I am blessed. We all are.

Hubby's moment came the following day as we stacked chairs and folded tents. He had to take a quiet moment to himself. He sat on a haybale, drank a beer and smoked a cigar, while he just pondered about how special our little girl is. About how much everyone must love her to have come and celebrated her with us.

As evidenced by the laughter and smiles, it seems like our guests had fun and I hope so, because I know that we did. It's been a few days now, and still Brooke is talking about how great 'her party' was.

Even though Hubby and I had agreed pre-party against making a formal speech, I kind of wish we had taken the opportunity to thank the whole group for all that they had done this summer and continue to do. I hope every one of our guests knows that this party was not just for Brooke--but for them. It was our way of thanking each of them for the prayers, the good wishes, and the kind gestures they made us throughout Brooke's cancer treatment. We appreciate everything you guys did for us! We love all of you! Thanks so much! (I'm sure that sentiment goes without saying, but I still feel it needs to be said.)

Sure, B's treatments aren't over yet, but the end is in sight. We can see the flags and banners of the finish line in the distance--and with all of these people behind us and beside us, their love and friendship pushing us ever forward, our little family will get there.

As quickly as the party came, it was over. And, after a little decompressing to settle my mind, I was left satisfied. I'm ready for the next great big thing. I'm ready for Christmas, for winter, for ringing in the New Year with her last chemo treatment behind us and only good health and good spirits for 2011.

I'll wait the two more weeks before putting away the pumpkins and turning on Diana Krall, but know that, from across the room, I'll be winking suggestively at the next season.