7 Reasons to Visit Hal-Glow-Een at the San Diego Zoo: Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese

Every year we try to incorporate one new Halloween event into our calendar.  Sometimes they end up being keepers (like the Gingerbread house building we did last year) and other years we decide that we don't need to make it a yearly event.  This year our new event was Hal-Glow-Een at the zoo.   For three weekends in October the zoo, which normally closes at 5pm, stays open late for Halloween festivities.  Prior to us going I could find very little information about the event.  What does it entail?  Is it worth it?  If you're considering making this a family event for next Halloween, here are some good tips to keep in mind.

#1: Music and Dancing

 Hal-Glow-Een is made up of several different areas throughout the zoo with activities at each area.  And a lot of the activities involve music and/or dancing.  We started the evening out with the Skeleton Band, who played a bunch of kid friendly Halloween music that got both my kids up and on their feet grooving.  

We also stopped by Dusty Keys, who, along with his skeleton friend, played Halloween songs on the organ, told jokes, and generally kept the kids entertained.  

Special tip: Dusty Keys is located at the Boardwalk Beer Garden if the grownups want to grab a drink while the kids watch the show.  

And of course, the bubble dance party which goes on all night.  There are black lights, bubbles, and fun music for your favorite little dancer.

Special tip: In addition to the bubbles put on by the dj, they sell light up bubble wands which of course every kid wants.  So be prepared ahead of time to either buy one or tell your child "no" a million times.  

#2: Fun Shows

In addition to the musicians, there are also non-musical shows.  At several times and locations throughout the zoo there are "Animal Encounters,"  a chance to get a closer look at some very cool animals.  Thatbaby made us stop each time we passed one. 

There's also The Spooky Review which features aerialists, acrobats, and jugglers.  We happened upon it early in the evening, but I'm betting it would be even more fun at night when the performers neon costumes glowed.

The kids loved Dr. Zoolittle, which had a ton of crowd participation.  There was magic, bug eating, and a cupcake walk where 3 kids win cupcakes. 

Special tip: Both the Spooky Review and Dr. Zoolittle are located beside restaurants, so they make a great place to stop and grab dinner while you watch the show.

#3: Python Path

Most of the animals don't take part in the Hal-Glow-Een festivities.  With the exception of the reptiles in the reptile house.  Glow in the dark reptiles adorned the wall as we wandered through looking at different snakes, lizards, and frogs.

#4: See the Zoo at Night

Since the zoo normally closes at 5pm, you get to see a side of the zoo that few experience.  Some of the animals are more active as the weather cools down.  Others who may hide during the day come out and sleep in the open at night.  

Special tip: The zoo is really dark at night.  Most of us were using cell phone flashlights to get around.  I recommend either starting at Africa Rocks (which is the easiest to get lost in the dark) or bringing a light source with you.  Glow wands, sticks, and jewelry are definitely helpful.

#5: Boo Crew

Do your kids love costumed characters?  Street performers?  Both? Well Hal-Glow-Een has them! It's pretty cool to see the Boo Crew wandering around and interacting with kids.

#6: Food and Drink Specials

Almost every restaurant had specials for Hal-Glow-Een.  Like spooky straws for your drinks.  Or cotton candy shaped like candy corn with a light up stick.   The zoo doesn't usually run seasonal food specials, so if you like the idea, this is the time to get it!

#7: You Can't Do It All

There's so much to do at Hal-Glow-Een, there were a ton of events we didn't get to.  Other musicians, shows, and even glow in the dark hula hoops.  So if none of the events I wrote about appeal to you, maybe one of the others will!

Know Before You Go:

• Hours: Weekends in October, 5-9pm.
• Admission: Included with the price of zoo admission for adults ($56).  Since the zoo participates in "Kids Free in October" this event is free for kids.
• Membership: Packages vary.  An annual pass is $174 for 2 adults and includes access to the zoo, Safari park, and special events at both locations. 
• See Plan Your Visit on the San Diego Zoo Website for more information

Since Halloween is now over, I'm sharing my favorite "Halloween" recipes that are really great for the whole fall.  Like pumpkin macaroni and cheese.  Fall is my favorite time of year for comfort foods like this.  Comfort foods involving pumpkin.  Really, there's nothing better.  And while savory pumpkin dishes can be hit or miss, this macaroni and cheese hits all the right notes.  It's not overwhelmingly pumpkin spice, instead the pumpkin helps to make the sauce creamy and thick.  And with all the cheese in it, its a surefire winner with small kids.  I didn't even mention the pumpkin addition to mine and my kids devoured it.

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese

1lb macaroni or other pasta (I used the pumpkin shapes from Trader Joes)

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

2 cups milk

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup mozzarella

1/4 cup parmsean

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
3. Add in the flour and stir until it becomes a paste.  Cook for another minute or two until the paste starts to bubble.
4. Slowly stir in the milk, and continue stirring until smooth.  Cook for 3-5 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken.
5. Reduce heat to low and stir in pumpkin, mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt and pepper to taste.
6. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.  Continue stirring until all the cheese is melted and incorporated.
7. Stir in the pasta and serve.

Bye Bye Pandas: Passover Pandaberry Muffins

Ever since I was a little girl, I was obsessed with the San Diego Zoo.  And this is years before we even lived in California.   When I was in 4th grade, living in Pennsylvania I decided I wanted to be a veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo.  My parents went to San Diego for a conference and brought home a book from the zoo and it was one of my most treasured possessions. 

One of the best parts of the zoo, in my opinion, were the pandas.  I love the pandas at the zoo.  So given all that history you can imagine my immense disappointment when I learned last month that the pandas were leaving the zoo at the end of April.

The pandas at the zoo were on loan from China as part of a breeding program.  The program was successful, and now that the last of the babies are old enough to have babies of their own, it's time for them to go home.

Obviously we had to go visit before the last ones left.  We even waited in a ridiculously long line, because we were not the only ones with this idea.

Alllllmost there!  We could see the not-so-little guy!

There he is! Completely oblivious, just munching away on his bamboo.

I just love this picture.  Thatkid looks completely mesmerized.  He didn't want to leave.  He just wanted to stand there and watch.

Bye bye pandas!  Come back and visit ANYTIME!

I wanted to commemorate the event with a special panda treat - but we're a little limited right now with Passover.  But, Passover muffins are something we go through like gangbusters in this house, so panda-fying some Passover muffins seemed like a good way to go.

Because it's for Passover, this is also a great gluten-free recipe for use year round.  

Passover Pandaberry Muffins

1/4 cup almond flour

2 Tbsp coconut flour

2 Tbsp tapioca flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 ripe banana, mashed

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

3 eggs

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup blackberries

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 6 cups of a muffin tin.  Whisk together the flours, starch, and salt.
2. Combine the banana, coconut oil, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer.
3. Add one at a time, blending between each addition.
4. Add in the dry ingredients and mix just until blended.
5. Stir in berries.  Divide between the muffin cups.
6. Use blackberries and blueberries to create a panda face on the top of each muffin.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until they are golden brown.  Let cool in pan and enjoy!

Mama's Taking Us To The Zoo Tomorrow

Thatboy and I are incredibly lucky in a lot of respects. When we first decided to expand our family we decided it would be ideal to have an October baby. And so that was what we tried to have. And we were obviously successful.

Even still, when I realized Thatbaby was due the first week of October there was a nagging thought in the back of my head - the zoo walk was usually the first weekend in October. We've been taking part in the zoo walk for years and it seemed pretty certain we'd be missing it this year. And even though I was excited about our upcoming addition, I was a little sad to be missing out on tradition. Besides, the zoo walk is my favorite way to see the zoo. It's not crowded, the animals are all up and active, and the weather is usually perfect.

As the months went on, I started getting notices about the walk and realized that for the first year it wasn't the first weekend in October - it was the third weekend! Meaning if I had Thatbaby the first week of October he'd be almost 2 weeks old by the time of the walk. I did a poll of my mommy friends who thought it wasn't unreasonable that I'd be able to do a 2.5 mile walk 2 weeks after giving birth. Even still, I waited to sign up until closer to the date.

I started out by saying how incredibly lucky I am. And that includes postpartum recovery. I've been up and at 'em since day 2 with little to no pain. Thatboy and I started going on 3 mile walks every afternoon by day 4. We took a roadtrip with Thatbaby up to the brit milah on day 8. So a 2.5 mile walk on day 13? Why not?

Earlier this week I signed us up and at 5:30 this morning I fed Thatbaby and we tucked him into the car for his first visit to the zoo.

As you can see, he got a lot out of it.

We decided to take pictures of him with various animals in the hopes we can turn it into a book for him later for bedtime readings.

He especially liked the giant bear.

Thatbaby spent almost the entire walk asleep, which we figured would happen. He spends most of our walks asleep. Actually, he spends most of the days asleep. But I hear that's a thing at this age.

The animals were their usual active morning self. The meerkats were amazed by the stilt walkers, the elephants were getting pedicures. We got up close and personal with a llama and the giraffes were racing each other. All in all it was the perfect outing and I'm so glad we were able to take part!

Of course being up and out at that time of day when you're still waking the baby every 3 hours means you're pretty much shot for the rest of the day. Luckily I had three things in my favor: 1)We had a great night with Thatbaby last night. Meaning he went to bed when he was supposed to, woke up easily when I woke him for feedings, and went right back to sleep. Meaning I was able to get in a full 2 hours of sleep after every feeding.
2) Afternoon nap!
3) Dinner in the freezer.

A little tip if you're looking to freeze meals - don't forget the veggies! Or sides in general. I found one of the easiest ways to include veggies in my freezer meals is have them in a baked dish. Like the rice and peas I've got ready to go. Or in this case, scalloped cabbage. That way you can get it all prepped, and when you're ready to eat you can pop it, frozen and all, into the oven. Baking it means you don't end up with soggy, water laden veggies - even when you're dealing with fresh greens. The scalloped cabbage was Thatboy's favorite part of the meal, but take that with a grain of salt because he's REALLY not a ham fan. That part of the meal was completely for me!

Scalloped Cabbage
1 small cabbage cut into quarters
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk, warmed
salt and pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 400. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the cabbage and boil 7 minutes.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour until a paste forms.
3. Slowly stir in the hot milk and stir until a thick sauce forms. Bring to a boil.
4. Salt and pepper the sauce to taste.
5. Drain the cabbage and cut out core. Chop the cabbage and place in the casserole dish.
6. Spoon the sauce over the cabbage and sprinkle the crumbs on top. Bake for 20 minutes.
   

More Birthdaying! Crazy Animals

A couple days before my actual birthday, Thatboy told me he wanted us both to take the day off work. But then things got busy at my work and Thatboy had a trial, and I just didn't think it was going to happen.

Then I had an unexpected meeting schedule for the morning of my birthday (this always seems to happen to me) and Thatboy was fairly certain his verdict would be back that morning....since they jury had been deliberating 2 days already...for a DUI.... So we decided to do a half day. Which reminds me of how we spent my birthday last year!

And like last year, once we were off work, we headed to the zoo! My fave place ever. I really wanted to check out the new polar bear exhibit because we hadn't been since the 5k where we raised money for them to build it!

We usually don't stop and look at the flamingos, but they were SO pink, we gave them a gander and came upon a lot of interesting sights.




Did you know Flamingos slept on their knees? And that their knees bend backwards like some weird zombie creature?

It was hatchling season so we got to see baby flamingos! So cute and grey and fuzzy! Hard to believe these grow into giant pink birds, huh?



Those big mud lumps are actually flamingo nests. And the sitting flamingos are sitting on eggs. When they stood up we got to see pre-baby flamingos!

But of course, our real reason for the trip was to visit our polar bear buddy in his giant new habitat.

I love this big galut. He's such a ham, fooling around for the camera. Waving his giant paws, scratching his ears, rolling over.

His girlfriend doesn't pander to the crowds (you don't know how hard I had to fight not to stick a "panda" joke in there). She made herself a nice bed under the shelter and only briefly deigned to look at us. And frankly, I think she was only looking up to see if our buddy was going to be bringing her something to snack on anytime soon.

And of course, no trip to the zoo is complete without visiting my bestie beasties!

Although we might have come at an inopportune time since we appear to have intruded on an, ahem, "intimate" moment.

And believe it or not, I hadn't been to the zoo since the newest member of our panda family made his debut. There are two times of day in the panda enclosure - eating time and sleeping time. We happened to arrive during eating time.

Except for our new little guy who was taking a nap. How cute is his little tail! Hi baby panda!

We were meeting the rest of my family for dinner a little later, but Thatboy and I headed to the restaurant early to enjoy some happy hour. Because there's nothing better than beer on your birthday.

Now, I've actually been avoiding blogging about this restaurant for a while. It's Thatboy and my best kept secret - the place we take family and friends to, but don't really spread the word about. We like it because it's local and hidden, and we kind of like it that way. It's the place we go when we decide last minute we want to eat out because we can always get a table and the food is phenomenal and locally sourced. The local beer selection is awesome, and all their wines are from small batch distributors. Can you see why we want to keep it to ourselves?

Thatboy and I made ourselves comfy on the deck overlooking the lagoon and ordered a couple of beers and the baked goat cheese.

Thatboy is in love with the bread here, we always go through multiple baskets. And the goat cheese is so good, we ordered another one to share with the family. Thatboy liked it best with the pesto, but I loved the sweetness the caramelized onions brought to the tangy cheese.

Eventually the rest of the family got down to us, and we moved indoors, and switched to a bottle of wine Thatbrother brought with him.

Thatmom and I both got the flatiron steak. All the alcohol means I needed something heavy in my stomach, and steak sounded like a great choice, but beer and bread and cheese made me too full to finish. Although I did some nice work on those buttery veggies. Mmmmmm I love veggies! I think Thatmom cleaned her whole plate.

Thatbrother got the duck confit, the first dish I ever had here and one of the best duck confits I had. He was pretty impressed with it.

And UDubb had another one of my favorites - the cassoulet with chicken breast and Italian sausage. I love the meatiness the tuscan beans add to this and the saltiness the pancetta brings.

Thatboy got his favorite dish (and Sisterwife's too) - the Scallops with farfelle. He loves these scallops! And I don't know that many places that serve them grilled, a nice change.


And we finished the evening with a cake Thatmom brought from Susiecakes. Which we graciously shared with the restaurant staff since there was no way we were eating the whole thing. The staff was very upset to learn this bakery was in Orange County because they are now as addicted as we are!

And thus ends my birthday celebrations for 2010. Although Prez and I have already started planning for 2011..........