Our Cup Runneth Over!

At the Pumpkin Festival

The menu of Fall Family Friendly activities in Central, PA is abundant and lively! My family has been availing ourselves of some of the various outings and events and having a wonderful time doing so!  Last weekend we partook of the First Annual Pumpkin Festival hosted by the Penn State Arboretum.  It featured a pumpkin carving contest with several age categories for people to compete in and a lit pumpkin display.  This was the first community event hosted by the Arboretum and while it did not rival the World Record holders of the most Pumpkins lit in one location at one time it was a joy to see.  When we arrived at the Arboretum is was dark, and rainy; we couldn't see any pumpkins
but we immediately heard a child laughing.  That sound ushered into the gardens where hay bales covered with lit jack-o-lanterns greeted us.  M was amazed at what she saw and kept gasping and pointing to her favorites which included a Minion from Despicable Me and a flower.  My favorite was a carving of Steve Jobs!  We did not enter a pumpkin in the contest but will be doing so next year - let's see if we can begin to rival the record holders!

Looking for animal signs

The next day we traveled to Shaver's Creek Environmental Center for their Fall Harvest Festival Featuring the Children's Halloween Trail.  The Trail is not intended to be scary but rather is an opportunity for children to learn more about the Pennsylvania forest and some of the creatures who call it home.  We were lead onto the trail by our trustee guides Sleepy and Nightshade and first encountered a Wolf Spider trying to build a burrow out of leaves and also catch a tasty treat for dinner.  Next the children learned about how the moon orbits the Earth and why the Moon seems to change shape at different times of the month.  We explored eye shine, made animal calls and freed a moth from a spider's web.  Each of our stops along the trail were interactive and kept the children talking and assisting the woodland creatures.  One of M's favorite stops included a visit from a tree and had the children looking for signs of animal life while trying to figure out what could have scared away the animals, they soon discovered that humans were to blame and we were all charged with being quiet in the woods to welcome the animals back. 

As we climbed the hill to return to the center we were flooded with music coming from their main stage.  The main festival area included live music, storytellers, pumpkin carving, games and local food for sale.  M took advantage of the opportunity to go Pumpkin Bowling, play ring toss and bean bags as well as get her face painted.  As we headed for home we happily munched on kettle corn and discussed the eating habits of the Wolf Spider as we finalized our costume plans for an upcoming party.