Mickey & Minnie, Ichabod Crane and the reappearance of Eddie

Iron Maiden, in the 80's, had a mascot, Eddie. He was a scary looking guy that everyone immediately recognized as Eddie. He made his appearances in larger than life form at concerts. In my life, today, I have my own "Eddie" and he too, is larger than life. He is in the form of a double long, extra heavy, fear evoking, 100 lb. stroller. He made his appearance again last night.

On Friday, Heather, Katie, David, Desiree and I all headed to California Adventure for Mickey's Halloween Time. I have to say that it was really awesome. No lines....lots of candy...adorable costumes all over and just beautifully decorated--totally Disney.

David dressed as Mickey. He was super cute. He had a puffy tummy and the ears. Katie was Minnie and just as cute. Most kids were dresssed as Disney Characters. They had candy spots all across the park where you could go and get candy. When you first go in, they hand out candy bags. They gave out Snickers, Ghiradelli, carrots, raisins and dried puff fruit for babies, taffy and other things. They had stations where the characters were dancing and you could dance with them. We got to dance with Sulley and the Incredibles. Most of the characters walking around were Villians. Cruella DeVille walked around and saw Katie and told Heather, "ew...a baby mouse..why would you bring that rodent here?" lol. She was in character so we just laughed. They also had the guy from "Meet the Robinsons" walking around and he was creepy looking. They had the witch from Snow White and other characters. Daisy was at one of the dancing spots.

We went on a few rides. Katie loves rides now. Heather's boyfriend, David, had never been on Soaring Over California before so I watched Katie while they all went on that. She's not tall enough for it yet. That's my favorite ride so I was secretly sad that I couldn't go on but they'll be other days.

Mickey's Halloween Time is definately going down as an annual tradition. Totally worth it, despite the 3 hour traffic congestion. URRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!! It just so happens that Disneyland is South and in route to Universal Studios, Dodger Stadium, Knott's Berry Farm and Los Angeles. We went on Friday. At rush hour. All these venues were having Halloween things going on too so we were smart and went on the 14, 210, 605, 5, but yeah...the 210 was crammed packed and it still took us 3 hours.

On the way home we saw a Diesel in flames. I mean, HUGE flames. The Firemen were there drilling a hole into the cab to release pressure.

The next day we got ready for the long awaited Riley's Farm. I've been waiting and waiting to go and so looking forward to it. They have a Sleepy Hollow dinner event there. We took Katie, David, and for the first time, Hannah. The kids were all dressed in Halloween outfits and looked adorable. The farm was really pretty with the changing leaves and such. We've been here before, but in Summer.

Katie and Desiree

Katie, Mary, Ashley, David and Blake

Katie and I, and Katie and the Great Pumpkin (below)

The donkey wasn't here last time we came.

Katie and Heather

Dinner was at 6:00 so we got there about 5:00. We were all starving because we hadn't eaten all day. The kids played outside, took pictures and ran around for a bit. Katie and Hannah petted a donkey and David fed a goat. At 7:30 we were just getting to eat. They had a band playing old time music. The barn was decorated with red and white checkered table cloths, lanterns and white Christmas lights all around. It was very quaint, but also very crowded. It was hard with the babies because we were squeezed in so tightly and the kids were squirmy.

Each table had to scream in order to win the prize of eating first. Of course, our table won. Hannah was the loudest of all. She was so excited when she heard the people screaming YEE HAW that she was clapping and yelling and smiling from ear to ear. It was cute watching her have fun.

The food was awesome. Baked beans, roasted corn on the cob, biscuits, baked potatoes, salad, chicken or steak. Everything was delicious. Katie LOVED the beans so much that she literally wore them. All over her face and dress. YUMMY. The hot apple cider was WONDERFUL!

Afterwards, we took the kids out to the car to change them. Earlier in the night I had discovered that I left my lights on while on the 138 and so my car wouldn't start. I came out to try the car, but it still wouldn't start. The kids were beat, so we went in to ask for help with the car. This was a long process. We had to wait about 30 minutes. In the meantime, Mary waited at the car with David, Katie, Blake, Ashley, Heather, Hannah and Eddie. Katie and Hannah were sitting in Eddie but then Hannah got tired so David got in Eddie and Mary rocked Hannah in the car. The story relayed to me is that Mary saw a bear. She grabbed the kids, closed the car door, forgot David in the stroller, he was crying...Heather walked up and said, "that's a dog".

We got the car started, but my car has this anti-theft alarm on it so because I opened the door while the alarm was activated, but the battery was dead, it went off. I don't have a code to enter so now everytime I start the car or open the door, the alarm goes off for about 4 minutes of constant BEEP!!! I have to call Honda today when they open to find out how to get a code. Last night, poor Heather and Katie, and later myself, had to crawl out of the window in order to get out and not activate the alarm. I didn't want to wake up my neighbors since I got home at about 11:30.

Recommendations: Disney's Halloween Time, wait until the kids are 5 before you take them to Riley's.