The Great Jack O’Lantern BLAZE

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Disclosure: I did not receive any monetary compensation in exchange for this post

This year we thought (A) was finally old enough to go to The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze, which is an event put on yearly by The Historic Hudson Valley at Van Cortlandt Manor, Croton-on-the-Hudson, NY. We went with the family of one of (A)’s best friends from school. As a group we decided to go earlier in October as we were fearful of the weather getting too cold based on the fact that both of us infants in addition to our preschoolers.  Tour times go every half hour beginning at 6:30 pm and ending at 10 pm.  We had tickets for 7:30 because we wanted to make sure that it was dark enough but not too late for the kids.  The timing was near perfect. During the week (including Fridays) tickets cost $16 for Adults and $12 for Children 3-17, with Children under 2 free.  On Saturdays Adults are $20 and Children are $16.

We love to decorate pumpkins, and get into the Halloween spirit and this was perfect for that! It was awe inspiring. What these people do with pumpkins (both real and some not) is really amazing (especially since I have difficulty carving a straight line, (D) usually handles the intricate carving). It was not scary, and both of the 3 year olds had a great time. Since you are on a structured path, they were both able to navigate their way through holding the hand of a parent and each other. I would recommend a jogger stroller or a baby carrier for this event as the path is stone and difficult to navigate with a regular stroller.  It was also a bit crowded so although my jogger was fine, it may have been better to use my baby carrier instead.  I would also recommend taking your youngster to the bathroom when you first arrive or right before you get there, because the bathrooms are near the start so you have to walk all the way through to get to them.

There is a great little gift store at the end where you can purchase anything Blaze related.  They have a great little children’s book that was written and illustrated to explain the Blaze and the Van Cordlandt Manor.  We got home and had to purchase more pumpkins to carve at (A)’s request, we now have a grand total of 4 this year (usually we max out at 2).  See the pictures of our adventure below!

The giant spider web that the boys were fascinated with.  There were tons of different sized spiders crawling around as well.

This Giant Clock is at the last turn, and is super cool with its moving pumpkin ticking away the time.

Here is a picture of me and (A) after carving one of our 4 pumpkins.

Here are our other 3 Pumpkins.