Halloween is just a few weeks away, and I’m happy to say that we have already checked a few things off our October Must-Do List. This past weekend we took advantage of some decent weather and had a great time at Pumpkinferno and Saunders Farm.

We made the drive out to Upper Canada Village on a Friday evening. I was very prepared with boots for muddy paths and warm jackets for the cold, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it not too muddy this time around and very mild out too.

I bought our tickets online ahead of time and printed them out. Thank goodness I did that! There are two lines – one for ticket buyers and one for prepaid ticket buyers. The prepaid line was one quarter of the length of the other one and it only took us 10 minutes to get inside. I’m pretty sure people in the other line may have ended up waiting for 45 minutes or longer.

Pumpkinferno is a truly impressive Halloween event. There are 7000 carved pumpkins to make up all kinds of scenes. It isn’t spooky, just a lot of fun for all ages. We enjoyed stopping in at the Barn Restaurant for a yummy slice of pie and a hot chocolate to walk around with. They also offer up alcohol beverages like wine and spiked apple ciders for the parents that are interested!

Many of the carved scenes are the same from year to year, but there are always new ones. The new ones this year fall under the Canada 150 theme, with some fun hockey players, arctic scenes and other scenes from Canada’s history. We spent more than two hours at Pumpkinferno, and the time flew by.

I think Pumpkinferno really is a must-see event! It runs for the next two weekends leading up to Halloween, Thursday through Sunday, 6:30 – 10:00 pm.

The day after our visit to Pumpkinferno, we joined a bunch of friends for some daytime Halloween fun at Saunders Farm. We only budgeted to spend around three hours at Saunders, but we easily could have spent the entire day there. There is so much to do!

My kids had a blast running around with their friends and exploring all of the fun activities. A favourite of many are the large jumping pillows. They can be a little intimating for little ones who might get double bounced by older kids (my two year old had a slightly panicked look at times). But overall, a lot of fun for most kids.

There are so many play structures, slides and mazes for kids and adults to play on. It does get super busy, so the only tough part is keeping track of where your kids are! (I recommend dressing them in bright colours!)

Saunders Farm is pretty full service. There are a number of dining options. We opted for a not-so healthy afternoon snack that included corndogs, poutine and popcorn. I love that there are a ton of spots to sit and eat.

We rounded out our visit with a trip on the Haunted Hay Ride. There are two options for hay rides, one of them isn’t Halloween themed or scary at all. It includes a tour around the pumpkin patch, and it generally has a shorter line. We waited in the longer line (around 20 minutes) to take the haunted hay ride. I wasn’t too sure how scary it would be for our two young kids. Overall, they loved it. Until, right at the end when a masked man wielding a chainsaw jumps out of the bushes. My daughter Rowan wasn’t his biggest fan! But it seems like she hasn’t suffered any last damage…she managed to sleep the whole night in her own bed afterwards, anyways.

Saunders is a great time and really gets you in the Halloween spirit. But, it isn’t cheap – $20 a person and only kids 2 and under are free. So if you go, make the most of it and give yourselves lots of time to explore everything there is there.

Next up on my October must-do list, we will be looking to hit up the final weekend of Gatineau Park’s Fall Rhapsody, and of course we need to hit up a pumpkin patch before Halloween is here!