The 2017 SV Toddler Fall Planner

When it comes to getting seasonal planners published in a timely manner, I pretty much always get an "A" for effort (and ambition!) and something around a C- for execution. Nevertheless, the Silicon Valley Toddler Fall Planner is finally here -- albeit, several weeks late and pretty bare bones at the moment (though I'll be beefing it up every day as I have time).

Enjoy the season!

P.S. This post contains Amazon affiliate links -- the Elmo and Cookie Monster are my kiddos' Halloween costumes. 😊

Wednesday, October 11th

• Halloween Mommy & Me Trick or Treat Event, Westgate Shopping Center, San Jose. 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
• Mini Altars for Day of the Dead, Milpitas Library. 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. For ages 6-12.
• Wee Explore Outdoors, Biblioteca Latinoamericana, San Jose. 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
• Kids' Craft: Fall Leaf Wreaths, Santa Clara Central Park Library, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. (Grades K-3)

Thursday, October 12th

• Arts Enrichment Class (ages 0-5), Calabazas Library, San Jose. 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
• Weather Stories (presented by the Santa Clara County Water District), Willow Glen Library, San Jose. 10:30 a.m.
• Diwali Rangoli Art, Bascom Branch Library, San Jose. 4:00 p.m.
• Hispanic Heritage Month: Nicho Boxes, Vineland Branch Library, San Jose. 4:00 p.m. (ages 5+)
• Halloween Acids and Bases, Northside Branch Library, Santa Clara. 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. (3rd - 6th Grades)

Friday, October 13th

• Bascom Boo Bash, Bascom Community Center, San Jose. 5:00 - 9:30 p.m.
• Diwali Rangoli Art, Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, San Jose. 4:00 p.m.
• Hispanic Heritage Month: Nicho Boxes, West Valley Branch Library, San Jose. 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 14th

• Firefighter Pancake Breakfast, Fire Station 2, Sunnyvale. 8:00 - 11:00 a.m.
• Pumpkins in the Park, Discovery Meadow, San Jose. 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
• Happy Birthday, San Jose!, History San Jose, 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Thomas and Percy's Halloween Party, Roaring Camp Railroad, Felton. Three consecutive Saturdays in October. See website for times.
• Woodside Day of the Horse, Woodside Town Hall. 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
• Tricycle Music Fest: Jazzy Ash and the Leaping Lizards Concert, Foster City Library. 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
• Branch Out: Tree Art, Lakeshore Learning, San Jose. 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Meet & Greet PJ Masks, Learning Express Toys, Sunnyvale. 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
• Downtown Fremont Oktoberfest, Downtown Fremont. 2:00 - 8:00 p.m.
• Uesugi Farms Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off, San Martin. 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
• Mo Willems Appreciation Partay, Cambell Library. 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
• Diwali Dhamaka Party, Northside Branch Library, Santa Clara. 2:00 - 5:30 p.m.
• After the Fall Storytime, Barnes & Noble, San Jose. 11:00 a.m.
• Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• Halloween @ Night, Gilroy Gardens, Gilroy. 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
• Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad Pumpkin Train, Oak Meadow Park, Los Gatos. 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, October 15th

• Harvest Festival, Lucie Stern Community Center, Palo Alto. 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.
• Play! Family Day, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto. 2:00 - 4:30 p.m.
• Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• Halloween @ Night, Gilroy Gardens, Gilroy. 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
• Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad Pumpkin Train, Oak Meadow Park, Los Gatos. 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Friday, October 20th

• Outrageous Outgrowns, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 21st

• Harvest Festival: Pumpkin Patch and Apple Bash, Live Earth Farm, Watsonville. 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Sunol's Old Timey Hootenanny, Sunol Regionnal Wilderness, Sunol. 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
• Thomas and Percy's Halloween Party, Roaring Camp Railroad, Felton. Three consecutive Saturdays in October. See website for times.
• Outrageous Outgrowns, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• Halloween Parade, Pottery Barn Kids, Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto. Call store for details.
• Free Halloween Event, Bass Pro Shops, San Jose. 12:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, October 22nd

• Outrageous Outgrowns, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• Free Halloween Event, Bass Pro Shops, San Jose. 12:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Tuesday, October 24th

• Mommy & Me Free Kids Club, Halloween Family Fun Fest, Santana Row, San Jose. 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Friday, October 27th

• Fall Family Blast, Church on the Hill, San Jose. 4:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 28th

• Harvest Festival, Duck Pond Playspace, San Jose. 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.
• Thomas and Percy's Halloween Party, Roaring Camp Railroad, Felton. Three consecutive Saturdays in October. See website for times.
• Mary McScary and the Creepy Pair of Underwear Storytime, Barnes & Noble, San Jose. 11:00 a.m.
• SuperNatural Halloween, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.

Sunday, October 29th

• California Avenue Trick or Treat and Blossom Birth Halloween Carnival, Palo Alto. 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
• Creepy Crawly Halloween, Downtown Campbell. 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Tuesday, October 31st

• Trick or Treat Trail, Lincoln Avenue, Willow Glen. Two sessions: 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 pm. for toddlers, preschoolers, and kids in strollers, and 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. for school-aged kids in costume.
• Seven Trees Community Center's Trunk or Treat Movie Night, San Jose. 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
• Trick or Treat at Westfield Oakridge, San Jose. 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
• Safe Trick or Treating, Eastfield Mall, San Jose. 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 11th

• Bay Area Science Festival Discovery Day, AT&T Park, San Francisco. 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Whimsy's Turning Three! Here's my Updated Review:

Whimsy, circa 2014

Whimsy today (September 2017)

Three years ago this month, Whimsy opened in Saratoga and introduced a whole new concept to the South Bay's play scene: a place made for kids and parents, where little ones can enjoy a gorgeous playroom under staff supervision while parents chat with friends, get some work done, or just relax in the cafe a few feet away. (Comfy chairs. Made-to-order coffee drinks. US Weekly. Need I say more?)

Toddler X and I had the opportunity to visit Whimsy with our pals a few days before it opened to the public in 2014 (being a mom blogger has its benefits!) and I came home and wrote the most glowing of glowing reviews. (You can read it here.)

Our pre-opening "test play" in 2014 -- so cool!

I was seriously blown away by the beautiful space, the attention to detail, the high-end toys, the myriad creative, imaginative, and physical options for kids, and the concept as a whole. It was clearly a winner, right from the start.

September 2014

In the two years that followed, we visited Whimsy frequently, alone and with friends, for special occasions and just everyday play. I've spent hours playing by Toddler X's side in the play room, catching up with pals, sipping coffee in the cafe, and writing blog posts at the tables (more than one seasonal planner was completed thanks to Whimsy!). The worst thing about every visit was convincing Toddler X that it was time to leave.

Halloween 2014

What does the Whole Foods/Amazon merger mean to us?

(Update 9/2/17: I visited Safeway yesterday and comparison-shopped some of the items that were the focus of Amazon/Whole Foods' big price reductions. The results are pretty interesting! See below for details.)

(Second update 9/4/17: I visited Target and Sprouts for some additional comparison shopping, and the results were even more surprising. See below for details.)

When I think about the corporations that receive the greatest share of my family's spending money, Whole Foods and Amazon definitely place in the Top 5 -- the former is one of our main sources of groceries (though we also shop at Target, Sprouts, Safeway, Costco, and TJ's), and the latter is our main source of...well, everything else (well, there and Target). With its recent $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods, Amazon has catapulted into the lead in family spending for us, and probably for many others in our area as well.

In purchasing Whole Foods, Amazon is (as I understand it) trying to become a family's one-stop shop for everything, whether in store or delivered to your home. They're promising overall price reductions on certain staples (to combat WF's "whole paycheck" image -- see more on that below), and even better deals for Amazon Prime Members (encouraging those who have resisted Prime to finally make the leap). By linking Prime accounts to grocery purchases, Amazon will also benefit from a ton of new information about consumers and their spending habits. I imagine that a woman purchasing prenatal vitamins at Whole Foods in the future will promptly get an email from Amazon telling her of the virtues of an Amazon baby registry; by using her Prime account, she'll announce a pregnancy to the conglomerate before she has revealed it to family and friends. Crazy stuff, but that's the world we live in.

(If you're interested in signing up for Prime now, here's an affiliate link: Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial.)

Anyhow, on Tuesday, the day after the merger was completed, I visited the Whole Foods on the Alameda in San Jose to see the promised changes for myself. Here's what I found: