Spooky Goblyn's Glen at Oak Meadow Park, Los Gatos

It has been awhile since we road the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad. The boys are less interested in trains, although I'm not sure if they ever lose their fascination. The Thomas collection spends most of its time in the toy box, and the train table is now packed with legos -- thus is life. My preschoolers are now big 5 and 6 year olds.

Last weekend we went back to the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad at Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos. It was our first time back since May. Although we didn't go for the train, we went for the Goblyn's Glen haunted house, which has become an annual tradition.

The boys donned their costumes, Caleb is a pirate this year, and Xander is a magician. We went before 8:30 pm -- which works out since their bedtime is 8 pm. At 8:30 pm the haunted house shuts down for a half an hour and becomes scary for the 9 pm crowd.

The haunted house allows you to do some early trick or treating, and it is well done -- spooky enough for the three and under set to cling to their parents, and friendly enough that children don't exit crying. Xander and Caleb had a blast.

The challenge with this year is that the haunted house is no longer associated with the railroad. So, the train, which was running, is priced separately. The haunted house is a bit expensive, and then you add $5 for the special event train pricing, and it was hard to do. So, we just went to the haunted house.

There is one more night of Goblyn's Glen -- running Friday through Sunday -- if you haven't been it is so worth it. We'll be back in a few weeks to ride the train and see the Christmas lights.

Ode to Fall on an 80 degree day

Warm weather has hit the Bay Area like it does every October. Yet, as we enter Fall we crave the inevitable Fall weather not expected until Wednesday. This weekend we overlooked the incredible poolside weather and instead sought out some rites of Fall.

Yesterday we took the boys to the pumpkin patch Rodini Farms, north of Santa Cruz near the town of Davenport, Calif. After years of going to popular "get there early" pumpkin patches with trains and pony rides, or braving the traffic over near Half Moon Bay, it was nice to go to a low key but large pumpkin patch.

The boys had a lot of fun -- playing on bails of hay and climbing through tubes. All very low tech, low stress and the right note for this year's pumpkin patch visit.

Today, we continued our Fall traditions with a pumpkin pancake breakfast at Buck's of Woodside, Calif. Buck's is very kitsch -- in the very best sense of the word. The restaurant -- with its alligator farm carpeting, and collections of odd finds, including Mona Lisa in a cowboy hat and the Statue of Liberty holding an ice cream -- is a blast. Each Buck's visit isn't complete without a treasure hunt through the restaurant. And by the way, the pumpkin pancakes are great!

Now having checked off two Fall traditions, maybe we'll go to the pool this afternoon, before the weather breaks and we can finally don our Fall wardrobe.

Kid-Friendly Dinner Out at Scoma's Fisherman's Wharf

When visiting San Francisco, we never go to Fisherman's Wharf or Ghirardelli Square. We avoid the places packed with tourists. When we show off the city to out of town visitors its the Ferry Building, Golden Gate Park, Union Square, the Marina, the Fillmore, the Height, and Ocean Beach. We take them to places where you get a taste of the architecture, and the vibe of the city neighborhoods. But inevitably, we succumb to their need to be tourists.

Recently, it was a visit to Scoma's Restaurant Fisherman Wharf. But we got a pleasant surprise. The kids menu is great! Of course it was standard kid's menu fare: spaghetti, burgers, chicken tenders, fish and chips ... but everything was fresh and well prepared.

In the heart of tourist central it was unexpected. I can't believe the number of restaurants that "phone in" the obligatory kids menu with frozen chicken tenders, poorly prepared spaghetti and macaroni and cheese from Kraft.

We won't be rushing out to Fisherman's Wharf anytime soon, but it is good to know that we have options the next time we succumb to our visitors tourist needs.