I didn’t know how much I liked the American version of Halloween (i.e. more fun than scary) until I moved to England and convinced other mums to get into it. And with how excited E and her friends got last year—more than Christmas, seriously—I felt like I needed to live up to last year and put on a great pre-trick-or-treating party to hype everyone up and show them how Americans celebrate a fun night of playing dress-up and begging for free candy.
kids in london
Family Fun on the Farms Near London
As I mentioned last year, Americans LOVE the season of fall. And American families spend their October weekends doing Fun Family Fall Activities outside, the main one being a trip to a farm for hay rides, pumpkin patches, and apple picking. I missed getting to do this last year, so this year I suggested we rent a car for a weekend and find a farm near London. We got lucky with a beautiful October Saturday.
BYOB Comedy
On Wednesday I went to a stand-up comedy show. I know, on a Wednesday, I’m wild. It was also BYOB. But in this case, that meant Bring Your Own Baby.
This company brings stand-up comedy to mums around London. It’s professional comediennes (or at least today they were all women) doing their regular adult bits, but at noon, to a roomful of mums and babies. The entire concept is in itself pretty funny.
Bach to Baby at Buckingham Palace
I’ve written before about the Bach to Baby classical music concert series for little Londoners, but I figured it was worth writing again, because I got tickets to one of the special concerts held at Buckingham Palace.
Vauxhall City Farm
I heard about Vauxhall City Farm from a nanny I sat next to at E’s swimming lesson, and it sounded worth checking out. It’s a quick train ride (only about five minutes) from Clapham Junction and then a five-minute walk from the Vauxhall station. And it’s free!
For a “farm” in the city of London to take little kids to, it was really good. There are animal food dispensers so kids can pop in 20p and get a cupful of duck food to feed the ducks and geese, or some grass pellets to feed the sheep and goats. And this was a good time of year to go because OMG BABY LAMBS ADORABLE!
There’s a nice-looking cafe too, and you can host a child’s birthday party there, which I would seriously consider if I hadn’t already booked E’s party for her gymnastics place.
They also offer horse riding lessons there, though obviously that is NOT free.
The only issue was it closes at 4 p.m., which I didn’t realise, and we didn’t arrive till 3:40, so we got kicked out pretty quickly. At least we didn’t have to pay admission. We will definitely go back another day when we can spend more time (and I remember to bring some 20p coins).
The nanny also said there’s a good playground nearby, which I didn’t see but will look for next time we go. 
May 23 Update: We went back this afternoon when we had more time, and this time I came prepared with 20p coins to buy food to feed the animals. We got to stroke a 2-week-old lamb, which was soft and fuzzy. (Side note: they say “stroke” rather than “pet” here, and I’ve had children ask if they may stroke my dog, and the other day a young boy asked me if he could stroke my baby, which I found hilarious. And he then happily stroked her fuzzy head.)
We had time to go to the cafe for a treat, too.
And then we found the nearby playground, which had a pretty great slide built into the hill, plus an in-ground trampoline. 
