Jacksonville Zoo Halloween Spooktacular

We spent the morning of the Sunday before Halloween carving our pumpkin, and then that night we went to the Jacksonville Zoo for their Halloween Spooktacular. It was a very Halloween-y day!

We decided not to have the kids wear their actual Halloween costumes, because we were afraid they might get too messed up with all the zoo fun and we wanted to make sure they were still in decent shape for Halloween night. So, Ellie wore the Minnie Mouse costume we found at my friend's consignment store a few weeks ago, and E.J. wore a "First Halloween" tiger-striped sleeper that was a hand-me-down from cousin Santiago. Even in backup costumes, they both looked adorable, I must say!

Little tiger cub and Minnie Mouse, ready to go!

And so we were off to the Spooktacular. First things first: a photo-op, and saying hello to the zoo mascot, Jazoo!

Eric and the kiddos (they're both looking at Jazoo!)

Ellie lives for this stuff, obviously.

Crowds were backed up at the entrance as they were only letting a certain number of people at a time.

Waiting for some Halloween zoo fun

Hanging out with my girl while we wait

Finally, we were in! The zoo was roped off in a designated path through various themed areas, including a Peanuts area (where better to wait for the Great Pumpkin?), a Wizard of Oz area, an "Enchanted Forest" and so on. There were photo opportunities and trick-or-treat stations throughout, and the sidewalks were lined with jack-o-lanterns. They also had "scare zones" that you could choose to walk through or skip (we skipped), and a handful of animals were out to look at, too.

Getting things started

Sign in the Peanuts area

Giraffes were one of the animals available for viewing

I liked Schroeder's piano in the middle of the pond!

Ellie with Woodstock

Charlie Brown and Snoopy

A very small sampling of the tons and tons of pumpkins all around the zoo!

Look how cute she is, going to trick or treat!

We've entered the Wizard of Oz area

Ellie was too entranced by the costumed people to look at the camera!

With Snow White

Shrek and Fiona

Lollipop break!

And of course, we rode the carousel, because you have to ride the carousel whenever you visit the zoo (or so says Ellie).

Riding the elephant

We made it through the whole thing in under two hours and then made our way home. We had a great time!

Those are some tired kiddos - that's how you know it was a fun evening, right?