Halloween

We had to miss several Halloween (H-ween) activities this year because L has had a cough on and off for the last four weeks. Just when I think he's over it, it resurfaces again. Therefore we skipped H-ween at the zoo, the Farm Park and at N's school. I figured the cool, damp air wouldn't work in his favor. We still had a good H-ween though.

We trick or treated at that the high school. D was out of town for work that night. I got a sitter for L while N, Grammy and I went to that. Remember me saying that L is super afraid of H-ween stuff? Well, he is, but he's even more afraid of the dark. The majority of the trick or treating at the High School is in the dark. L would not have enjoyed that, so he stayed home and played with Miss N. They had fun.

We went to the annual H-ween party my Mom's group hosts at a church. Everyone brought food to share, the kids wore their costumes, played games and trunk or treated. It was such a great event!! My Ghostbuster (N) and Slimer (L) sure had a great time and got lots of comments on their costume choices. :)

N had an outdoor parade and (indoor) party at school on H-ween day. Parents are invited to watch it the parade. N participated in it, but L and I skipped it because of L's cough. The kids wore their costumes to school, did the parade and visited a nearby nursing home to greet the residents. They returned to school and had their H-ween party in their classroom at some point during the day.

On H-ween night our neighbors invited us over to eat hot dogs before trick or treating. They are still fairly new to the neighborhood, so it was nice to eat with them and get to know them some more. Almost everyone in the cul-de-sac happened to leave their homes to trick or treat at the same time, so we all walked together. It was so fun! We packed our wagons and strollers with extra coats and blankets in preparation for the drop in temperature once the sun went down. I'm so glad we did 'cause we needed the extra layers. Fortunately we didn't have any rain and it wasn't nearly as cold as last year, but we were still glad to have our coats. We walked on the street near us that makes a big square shaped loop. Many of the homes on that street have a tradition of sitting outside in lawn chairs around their fire pits while they hand out candy. It makes for a fun, friendly holiday. We collected some mad candy loot! The kids were super excited, but remembered that the Candy Fairy would come to take most of the candy (with red dye) and leave a toy in exchange.

The Candy Fairy kept her promise and made a trip to our house. She left behind some candy and took the rest. She gave each boy their own Tervis cup (love!) and mini Pillow Pet. On her way out of town the Candy Fairy dropped the candy off at the nursing home where she hears the residents are always asking for goodies. So, it's a win win for everyone. The Candy Fairy left a bonus gift for Mommy and Daddy this year. She gave us the game Banana-grams. I'm can't wait to play it this winter on our Pioneer Days...more on that later.

The day after Halloween I went to a store (can't remember where I was) and the first thing I noticed when I stepped in the door was the Christmas music!! Aaaa!!! We haven't eaten the H-ween candy yet and they're already forcing Christmas on us!