Halloween is such a fun time. I'm not a fan of the blood-and-gore-scare-you-silly side of the holiday, but I do appreciate the opportunity to dress up, participate in exciting activities, and interact with friends and neighbors. As always, the festivities spread out over much more than just Halloween night.
Bryce's school had "crazy hair day" right before Halloween. Don't mind the red paint that smeared down his forehead...I promise it's not blood. Regardless, I think he looks pretty great as a ginger.
Thane's preschool had a great Halloween party. I adore preschool parties, partly because the kids get soooo excited, and partially because all the moms come and we get to have a fantastic time too.
Thane was a train conductor, and we thought it quite apropos that his friend was Thomas the Train.
There was lots of themed food (most of it even reasonably healthy!) and games and activities. I think Thane liked frosting and decorating his pumpkin muffin best.
The weekend before Halloween was our Ward Halloween Party. The building was PACKED with people - tons of food, but no place to sit. Games and activities galore, but shoulder-to-shoulder with people. I guess that makes it a success, we just need a bigger building!
I really wanted to do a family theme costume this year, and even had a couple good ideas, but Aubree steadfastly refused to participate. Instead, she chose to be pioneer and strapped her baby to her chest and kept her there the whole night.
Bryce went as a knight, and in a mini-theme, we dressed Graham as a dragon.
One of the games was a donut eating contest. The rule was, "you can't use your hands." Technically, I guess Bryce followed the rule...as long as you don't consider elbows "hands."
The ward party ended in the traditional trunk-or-treat, but since the parking lot lacked lights, the organizers just had all the parents sit in chair around the hallways to pass out candy to the 150+ kids who trekked by with their bags held open. I reiterate my stance from last year - I think in these circumstances trunk-or-treat is useless. But, as I sat passing out candy, we did get to have a front row seat to a little excitement....the smoke machine used for the spook alley set off the smoke detector, which led to a special visit from the nearby fire-fighters. I was afraid we might get a reprimand for exceeding max capacity!
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| He made his own shield |
And finally, it was Halloween night. My mom flew in just in time to join in the trick-or-treating (she was supposed to get in the night before, but her plane had a broken part, so she missed her connecting flight and had to spend the night in San Francisco!).
First, though, we swung over to our neighbor's home for dinner (they generously invited all the neighborhood families over for a "pizza feed!!").
Poor Graham was thoroughly exhausted by this point as a result of missing his naps, so we grabbed a quick video of him in his costume, then I put him to bed while Mark and Grandma started trick-or-treating.
Once I got Graham down, I swapped with Mark. In the meantime, Grandma had captured this video of Thane ("lots and lots and lots...":
And speaking of Thane, at one house he was given two suckers. He put one in his bag, then handed the second one to Grandma saying, "Here, this one is for you." From then on (despite our instructions to the contrary), he asked for two candies at every home, put one in his bag, and ran the second straight to Grandma.
When we got home, he dumped out his candy and sorted it by putting one in a pile for himself, then choosing two to share with grandma. Such a kind-hearted kid!
Bryce was so excited to be out trick-or-treating, that he kept tripping (an expected result of running around willy-nilly). He had such a great time.
Aubree sorted her candy into three piles: "1) Ones I like, 2) Ones I don't really like, and 3) Ones I've never tried."
And now we have candy to last 100 years.
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