In Our Little Town of Halloween

Because we squish together so many before Halloween activities together, this post is going to be all squished together as well, you're welcome.

{...HALLOWEEN PARADE...}

We start out with the elementary school parade. I kind of like the fact our school does it at 9:30. It's pretty much right after school starts and it's easy to walk the kids to school and then find a place to sit. This year they even had the 5th and 6th graders participate (guess we can thank a new principal for that).

{...How cool is it that Hiro and Wasabi showed up together?!?!?!...}

{...KILLING PUMPKINS...}

The kids kept asking to carve pumpkins on Friday night. I had originally thought of doing it on Saturday (Halloween) afternoon when Eric would be around to help, However, I then realized that I would probably be more stressed trying to do pumpkins that afternoon since I had a few other things I needed to get done.

Friday proved to be difficult though, as I had babysat a friends boys for a good chunk of the day and even though they are good boys - I was tired. I wasn't sure I was up for the mess that always ensues with pumpkins.

But because I know the way I can get, I decided Friday was a much better day than Saturday. I could always sleep in on Saturday morning and so it didn't matter too much how late I had to be awake on Friday night.

And just an FYI - Shaylyn was sleeping over at a friends house and Jace's poor pumpkin got dropped on the way inside and broke.

{...Nate didn't want to finish cleaning his, so Ailey volunteered...}

{...Sally, Coraline, Something from Lex's Imagination, A Skylander and A Shaped Face...}

When Shaylyn came home the next morning, I had her do her own pumpkin. She of course went with a tiger. She didn't have time to really finish it, but I was amazed at what she was able to do in the time she had.

{...HALLOWEEN NIGHT..}

Then came time for Halloween. During the day I straightened the house and made a few adjustments on Tanis and Jacen's costumes. They were very minor adjustments, but it allowed for their costumes to fit just a bit better.

I told my kids they could go out about 6:00/6:30 and figured that would even be late. But I was surprised how little trick or treaters we had before that time. I was also glad, because we were able to have dinner and get the kids ready to go without much interruption at all.

We tried to get group photos, but Lex made plans to go with friends and Shaylyn wasn't quite ready to go when Lex needed to go. I did my best with the rest of the group.

{...Curious George & The Man In The Yellow Hat..}

A few months before Halloween Tanis had the idea that he could take the little kids trick or treating and that he could be The Man in The Yellow Hat and Jace could be George. Jace is fascinated with George and I thought that was a great idea, so we went with it.

{...Jace was only upset because of the hood...}

{...Zombie Rocker...}

Shaylyn knew for awhile that she wanted to be a zombie, but there are so  many ways to be a zombie that she didn't quite know what she was going to narrow it down to. While perusing costumes she came across a rocker chic and she was sold. 

The day we ordered her costume she went about making her guitar. She really astounds me with her talents sometimes. She also did her makeup (which is why she wasn't ready for group pics).

{...Owen Grady...}

Lex had a few ideas of what he wanted to be, but we couldn't find costumes for most of them. He eventually settled on Owen Grady and I had no idea why. I wasn't even sure who the guy was. Lex had to tell me he was in Jurassic World. I still wasn't sure why he'd want to be this character, but shortly before Halloween we had the opportunity to watch Jurassic World and I suddenly realized the fascination behind Owen Grady. For those of you who don't know, he's the character played by Chris Pratt.

{...Hiro...}

Another character from a movie, Nate decided on Hiro from Big Hero 6. He originally wanted to be Baymax, but costumes weren't easily found. He was okay with Hiro and after cutting the plastic off the mask and taping the rough edges he was good to go.

{...Wonder Woman...}

For months Ailey told us she wanted to be Honey Lemon from Big Hero 6. So I searched and searched for a costume. Ummm, if you have a 5 year old and wanted that costume, you were outta luck. Thankfully, Ailey was a good sport and decided on a superhero. She thought about Supergirl for a bit, but finally went Wonder Woman.

{...A Very Motley Crew...}

So then they all went about their ways. Tanis took the 3 little kids and he was out the door. Shaylyn met up with her friends and Lex was long gone. I cleaned up dinner and sat down next to Eric on the couch and started talking to him about how it was a bittersweet day for me.

For 14 years I had taken my kids trick or treating and to not be doing so this time was kind of hard. And just as I was about to start crying (pregnancy hormones are fun), Nate and Ailey walked in the door upset. 

I'm still not completely sure what happened, but it seems like they somehow lost Tanis and still wanted to go trick or treating, of course. So I got my jacket on and went with thm. I was super thankful for nice weather and that I still had the opportunity to take my kids out. I didn't originally go because Tanis really wanted to do it and I was in a lot of pain. But even with the pain I was in, it was nice to be out with my kids. And my kids are strange and don't like to trick or treat all night. They're good for like an hour and then they're done!

After most everyone was home, we started Nightmare Before Christmas, which is our yearly tradition. When Nightmare was over and everyone was home we treated the kids to the newish movie, Pixels. I think Eric and I enjoyed it for a different reason than the kids did, but we all enjoyed it and we all want a Q*Bert!

I'll leave you with proof that George is curious and no, this picture really honestly wasn't staged.