Our Halloween week was a success! Alice had a Halloween program for her preschool (adorable), and Jack had a costume parade at his. We really made the most of fall activities and have enjoyed being settled into our house for this Halloween season. Jack went as a knight again this year, but decided to be a football player for his school parade so he could run and play better at recess. Alice went as a "ballerina princess," which meant she toggled between her ballerina costume and princess costume. But when she saw me dressed as a witch for our ward trunk or treat she said, "Wow mom, you look like someone different! No one will know you're my mom! I want to look like that too." Which meant she wanted to wear orange and black instead of her pink costumes. So she wore her sparkly black dress and crown and went as, "Halloween Ballerina Princess." A neighbor asked what she was and Alice was shy so she nudged me to answer. I told them she was a Halloween princess. This got me such an intense death glare for Alice until I realized I forgot the "ballerina" part, so I had to flag down the neighbor and tell them she was actually a Halloween ballerina princess. That lifted Alice's mood so we were able to enjoy the trunk or treating.
On Halloween itself we spent the morning at Lagoon with Jared's parents. We had a great time-- the weather was perfect and the lines were short. Then in the evening we had Halloween dinner at Tim and Abby's house and then trick or treated their neighborhood, and then our own neighborhood. At Tim's house I walked the neighborhood with the kids. At our house I stayed back to hand out candy. I think this will be the new tradition going forward. I loved handing out candy to the neighbor kids and puttering around the house between knocks.
The scrub oak behind our house has turned a vibrant gold color so I'm not ready to leave fall behind just yet, but Jared is already angling to get the Christmas tree up so it's only a matter of time. Jared LOVES Christmas and his birthday is in November, so I usually give him free reign of when the tree goes up. But this year I'm going to see if I can hold him off another week or two until the scrub oaks have dropped their leaves. Merry November!
^^knight, ballerina, witch, Jared
^^one of the many improv concerts I'm blessed to see
^^an afternoon having a picnic and checking out some of the elaborate Halloween houses at Daybreak
^^cousin trick-or-treat!
