Halloween 2013

We carved our jack-o-lantern the night before Halloween. We had to work around a rotten spot, so he had a big ole' mouth. Spencer made him look nice and spooky by adding toothpick teeth.

The Nature's Way Fall Festival was on Halloween morning. Like last year, there were all sorts of sweet activities like songs, stories, pumpkin rolling, peanut tossing, apple peeling, pumpkin scooping, pumpkin painting, face painting, the Hokey Spooky and the Chicken Dance for the big finale.

This picture KILLS me - those are 3 super sweet (I mean tough) boys right there.

I took the day off, but the afternoon was a little rushed because we had to take Spencer to an unexpected doctor's appointment (luckily it was nothing that kept us from enjoying Halloween!). We did have time to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and relax/play a little before time to get ready for trick-or-treating. We met up with some of our new neighborhood friends and hit the streets. Dave created Spencer's one-of-a-kind costume again this year and it turned out great! Spencer wanted to be a ninja, but an ordinary ninja would not do. He was a "wandering ninja" complete with straw hat. Dave's sewing skills amaze me - he took in that vest to fit the boy, added the grommets and cord to hold his knives, used the scraps to make shin guards, made a sword holder, etc. Ninjas were really popular this year, but I have to say I didn't see any as cool as Spence! And it was cute to watch him be in character - he really played it up.

 

 

Spencer's sixth (!) Halloween was a blast. We are really enjoying have kiddo friends in the 'hood.

Boo at the Zoo

Last Friday night we went to Boo at the Zoo. There was a haunted train ride, haunted house, and an animal show with Safari Greg. Plus, we got to walk around the zoo in the dark with flashlights - how cool is that? Spencer wore his astronaut costume and Daddy made a helmet for him that afternoon. Daddy wore his creepy 1980s trashy rocker outfit (which is not over-the-top enough for people to be certain he's wearing a costume...) and I was a butterfly.

 

I was surprised that Dave and I were practically the only parents in costume. We saw one other couple who happened to sit in front of us for the train ride. We decided the other parents were lame. Our family jumps at the opportunity to wear costumes!

Spencer loved the train ride. He knew there were going to be pirates somewhere along the way, but they ended up being nice pirates who gave him a bag of candy at the end. A little girl behind us was NOT happy when we passed some skeletons who caused a bit of a ruckus. After the train we went into the haunted house, which I have to say was more intense than I expected. But luckily the witch at the entrance walked through it with us when she saw that Spencer was a little hesitant - she would call out "little one coming through" so that the ghouls and goblins took it easy on us.

 

 

The highlight of the evening was Safari Greg's show. He pulled Spencer on stage to help him with a trick. Spencer did such a good job - he was funny and so comfortable. The butterfly mom and white trash dad were beaming with pride. :)

After the show, we wandered around awhile spying on animals with our flashlights. It was a fun night - we love supporting the Austin Zoo!

Pumpkin Patch 2013

Where has the month of October gone? We barely made it over to the Tarrytown Methodist Church pumpkin patch before Halloween this year. The goods were pretty picked over but we came home with a pumpkin to carve and a couple of small ones to decorate (which I might add we haven't done yet...again, why is this month flying by?).

And might I weepily remind you of Mommy and Spencer pumpkin photos from years past?

Halloween Part II

After the Fall Festival yesterday, Spencer and I went to Target to buy the DVD "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" since we never seem to catch it on TV. We watched it together and I think he liked it. What's funny is it's not nearly as good (to me) as I remembered... But it felt like a big moment to watch such an iconic movie with my boy.

What was Daddy up to while we were hanging out? Well, in early in October, Spencer announced that he had decided what Daddy should be for Halloween: A hotdog. Now, I don't know a lot of daddies who would (or could!) sew themselves a hotdog costume just to please their kiddo. But Dave is that kind of Daddy and we are so lucky! So yesterday afternoon he created a hotdog bun and mustard tie. He also made Spencer's awesome papier mache mask and my burglar accessories.

 When he was finished, we set the scene and all got ready to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood.

 

We were out and about for almost two hours. Spencer collected a whole lot of candy. We stopped at a house down the street to visit with some neighbors, and Spencer and I sat on the driveway so he could sample several pieces of candy. Snickers, Butterfinger, Smarties... they all got a thumbs down. But he did enjoy a yummy homemade cookie that our neighbor gave him. He still just doesn't really care for candy. The other day we gave him a Tootsie Roll Pop and he asked, "How do I eat this?" Oh and speaking of candy, Dave and I get such a kick out of how he says M&Ms. It comes out something like "Inna Ems."

We didn't take a lot of pictures this year for some reason (here's a short little video when we left the house), but I can tell you that Spencer was a pro at trick-or-treating and the only time he got scared was when a huge dog ran out barking at everyone. There's one house on our street that has lots of creepy things in the yard - zombies, spooky music playing, etc. - and he still just marched right up to the door, while I was making myself be brave (I just knew something was going to jump out at us!).
 

Hope you had a ghoulishly fun Halloween!

Fall Festival

Today was the Fall Festival at Nature's Way. Daddy and I both volunteered to help and had a blast. There was so much to do!

Storytelling and singing...

Pumpkin rolling (SUPER fun!)...

Apple peeling...

Pumpkin painting...

Acorn tossing...

Making Halloween shapes with Play-Doh...

Face/Arm painting (this was the first time Spencer ever wanted to get any sort of paining done on his body -  he went with a spider)...

Scarecrow stuffing...

Chicken dancing....

And the Spooky Pokey...

It was a wonderful morning. Now we are resting up for the big night!