Halloween Escapades

I have rules. One rule is that Halloween decorations are forbidden before October 1st - with the exception of stores - they are allowed after Labor Day.

As I wrote previously, my holiday rules are not being followed. This does not make me happy.

However, once the holiday season has begun, anything goes! Let the fun begin!

Therefore, in the spirit of fun, I bring you our "Halloween" which lasted roughly, oh, the entire month of October.

The first "trick" was a kitten who was discovered on our porch in the wee morning hours of October 11th. He's still here, and so I guess we now consider him a bit of a "treat." What a way to kick-off the holiday season!



On October 13th, we went and visited the witches of Gardner Village. My favorite witch was found perched on a roof top.



I also got a pretty good laugh from this world famous choir:



But I think we had the most fun when we went on a wagon ride with a witch! It cost $2 a person, but I think that was well worth it. They could've charged so much more, but I am grateful that they kept the price relatively low so that more families could enjoy it. Our witch sang songs, rhymes, and told us stories. She also cursed The King, but I made her undo it. :)



On the 19th of October we harvested our pumpkin patch. None of them were overly large, but the girls were thrilled with our bumper crop! They each picked out a favorite to carve for Halloween.



The 24th was my birthday so it was time for another trick. In the past, my Mom has almost always reused birthday candles. Year after year, stump after little tiny ball of wax stump, those candles get reused until they are so small they are almost glowing IN the cake, rather than on top of it. I bought my Mom a big box of candles at the Dollar Store. She was surprised. Well, I guess she decided to surprise me, and when she brought me my birthday cake, the cake was COVERED in candles. Oh yes, an exact count of my age. The tradition in our family has been to "short cut" on the candles - you know, five blue candles to represent fifty, and four white candles to represent four. Fifty-four. This tradition apparently doesn't exist anymore. I've told my Mom that she had better watch out on her next birthday!



On Friday the 26th, we were invited to a neighborhood Halloween party... but not in OUR neighborhood. My Mom's next-door neighbor invited us to attend as we used to live in the neighborhood, and quite possibly because she likes us just a little bit. The girls were thrilled to see their old friends again - this picture is of the four of them with their glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth. It is also your first glimpse of the girls' Halloween costumes. The Dragon is a black cat and The Princess is a witch. Don't forget - the witch is the black cat's owner.



On Saturday morning we headed up to Utah's Hogle Zoo for their annual "Boo at the Zoo" event. It was fun, but more crowded then we've ever seen it (in all of our ONE years of attending!). The girls got some candy and we got to visit a few of the animals. I would NEVER pay for this event, in the sense of buying your tickets at the gate. But seeing as we have an annual pass to the zoo, I thought it was worth it.



Saturday evening it was time for our church's annual Halloween party and "Trunk-or-Treat". I am grateful that they provide this activity for us, and more grateful that they choose to do this on a night other than Halloween. Our family is still a big fan of the traditional trick or treating. I didn't know that there was going to be a costume contest, but I won the "Best Witch" category hands down.



Are you getting tired yet? In case you've lost track of what day we are on, I'm here to tell you that it is now Monday, October 29th. We've still got two more days before the actual holiday! OI!

So, on Monday, a friend gave us tickets to go up to the University of Utah and attend "Magic in the Garden" at Red Butte Gardens. We had no idea what to expect, but it was a lot of fun. Face painting, crafts, fortune tellers, spooky places to walk through (the kids LOVED the strobe lights and "Glow Alley"), and collecting "punches" on their map in order to get a prize at the end (daffodil bulbs). We really had a great time.



I was grateful that we did not have an activity to attend on Tuesday night. Finally, a night at home! However, it was not all fun and relaxation. No, no, it was more like fun and pumpkin carving! Usually we carve pumpkins about a week before Halloween but for some unknown reason (an overbooked calendar) we didn't get those started until the night before Halloween. The Princess dove right in, she's a pumpkin carving expert by now!



The Dragon, however, took a while before she was willing to stick her hand into that ooey-goooey mess.



The Princess' Pumpkin (She drew it, Daddy carved it!):



The Dragon's Pumpkin (She drew it, Daddy carved it!):



The King's Pumpkin (He carved it, but he didn't draw it! Think K-I-T!):



And my pumpkin? Well, um, I was trying to Martha Stewart it, and let's just say the results weren't quite what I anticipated. It was fun trying though.

So, we've made it! It's finally Halloween! The Dragon wore her pajamas to preschool in the morning because they didn't celebrate Halloween - instead they had a Pajama Party! However, her computer class in the afternoon encouraged costumes so I got this cute picture of her with her computer teacher just clownin' (HA!) around.



The Princess had the traditional Halloween Parade at her school, so I was sure to attend and got this cute picture of her and her wonderful teacher, Miss Dawn. One might think that they got together and planned their outfits - but no, it was only a coincidence.



After school we went trick or treating at Foothill Village, a local shopping center. Then we went to visit my Grandpa, my Mom, and Miss Dawn at her home. After that, we raced home stopping only at Sonic to get a bite to eat, and finally made it there around 7:15 PM. After we finished eating, we bundled up and headed out for a night of traditional trick or treating! So much fun, and I think you can tell by this final picture that the girls were quite happy.



So, how was your Halloween? Do anything fun? ;)