I kicked off Halloween early... in September actually... when a group of us girls kidnapped Eva for her 40th birthday and went to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal. It was so so fun!! But I will say this... HHN is not for me. I enjoyed the night out with the girlies, and our 2:00am Del Taco run on the way home... but can't say I'm a fan of all the haunted houses. I mean, it's not real. It's all fake. So how is that scary? So it doesn't scare me... so I end up walking through just observing and I really just didn't care for what I saw... a bunch of blood and darkness and no regard for humanity. So many really really really strange people there too. Just embracing all the darkness and death and horror. So I probably won't ever go back on my own account... I'm sure one day Jackson and Ivy will love it, like I loved Knott's Scary Farm as a kid. I guess I just grew out of it.
All the girls!!!
The kidnapping crew. We were legit.
A little Preschool pumpking action.
First of the Halloween festivities was our church Trunk-or-Treat. Jackson was just going to be a zombie and as we were digging through his drawer for a shirt to rip up we came across this little gem of a hand-me-down (thanks Eva!!) and Jackson decided he would just be a basketball player... Perfect!! Easy Peasy! Ivy had decided the day after Halloween last year that she was going to be Frankenstein so I had plenty of time to prepare for that one. And Benny. He kept saying he wanted to be a robot but I had this little bat costume that both the older kids had worn. It took a little convincing but once he had it on and saw the "bat wings" he was sold!
The sorting of the loot afterwards... always a fave!
The day before Halloween we carved our pumpkins! It gets easier every year as the kids get more and more proficient at carving themselves. They each cut and cleaned out their pumpkin and after I drew on the design they wanted they did all the carving themselves!! (excpet for Benny of course, but I needed something to do!) It was a beautiful evening!
A basketball, Mike Wazowski and Jack Skellington
The morning of Halloween I attended the Elementary school's storybook parade where I saw a very distinguished Theodore Roosevelt, legendary hunter, and a green gator!
The afternoon I got to accompany my little bat during his parade. Cute little preschoolers!
Halloween night we loaded up on the Pratt's hayride and cruised the neighborhood. I followed on our golf cart with Jen Holl and watched the cutest little bat hop off the trailer... run to each house... and climb back on proudly, bat ears flopping the entire time. He'd wave at me and say "HI MOM!!" He was so so happy. Totally in his element. Ivy didn't always bother with the hayride and eventually she and Sophie ended up riding with me. I never even saw Jackson... he ran off with the older boys, exchanging his plastic pumpkin for a pillow case this year (sniff...) cause, you know, its much cooler.
And that's a Halloween wrap!!! Benny has been demanding it be Halloween again, almost every day since. He sure loved it this year.
