Halloween Fun

The kids were really looking forward to Halloween this year. Last year, Marie started talking about going trick-or-treating with Rosie and Lilly again within a couple of months. Well, the time finally came!

The first activity was to carve their jack-o-lantern out of one of the pumpkins they had chosen during our previous outing with Rosie and Lilly. (Note: The other pumpkin met its demise while being rolled and thrown down the hill behind our house, an activity that was neither dreamed up nor accomplished by the kids alone. I'll refrain from naming the instigators/accomplices.)

Marie and Joey thoroughly enjoyed scooping out the seeds, drawing Jack's face(s), posing with the finished product, and ultimately lighting it (sorry, no pictures of that). The whole family was there for the lighting and Joey was very excited about showing Jon their work. He used one of his more recent favorite phrases, "Look! Look!"

Since visiting Pittsburgh for JJ's birthday, the kids have been interested in Thomas the Train and Lightning McQueen even more than usual. I must have been feeling overwhelmed with my list of things to do when I saw these costumes because I quickly banished any thought of finding creative (i.e. less expensive) options and just got them. I have to admit, the kids loved them.

Our first stop on Halloween night was to Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah's house. Joey was quite impressed with the whole concept of getting candy and then spent the rest of the time kicking around a stuffed (Illini) basketball. After our short visit, we were off to do more trick-or-treating with our goddaughters Rosie and Lilly.

We went trick-or-treating in Northville, and area very close to where Rosie and Lilly live. It was the same area were we went last year. The streets were crawling with people. Marie was definitely shy at first, but then warmed up to the whole process. She and Rosie (both 4 years old) definitely have different personalities; Marie is more hesitant and cautious while Rosie is a real go-getter. Lilly just turned three and also got into the fun. Joey on the other hand was completely happy being carried around by Jon as he watched everything around him. He especially liked seeing all the people out with their dogs. Another highlight was the girls happening upon a large pile of leaves in front of one house. Before we could even say a word, they had jumped right in. We barely had enough time to snap a picture!

After about 40 minutes, we had our fill of trick-or-treating. True to tradition, we all headed to Aubrey's for some dinner. The kids did very well even though they were pretty tired. Between the cool air and the surrounding commotion, they were beat. By the time we were leaving, Rosie had even fallen asleep.

Needless to say, we parents had our hands full keeping track of the kids in the crowd and we wondered how in the world we would do this next year when we would be outnumbered by two (their family is also expecting a son just a few weeks before us). I guess we'll worry about that when the time comes. :)