The Great Pumpkin Rides Again!

Unless you somehow missed it, Halloween was on Monday. This group of mine always has fun dressing up and doing fall things. The only disadvantage this year is that Kevin has been working a big work project that keeps him gone Mon-Thurs (and occasionally Friday) right now. That means most of our Halloween/Fall festivities ended up being pushed into a long weekend this year. Not the way we prefer to do it…but that’s just how the chips landed this year.

Thursday kicked it all off when I took the kids down to Tubbs Berry Farm after school. The kids enjoy the big slides, duck races, and the corn cannon (both hit targets this year). The Hay Bale maze is fun and there is always something new to see, do, or learn. For example: Did you know the average Honey Bee only lives six weeks and produces about 1/4tsp of honey during it’s lifespan?

I think the kid’s favorite element this year was the giant jump pad. This thing was huge, and we got there at a time when it was also devoid of other kids….My kangaroos went wild.

Saturday, after helping out at the Church’s fall cleanup and roaming the canal bed catching Crawdads we headed into town to the CSI Corn Maze. It wasn’t too many years back when we couldn’t make it through this thing without carrying people. Now we have to worry about them getting too far ahead and turning a corner on us. Not too many more years and they won’t have to stay with Mom and Dad the whole time….that has some potential

For now however I’ll enjoy the time as a family….besides these kids still come in handy when you get yourself truly turned around. “Okay sweetie, can you see the exit tent?”

Once we got done with the Corn Maze there was really only one thing left to do before Halloween itself…pumpkins!

This is another area where I’m always impressed by how far the kids have come. Jack doesn’t require any assistance anymore (except for some muscle to pull off the lid) and had some creative ideas up his sleeves (he turned his pumpkin on its side to use the nose as part of the face). Emilie still wanted help cleaning out her pumpkin. She also needed some carving help. She drew on the face (and hands, because all pumpkins have hands) and did a little carving (like one eye), but then, it seems, she suffered a career ending hand cramp and Mom had to step in and carve the rest under Emilie’s careful guidance and commentary. They turned out pretty good if you ask me.

Left to right: Kevin’s – Traditional Face (originally slated to be a trio of ghosts but the template allegedly ‘slipped’ so he went with option B), Mine – Butch the Cougar, Emilie – Hands! (I think it looks like ‘The Scream’ a bit). Jack – Stem-nose Pumpkin.

Then came Monday – Halloween Day – All Hallows Eve – Reformation Day and lots of parties. I attended three myself (Jack’s, Emilie’s, and Kevin’s Work)…how about you?

KINDERGARTEN PARTY

SECOND GRADE PARTY

Once the partying wrapped we had just enough time to go home and breath a bit for hitting the candy train to Tirck-or-Treat town. This year we did group costumes. Kevin/Jack went as Bandit (Burt Reynolds) and Snowman (Jerry Reid) from Smoky & The Bandit. Emilie and I went as Rapunzel and Mother Gothel from Disney’s Tangled. Both kid’s costumes turned out great! Jack got an extra handful of candy at one house because the homeowner was a trucker and said it was the best costume he’d seen all night…right down to the dog (Fred) strapped on back as his dog rides with him when he’s on the road. Jack was also stopped for a photo on the sidewalk by a parent who worked at a truck repair shop. Emilie wasn’t left out either, In fact her Rapunzel braid inspired a fellow mom to whip one up quick for her daughter who was also going as Rapunzel (Imitation is flattery people). In all we had a great time, are loaded down with Enough candy to easily make that Gain-10-lbs-by-New-Year goal, and have two kids already scheming up costumes for next year.

Oh….and those Crawdads I mentioned earlier…..

Happy Halloween

This year I couldn’t convince the kids to do any sort of group theme. They are big enough now that they have their own ideas on the matter. Jack wanted to be a ‘Construction Guy’ (NOT Bob the Builder….He corrected several people on this. He is Jack the Construction Guy!). Emilie was a princess riding Rainbow Sparkle Dash the flying unicorn (I have since learn that these are called Alicorns). In typical 4 year old fashion she couldn’t decided which dress and crown she wanted to wear so she ended up wearing one for our visit to the Fire Safety trunk or treat and another for Trick or Treating.

Yes, I said Fire Safety trunk or treat. Local fire departments do a trunk or treat and hand out candy and fires safety material. We’ve never been, but Jack brought home the flyer from school and (since he can now read what these things say ) asked several times if we could go see the trucks and Firefighter Bud (The Filer fire chief who Jack has met a few times and thinks is sooooooo awesome). Plus some of Dad’s coworkers were going to be there, including Smokey the Bear (Kudos to Stephen for bringing Smokey to life for the event )

 

Then it was on to Trick or Treating. We went over to our friends’ place in Kimberly, as usual. Ate waaay to much yummy food, as usual. A trick or treated until the kids’ feet wore (Emilie) or the bad got full (Jack).

The Great Pumpkin

Whew, times flies when you’re having fun! I played ‘nanny’ for my 7 month old nephew this week while his Mom was at a work conference in Virginia/DC so Halloween kind of feels like it’s snuck up on me. Still, kids made it through their inaugural costume runs at their school parties just fine and we’re all set for trick-or-treat tonight.

No Halloween is complete without some carved squash and with my trip we opted to carve last Sunday night. The kids picked their pumpkins out of the patch a few weeks ago and I think they had as much fund choosing and hauling as they did carving.

It is always fun to see what they will carve. This year was no exception. Emilie’s appears inspired by Edvard Munch’s the Scream. Jack’s is….well I’m not sure about Jack’s. We even did check to see if he meant to leave the lower half of his pumpkin blank, and yes it was intentional. It was also intentional to have the eyes offset. Never question the work of a master.

On a small side note, and I mean small, after finishing her pumpkin. Emilie brought out a very small gourd and insisted it be carved for Peppa, the Guinea Pig. Every family member gets a pumpkin right?

 

Above: LtoR; The Great Pumpkin, Peppa’s Pumpkin, Emilie’s Pumpkin

Adults don’t get left out either. After helping Em with her gourd and carving one for the pig, Kevin opted to go with the “DeWalt” method and used the drill on his pumpkin. I took a little more of the Collegiate route and with with the Coug logo. All in all we got a pretty good look bunch of squash on the front porch.

Above: LtoR; Jack’s Pumpkin, Kevin’s Pumpkin, Cassie’s Pumpkin (in chair)

Finally we did do a little pumpkin experiment and made a bear pumpkin this year. Back in the spring the kids’ Sunday School teacher gave them an empty animal cracker container. She suggested putting one of our pumpkins in it and seeing if it would grow into a bear shape (I guess shaped fruit growing is popular in Asia). We thought it would be a fun experiment and it turned out fairly well. If we can find some other containers we will try it again next year. The hardest part was getting the plastic off without damaging the pumpkin.

Halloween Hangover

We’ve survived another All Hallows Eve. With the kids at two different schools, Kevin still working long days at work (I’m ready for the hills to ‘snow out’ please), my willingness to volunteer, and swim lessons we spent the last week on the go. It wasn’t overly crazy you just had to stay focused and on top of your timetable.

Monday we carved pumpkins. Each year this gets better and better as the kids become more independent. Jack did his whole pumpkin by himself for the most part. Watching him use a knife, even one of those ‘safety’ pumpkin carving ones, to cut out the pumpkin’s face was a bit nerve wracking. It’s one of those times where I pretty much have to fight the urge to snatch the knife away and just sit on my hands and offer only verbal instruction until he asks for help.

 

As for Emilie, yes she carved in her swimsuit. I hide it after I wash it. Otherwise she wants to wear it all the time. She had mixed reviews on pumpkin carving. Mostly it was the pumpkin guts that were an issue. She had no problem scooping them out, but they made her hands slimy and she wanted a washing between each scoop. 

 

 

Jack’s Kindergarten class held it’s class party on Thursday which worked out nicely since I’d volunteered to at Emilie’s class party on Friday forgetting I’d already volunteered to help with Jack’s (yes, I need to join a “volunteers anonymous” program). All the kids wore their costumes and did a parade for the upper grades. Then they went back to their classes and had their parties. The Mom in charge of Jack’s class did a fantastic job. There were 4 stations the kids rotated between. Mini-pumpkin decorating, a spooky craft, cupcake frosting/eating, and a game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The game was my station. I did a pumpkin ball-toss game with a “trick or treat” board. The kids seemed to love it. Especially the part where they got to punch out a ‘window’ for their trick or treat (some had candy, some had little rubber mice/bats/spiders). Many were disappointed to learn it was a ‘one per customer’ game. I found the idea on Pinterest so I really can take no credit besides assembly, still I had three different teachers stop me so they could look it over in order to make their own at some point in the future.

Friday, Halloween proper, consisted of Emilie’s class party, a lunch potluck at the Forest Service office, and Trick-or-Treating. Jack had no-school due to it being the end of the quarter and a half-day at school. Half days result in Kindergarten classes being cancelled since they can’t get both AM and PM classes completed in the allotted time. That meant Jack went to Emilie’s class party with me. I thought I took more pictures there, but I guess I didn’t. How easily one forgets the activity level and stubbornness of a a pack of 3 year olds. Sheesh! They did face painting, a craft, spooky stories, and a bean bag toss. Like Jack’s class they rotated through stations. Unlike Jack’s class they wouldn’t stay at their designated station and I think we spent more time trying to make sure everyone stayed where they were supposed to than actually doing activities. Oh well, what can you do?

After that party we drove over to Kevin’s office to say ‘Hi’ and see what costumes the FS staff had come up with. Got to hand it to that group they are all pretty good about dressing up. The food isn’t bad either. Baked Potato bar and chili cook-off. Sign me up. Kevin entered a smoked beef chili and won second place this year. He did not dress-up though…he still owes me for that. I had my costume on.

Two parties in one morning can take it out on a body, especially the 5 and under set so we took it easy for the afternoon. Come sundown we all donned out Despicable me gear and headed out to trick-or-treat. With the kids deciding to be a yellow and a purple minion, Kevin and I went as Gru and Lucy Wilde respectively. Yes, Kevin did dress up for trick-or-treat

As usual went went to our friends’ place over in Kimberly and trick-or-treated their neighborhood. This was the first year we trick-or-treated without a stroller and it went pretty well. Emilie walked about the first block or so then had to be carried between houses. She was soooo excited she was falling all over herself and every step and curb along the way. Jack has this down pat now. He knows you only ring at houses with their porch lights on. You say trick-or-treat, get your candy, say thank you and hustle to the next house. Once we can get him to stop staring into his candy bag and instead watch where he is going, we’ll be set. Emilie pooped out 3/4 of the way through so she and Kevin went back to our friends’ house for hot cocoa and Jack and I kept going. He just about filled his bag by the time we finished all the houses in the neighborhood. He was slowing down, but was keeping up a steady trudge.

It was a fun and sugar-filled time all around. Thankfully a Friday holiday meant we got to spend the weekend working off the sugar induced hangover and easing into the coming Holiday season. Oh yes it is coming, you can’t deny. Saturday morning Emilie drug this out of the drawer….. even she knows

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