Preschool Halloween

On October 29th, Eliza's preschool had their annual Halloween party.  Last year, when she went in the morning, there was always so much food to fill up on that we didn't end up needing lunch.  This year, I made the mistake of not feeding them lunch thinking they would get plenty at the party.  However, I forgot that the food comes last.  My poor kiddos didn't get anything to eat until about 1:45, and even then it was mostly junk food.  Oh well.  Live and learn. 

For this occasion, Eliza wanted to dress up as Anna.  She looked so cute, even though she had a bit of a meltdown over her shoes.  She didn't have "Anna" shoes.  Somehow I convinced her that the black ones would suffice. 

A Frozen sister wouldn't be complete without her companion Olaf.  He looked so cute in his little costume.  He got so many comments.  A lot of the students at the high school said his costume really made their day. 

Trying to fit in as an additional princess, I put this cute little gown on Hazel.  She could really care less about being in costume, but she was adorable anyway. 

 Three cute little kids all dressed up for Halloween. 

Eliza was an old pro at trick or treating around the high school. 

 Zabien didn't take long to figure it out.  Last year, he was nervous about going in the classrooms without me.  This year, he went with Eliza and her buddy which was great because I had to push Hazel around in the stroller. 

After trick or treating and a plate full of sugary food, it was time for the piñata. 

Last year, Eliza spent the piñata time at the snack table.  She didn't want to participate.  Other times when she has been around piñatas, she hides from them.  There is something about breaking them that she just can't handle.  This year, I was pleasantly surprised that she wanted to take a turn whacking it.  The pictures are blurry because I whipped my phone out so quickly because I knew it would go fast, that I didn't have time to focus the camera. 

 She hit it with such grace and a big smile on her face. 

Zabien also took a turn. I thought he would hit it with more force, but the little taps he gave it was enough for him. 

Once it was finally open, both kids scrambled for their favorite kinds.  It's funny how selective they were of the candy on the ground.  I guess if they are going to put forth the effort, they want to make sure it is their favorite.   

The amount of candy they came home with was completely ridiculous.  Not only were their buckets full of trick or treat candy, after the piñata broke, their teacher threw buckets full of candy on the floor.  We were the last class of the day, so I think she was trying to use up all the leftovers.   

Luckily there are mini bags of pretzels, goldfish, and other snack foods amongst all that candy.  I'm sure it will last until next Halloween.

Ward Trunk or Treat

It's a good thing my children love dressing up and trick or treating.  This year they had not one, not two, but three opportunities to dress up and say those magic words, "trick or treat."  I find it ridiculous the amount of sugar that is stuffed into a child's trick or treat bag.  With the amount of candy they got this year, we may never run out of treats.   In my house though, treats are used as bribery to clean up, potty train, and just about every other desired action a mother wants her children to do. 

First off, our ward put on a trunk or treat.  I really liked the way they did it this year.  First, it started at 10 am on a Saturday.  This was perfect because we didn't have to worry about not being able to see our children in the dark.  All children were perfectly visible.  Second, we did it at the community pool parking lot, so it was much easier to park in a big circle and move quickly from car to car.  Third, the whole thing was over in 30 minutes, this included the costume parade before the treat getting. 

This is the first year I actually bought Halloween costumes that the kids chose.  The past couple of years I've either used recycled ones other moms have loaned me, or bought a costume on clearance the year before and convinced the kids to wear that one.  Thanks to Target Cartwheel, I got them 50% off.  Of course, Eliza chose to be Elsa while Zabien settled for the dinosaur.  Both kids were super excited to put on these costumes.  They'd been talking about going trick or treating for weeks. 

Zabien insisted that dinosaurs wear white shoes.

I put Hazel in this little Mickey Mouse outfit and we were good to go. 

What a cute looking bunch!

 We had a pretty good turn out to this activity.   Most of the participants had costume aged children anyway. 
 

Walking around for the costume parade. 

 One family went the extra mile and made this awesome castle out of cardboard that they put right in front of their trunk.  The kids were a bit hesitant to go inside.  They thought there may be a scary monster inside (monsters are very real at our house lately).  However, when other kids were leaving with extra candy in their buckets, they decided to brave it.  It paid off well for them. 

 Another truck was decorated with this Dracula Mickey.  I had to snap a picture of my little Mickey with this Halloween one. 

And just like that, the activity was over.  Not wanting things to end so quickly, we walked across the street to the park

Ever the great big sister, she had a great time pushing Hazel in this swing. 

It doesn't get much cuter than that. 

Dressing up and some time at the park sure does take its toll on little babies.  She didn't even make it out of the costume or through lunch before she conked out. 

Pumpkin Patch

About the 3rd week of October, we went to Freddy Hill Farms for our playgroup pumpkin patch tour.  The kids look forward to this playgroup every year.  I personally love fall, and there is nothing that speaks fall more than hay rides, pumpkins, and long sleeved shirts. 

We are all waiting to get on the hayride. 

Beautiful Eliza hanging out on the hay wagon

The best picture we could get of all of us

Zabien wanted to be front and center for the pumpkin patch instruction.  She taught us how pumpkins grow, and what qualities to look for in the perfect pumpkin. 

Eliza wanted the best- we tried several pumpkins before she found the one she wanted. 

Zabien just grabbed the first one he could find and put it in his bag.  I had to put it back because it was too soft and starting to rot already.  I convinced him to settle on this one. 

My two cuties with their pumpkin filled bags.

                                                All the kids with their pumpkins

Soon it was time to get back on the hay wagon.  Zabien really loved the tractor- he really wanted to drive it

But he settled for a picture right in front of the tire. 

Aren't they just so cute!

I loved watching him climb these steps up to the hay wagon.  He was just short enough that the steps were a challenge.  I just think he is so adorable. 

We rode the hay wagon over to the corn maze and picnic tables. 

I snapped this picture of the kids being goofy right at the front of the corn maze.  They ran right into the entrance to the corn maze, and went through it so quickly, I couldn't keep up.  I got turned around a couple of times and had a difficult time working my way through it.  When I finally did, I wasn't sure if the other two kids had come out or not.  I went down the big slide with Hazel, and kept looking around for them. 

A few of the other moms told me that they came out a few minutes after they went in.  I thought at first they just came back out the entrance, but they had no trouble with the corn maze and ran right through it.   I finally found them posing with this pumpkin carriage. 

They were so cute jumping around on these hay bales with their friends. 

After all this fun, we went inside and each had an ice cream cone.  We walked through the petting zoo (no pictures of this), and then ate our lunch at the picnic tables.  The weather was perfect and  the company great.  I'm glad we had a fun afternoon. Because we went to the pumpkin patch as a playgroup, I didn't feel quite as bad that Eliza missed her preschool pumpkin patch field trip because we went to the Pocono mountains for fall break.