Halloween trick-or-treating at Fountain Place

We'd heard stories for years about the quantity of trick-or-treaters that show up to canvas Zac's dad's neighborhood for candy on Halloween. Since the ghostly festivities fell on a Saturday this year, the hour-long trek to Burlington was doable, and we invited ourselves over to see the mayhem of the masked masses first-hand. We were not disappointed.

It was a beautiful, warm fall evening. The neighborhood, with historic homes and fountain in the middle, was the perfect setting for an evening of enchantment. We arrived just before 5pm, and saw a smattering of treaters as we pulled into the neighborhood. We quickly got the kids suited up in their revised costumes. Alice had informed me the night before that she was going to be a fairy princess--not a dragon, so I had cobbled together a pink ensemble from her array of hand-me-downs. It was her idea to take the gold bows (from Halloween book gifts from Grandma Shogren?) and put them on her head like a crown. I thought she looked slightly ridiculous, but she had made a plan and who was I to thwart her? Did I have a better crown? No. I had not yet gone to the fairy store. Simon was easier-- I put him in the tiger costume which fit him better than the giraffe. He was referred to with a female pronoun occasionally throughout the evening, perhaps due to the pink ears, but that was a price I was willing to pay for being lazy.

Once the kids were costumed, we headed out. It was Alice's third experience trick-or-treating, and she was giddy with excitement. Simon seemed a bit subdued, perhaps due to his cold, but half-way through he declared quietly, "I love getting candy!"  Both were brave in the face of many scary costumes. Alice also enjoyed passing out candy, but met her match when, as twilight fell, a person dressed all in dark robes with only glowing red eyes visible approached for a treat. Then, Alice was stuck between a monster and the spider webs that adorned Tom's porch, and she cowered behind Zac, finally deciding it was time to go in for the night.

Here is a time lapse video Tom took of just a slice of the night. They gave out candy one piece per person, and distributed about 1400 pieces of candy.

Back in the safety of the house, Simon enjoyed playing Julian's guitar, and Alice even got a bit of time on an iPad.

Historic Yates Mill Pond with Grayson

We decided to spend Halloween morning enjoying the beautiful fall weather at Yates Mill Pond and invited Grayson's family to join us. The kids had a blast playing together.

 

 

Daycare Halloween Candy - Let the Sugar Season begin!

That night, after supper, we dumped the kids candy bags on the table and sorted through the loot. Simon was most interested in lollipops, since that was the only thing he knew. Alice struggled to decided what to eat, since she doesn't like chocolate and doesn't care for most candy, actually. She has yet to ever finish even a lollipop.  She finally settled on some squeezy jello stuff. Then she and Zac had some powdered donuts that I had brought home from work.

Simon makes a bouquet of lollipops

Alice and Zac partake of powdered donuts, after candy!

Alice tries on her vampire teeth!

Halloween Parade at daycare

On Friday, the kids' daycare had a Halloween parade and trick-or-treat in the big field adjacent to the classrooms. It was a community workday at my school, so I couldn't miss work, but Zac was able to attend. To prepare, a week or two ago I'd gotten the bag of hand-me-down costumes out of the attic. I had a Alice try on a bunch, to see what fit, and she decided to wear the dragon costume. I neglected to try anything on Simon, but just assumed the giraffe would fit him (it turns out the legs were a bit short).

The Halloween parade was scheduled for 9:30am, so Zac arrived around 9 and wrangled the kids into their costumes in the hallway. Then he dropped them off in their classrooms and went outside with the other parents to await the parade. Eventually the kids came straggling out, and the teachers tried to herd them into a parade formation, with mixed success. Both Alice and Simon did OK, in that they followed the crowd, and didn't cry or run over to Zac immediately. After they paraded around the field, then went past a row of parents handing out candy, to mimic trick-or-treating.

After the festivities, the teachers had the kids line up on a hill for a class costume photo. Alice stood in an ant hill and soon had ants crawling up her legs and biting her. Zac was holding Simon at the time, so he handed Alice off to a teacher, who stripped her costume off and saved her from the ants. Other than that, it was a pretty smooth morning.

Children's costume parade

Rye, as a ghost, and Alice as a dragon

Alice, Batman, and Simon sit around after the Halloween parade

Simon's not quite sure who that giraffe is in the selfie

Alice's class poses for a picture atop the hill. Alice stands in an ant hill.

Simon is a little sad that Zac is going to leave.

Boo!

We don't quite remember Alice's first spoken word, but we generally say it was "fish" since that was the first one she seems to have said consistently. So I think her first reading/writing work is Boo! When we showed her this card from Grandma Cam and Don, she took it over to her art table and made the following additions in blue marker. We asked her how she knew that word was boo, and she said it was in Grandma Shogren's mummy book. Then, later, she found it on a sticker and read it. So I'm going to count it as her first literate word. She also had fun decorating with the pumpkin stickers grandma Cam sent!

I can't wait!

Someday this will be reality, right? We'll come home from work, and Alice will have supper almost ready.