Part IV - The Never Ending Halloween

Finn and Heath also had days they were invited to wear their costumer to school.  With those days and all the others I have shared with you, by the time Halloween came around, the kids' costumes were well broken in.  Halloween was a chilly night, as snow still covered most of the ground from the unexpected early storm. We spent some time at a neighbors annual Halloween party and then headed out with friends for some trick-or treating.  Everyone had a blast, despite the cold.

Neighborhood clan.

So long Halloween!

Halloween Part III - The Extended Holiday

You probably remember from last year's Triple Treat post that IDEXX invites employee children to trick-or-treat through out the building. While a bit crazy, it's a blast. The kids love to trick-or-treat with out coats and no darkness. Top it all off with a pizza party in the end.  Makes for some pretty happy kids. 

Spidey Finn makes his Halloween debut.

No shocker that nanny extraordinaire, Trish,  stepped up to make Heath the most amazing Train costume! We couldn't get him to wear it beyond the pics below, but I'm sure it will stick around for dress up for awhile. Quite amazing, with a real light in the front that turns on and off. Records for wheels. She could go into business doing this stuff really.

We were able to convince Heath that in order to get candy he did have to wear the conductor outfit.  He'll do almost anything for candy.

Halloween Part II - Pumpkin Fest and More

 LL Bean does a great job giving back to the community and Pumpkin Fest is yet another festival they provide that I'll add to my list of annual Fall traditions. While we truly only had a glimpse, as the temperature were dipping and we were ill-prepared to stay warm outside, I did snap a couple pictures of the amazing display of jack-o-lanterns.  Over 6,000 total lit the night on the parameters of the LL Bean flagship store.  It was an amazing and beautiful site and an event I will look forward to returning to next year.

As we fled home from the festival shivering, we sped passed houses where people frantically raked leaves and brought lawn furniture in to prep for the impending snow storm.  Later that night, just days before Halloween, the storm arrived.  Well hello snow.  It's been just a short 6 months since we saw you last and really, we are not quite ready to have you back..Certainly not all 8 inches of you. But with a deep breathe and kids jumping with excitement we were also reminded of the newness and delight of the first snow fall of the season and had to take advantage of a day without power and a snow covered yard.

Nana came to visit just in time for the storm.

We even got to sled in our back yard!

Halloween--An Extended Holiday

In our house Halloween always seems to become an extended holiday.  Sure, trick-or-treating officially takes place on one night, but that's not usually the end (or the beginning of it) for us. Like most families, it's tradition for us to carve pumpkins and indulge on roasted pumpkin seeds together.

I know it looks like the kids have big knives, but they are actually kid-friendly carving tools.  Promise.

Lexi's school hosts a Halloween parade for all their Kindergartners to adorn their costumes and march across the baseball field for all the first graders and parents too.  It was quite a site, watching 7 classes of kids brimming with excitement as they marched around the field.  The 1st graders, remembering the day well from their participation just one year earlier, cheered as they paraded past them.

Below she makes her debut as Jazz-Man.  Yes, that's how she pronounces it. You may have noticed that Lexi is making her way through each Disney princess for her Halloween costumes year by year.  The funny thing about Jazz-Man, is that Lexi's actually never seen Aladdin.  When she put on the costume, she pulled on the top and said, "mom, it's too short." I had to tell her that it was supposed to be that way, BUT that we would be wearing a shirt underneath.  I'm not really ready for her to be showing her midriff.

After the parade, the parents were all invited to the classroom for Halloween treats and the children sang a song with a choreographed dance.  Pretty cute and worth every moment.

More on our extended holiday next post.

Ghosted

Have you ever been ghosted?  I have no idea if this is a new tradition or unique to Maine, but we were ghosted for the first time this year. It definitely got the kids excited about Halloween and they loved participating in the "secret" game.

A week before Halloween we opened our door one morning to find treats, a ghost on a piece of paper, and a "ghosted" poem with details of the game. Had I been smart enough I would have copied the poem down to share with you, but I was to busy prepping treats to pass along to the next recipient.  It's an awesome tradition and something you can't pull off just anywhere I would guess. Here's how it goes....

After dark, leave the ghosted poem, a ghost, and some treats outside a neighbors door.  Once you've been ghosted, it's your turn to do the same. So that everyone knows you've already been ghosted, you hang the picture of the ghost you were given on your front door. Soon enough, everyone in your neighborhood will have ghosts on their front door and treats in their bellies.

We will definitely look forward to Ghosting next year.  Has anyone else been Ghosted?

A Perfect Fall Day

Yet another great year picking apples, eating homemade donuts and picking out pumpkins with great friends.

Visiting Colby

Nothing like a trip to see Colby Women's Soccer play on a crisp fall day and a stop at Big G's for breakfast on the way.

And Colby won too!