Halloween festivities

Halloween really crept up on us this year.  On the 28th, amidst the unpacked boxes and junk everywhere, I finally decided it was time to set it all aside and start thinking about costumes.  Since last Halloween, Chloe's begged to be a princess.  That hadn't changed, so princess it was!  And Ryan, well, he's still in that stage where he'll wear just about anything and be happy.  So I made it easy on myself and stuck him in the same elephant costume another cute little someone wore 3 Halloweens ago (see HERE).  He did fight it some, but every time he'd start to pull at it, we'd just remind him that if he wore it he'd get candy.  Worked like a charm.

Here are a few pictures from earlier in the week.  Well, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  We literally crammed everything Halloween into 3 days.  Under normal circumstances I would have had decorations up well before October 1st, and at least one trip to the pumpkin patch underway by the 15th.  Not this year though!  The only reason I managed to get the few Halloween decorations out that I have is because they were sitting in a clear tupperware container that was easy to spot and access.  Anyway, over the course of Thursday and Friday we did caramel apples and the traditional sugar cookies.

Friday we went to Dell' Osso Farms, where we road the train and picked out pumpkins.

 
If we're measuring in cuteness, then these two are surely off the charts!

Finding the perfect pumpkin.

Ryan L-O-V-E-D the "choo choo", and did NOT want to get off.  Can you tell?

Saturday evening our cul-de-sac hosted a Halloween party.  Coned off the road and everything!  Apparently it's quite the annual event, and something our neighbors have been doing now for a few years.  They had some activities for the kids, including face painting and a jump house, as well as food, music, and LOTS of people.  It was definitely not a quaint gathering, exclusive to the cul-de-sac residents only.  Oh no!  Over the course of the night I saw well over a hundred people.  We didn't last past 8, but neighbors and friends of neighbors were partying outside our door until midnight.  A friendly group, but I hope these late night parties aren't a normal thing in this neighborhood.  I have a feeling I'm going to make a really grouchy old person.  :)

Anyway, here are the kiddos in all their Halloween glory. 

Ryan was quite a hit.  All the little girls kept hugging him and telling him (and us) how cute he was.
 

And Little Miss Chloebug, the most feminine and dainty little thing you ever did see fluttered around like any ballerina princess ought to.  She was especially fond of her sparkly silver princess shoes, and pointed them out to anyone who glanced in her direction.

Back in August when Neil was here and we were still in Colorado, we came to an agreement that by Halloween we would be living under the same roof again.  At that point there was no light at the end of the tunnel.  We'd had zero luck selling our home, and the prospect of renting still scared us.  Yet even with everything against us, we were determined to be a family by Halloween.  And we did it!  We even beat our deadline by 10 days!  :)  And all in all, I'd say we had a pretty nice Halloween!