With the recent time change and the leaves changing colors, we've finally begun to feel like "fall" around here. Last week was filled with excitement, from the Harvest Festival to Halloween, to a visit from my brother and sister-in-law. Most of the week was spent helping Garrett count down the number of days until Halloween. We don't really do much to celebrate it, but we do let the kids dress up and trick-or-treat a little around my parent's neighborhood. Garrett was REALLY excited about getting candy, and only slightly less excited about wearing his new Clone Trooper costume. (Forget that we haven't actually seen the Star Wars movie--apparently kindergarten word of mouth is enough to convince him this is the coolest costume ever!)
Jeff and Tina arrived late Thursday, so we let Garrett miss the afternoon at school on Friday to play with his cousins. Then they all "suited up" for a quick trip through the neighborhood. Paige finally agreed to wear her ladybug costume -no small feat, considering the mere thought of it had brought tears that very morning! I think seeing cousin Michaela dressing up was enough to spur her on! It was no surprise that Tina decided to don her "Aunt Freida" teeth (those buck teeth you can buy) and complete the outfit with a wig, old-lady dress, and a shawl. When Tina becomes "Aunt Freida" there is no stopping her -she has this alternate personality that only goes away when the teeth come out! Needless to say, Paige was completely freaked out by this strange person who suddenly appeared with us. She backed up completely against the wall and stared with huge eyes. Tina even took the outfit off for a second so Paige could see it was her, and Paige still refused to go anywhere near her. She whispered to me, "Mommy, I don't like the lady with the big teeth!"
We started out to visit my mom's neighbors, and Paige was clinging to my hand and keeping a 10 foot buffer between herself and "Aunt Freida". I was beginning to think we'd have to trick-or-treat by ourselves when Paige suddenly decided that this strange person wasn't going to hurt her, and she even began showing "Aunt Freida" all her candy. In the end, the kids had a great time. Garrett and Ryan had a contest to see who could ring the doorbell first, and to see who could keep the candy away from their dads!
Saturday we headed down to a park with good steep hills so we could try ice-blocking. This is an activity that Jeff decided to resurrect from our teenage years, when we would go with our church youth group. For those who've never tried it, you buy a large block of ice, put a towel on top of it, and "sled" down a grassy hill. It's lots of fun, especially because it's nearly impossible to stay on it the whole way down! The kids had a blast, and Jeff and I even raced each other down. Tina also raked a bunch of leaves into a pile so the kids could jump into it (which they did with great joy!!)
Now we're looking forward to a few weeks of cooler temperatures before we head out to Tucson for Dave's annual bike race. I love fall!
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