October Festivities

This October we spent most of the month celebrating Halloween in many different ways. The first festivities included the pumpkin carving contest we had up north with my family, which I've already posted. The remaining festivities included the pumpkin patch, the Legend of Sleepy Howell, the Boo at the Zoo, costume dress-up at gymnastics, and then finally trick-or-treating. We definitely got use out of Maddy's costume this year.

Pumpkin Patch

Every year we try to get to the Spicer's Apple Orchard with the neighbors to take pictures of the kids in their halloween costumes in the pumpkin patch. For some reason it never goes as smoothly as we hope. The kids only lasted for a few pictures and they were done with that and ready to go see the animals. After a short visit with the animals the kids wanted to play. The weather was great so we let them run around in the hay maze for about an hour. So we didn't get any good pictures of the kids in their costumes together but the kids had fun playing afterwards so maybe next year we can use that to bribe them during the photo shoot.

Why do I have to sit on the pumpkin?
I'll sit on it but, I'm not smiling.

Ben (silly monster), Maddy (elephant), Kendal (poodle), Olivia (witch), Brendon (power ranger)

The baby chickens join the crew

Aren't they cute?
(Josie and Hayden)

I'm tired of this.

The Legend of Sleepy Howell

Howell has a big trick-or-treating event for the kids downtown the weekend before Halloween called the Legend of Sleepy Howell. Its a terrific evening to spend with the family. They decorate the downtown and have all sorts of different events going on for the kids. We spent about 3 hours down there. It was a little cold but Maddy was having a blast so we stayed until the bitter end. She even got her picture taken for the newspaper.

Going for a ride on a crazy golf cart trailer

Mommy and Maddy on a hayride

Daddy came too

Roasting marshmallows at the campfire

The Boo at the Zoo

The next day, we spent a nice afternoon at Potter's Park in Lansing for the Boo at the Zoo. We met Jason's mom, Grandma Nancy, for lunch and then she came with us to the zoo. We were worried about the weather as it was pouring on the way there but by the time we finish lunch the sun came out and stayed out for long enough for us to enjoy an afternoon at the zoo. Maddy loved seeing the animals and getting some candy was a bonus.

Grandma and Maddy

"HI turtle...do you like my sunglasses?"
Dress-up for Gymnastics

Ever see an elephant do gymnastics? If not, we have the pictures to prove that one can. Maddy's gymnastics class had dress-up this week, where the kids could wear their costumes if they wanted. Maddy wore her elephant costume all but the last 5 minutes. It was adorable! Jason came to class to see her, which is such a treat for her. She loves it when daddy comes.

Climbing a hill is a hard task for an elephant

Almost there

Hop-Scotch

Crawling through the tunnel to a balance beam full of spiders

Jumping Elephant

Trick-or-Treating

Friday night, Halloween was finally here. We had a great night! The evening started off with a delicious mexican fajita dinner at the Abbotts. Filling our bellies with a good meal before trick-or-treating was supposed to stop us from eating too much candy, unfortunately it didn't seem to work. The weather was absolutely gorgeous...in fact, it was too hot for Maddy in her elephant costume. She didn't want to take it off though. We spent about an hour trick-or-treating with the kids and then finished handing out candy. Maddy did pretty good, but she is definitely a scaredy cat. She would not go up to any house that was decorated scary and she freeze the moment she saw a kid with a scary mask. I had to ask one kid to turn around so that I could get her off of someone's porch. She was definitely more into people watching, then actually trick-or-treating. Funny story...Howell was hosting a playoff football game during trick-or-treating that Maddy was very interested in since we can see the lights from the field and hear the crowd from our sub-division. She keep saying football or Packer game, mommy while we were walking. We got up to one of the house and before I let Maddy put her hand in the bowl to grab a piece of candy that a woman was offering, I said, "Maddy what do you say?" She shouted, "GO PACKERS!" (10 times louder than she said trick-or-treat all night long) Everyone was laughing, it was hilarious. Anyway, it was a great Halloween!

Trick-or-Treat
(Kendal, Ben, and Maddy)

Kendal and Maddy enjoying their suckers