Happy Halloween!

Halloween. What a great time for kids and adults. We picked up Marissa and her friend Devany from school and brought them home with us to get ready for the big trick or treat night. On our way home we stopped over at the co-op for their alternative halloween. The kids were not very excited about it (they were expecting to get some nuts and berries as treats) but we were all greeted with a big bag of yummy stuff that they all gobbled up right away. Mommy even got a bag :). They got balloons and their fortunes told, and experience they've never heard of (my kids at least). The kids all lined up with the other kids and we went on a costume parade walk down the street. We got pictures of all the kids dressed up together in front of the fire department and then went back to the co-op. They loved it. And later we went trick or treating in our neighborhood (see below).

Noah the firefighter and his loot

Parade

Fortunes told

After a good dinner for all of us we went trick or treating around the neighborhood. Ben and Hannah ran with the two older girls and they crossed the streets to cover more houses and get more loot. Noah and Ryan and most of the adults walked along one side of the street and that was plenty for us. On our way home we stopped in at one of our neighbors houses, they were having an open house for those they knew and we had some soup or chili and cupcakes. Noah got his drink of water-because he was SO thirsty- and the kids got to play with some of our neighbors' kids toys for a bit. We headed home and said good-bye to our cousins and Granny and GranDad. The kids went through their giant piles of candy and picked 15 pieces to keep. The rest went to the Great Pumpkin (read on below). :)

Ryan and Noah "trick-or-treat!"

Got some good stuff!!

All those costumed

Scary bunch

The Great Pumpkin is something we started about two years ago when we realized that there was way too much candy entering this house on Halloween night. It goes like this. The kids get to pick a number of pieces of their favorite pieces of candy (they have a hard time choosing because they don't know which candies they like. They don't get candy very often). Then they put their candies together in a big bowl, this year their candy fit into the largest Tupperware bowl (32 cups) we have, and we put it outside for the Great Pumpkin. The Great Pumpkin comes in the middle of the night and takes the candy but leaves each child with a present. This tradition is so much fun for the kids. They really enjoy it.