Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween started on Saturday with the ward trunk-or-treat. It was a huge success! We actually had about twice as many people as could fit in the cultural hall for a chili dinner afterward. It was crowded and delicious!

 The kids had a blast with the trunk-or-treat. Luke wasn't thrilled about his costume, but once he figured out the trick-or-treating, he was focused on candy-- a man on a mission! He was determined to not miss any candy opportunities and wasn't hesitant at all. He loved it when he could pick out his own candy and tuck it into his bag. So cute! He got lots of attention for his cute costume, especially his well-padded giraffe tummy and bum. Cora was excited to be a fairy and Violet has long been looking forward to wearing a ladybug costume.

 Sunday afternoon we carved pumpkins. Cora chose an Ariel template and Violet chose a Snow White template... Kevin did a scary face to round things out. Cora was a great helper with scooping out the seeds and sorting them to roast, and Violet did quite a bit of scooping too... with a shorter attention span. 

 Monday was a busy day! Cora got to wear her Halloween costume to school. They all paraded from the elementary school down to the junior high and then had a class party afterward. At their class party they split pumpkins open to count seeds and feel the goop, weighed and measured different sized pumpkins, frosted pumpkin cookies, bowled with pumpkins, and made pumpkin spiders. I've been so impressed with the fun things they do that still incorporate learning opportunities.

Violet, Luke, and I got to go to Violet's Halloween preschool party. Violet loved singing songs, reading Halloween stories, eating a Halloween snack, trick-or-treating to a few neighbors, and making witches brew (root beer... although she did ask me why Miss Amanda didn't add spider webs and moldy bread to the brew like the song says :) !)

Then it was time for the big night! Kissie came over to spend Halloween with us (Pata was on a plane home). Dinner was french dip sandwiches and pumpkin soup, but mostly we were in a hurry to get out and maximize out trick-or-treating time! 

 Luke came in after two streets, he was still having fun but was slowing down. Violet said she'd just come in for a drink, but decided to stay home and hand out candy with Kissie. Cora stayed out the longest--about an hour and a half. Soon after coming in we had a few inevitable candy meltdowns... the kids were so tired! Violet even fell asleep in her bed waiting for a bedtime story while Kevin was helping Cora brush her teeth (truly a first--falling asleep fast, not the teeth-brushing!).

 This picture turned out fuzzy, but it was too cute not to include. What a great Halloween weekend! This holiday gets more fun every year with kids!