Grandma's Halloween Party

Grandma Blanchard invited us to her house on Monday, October 24th to play with cousins Kage and Dray (their mom and dad had to work that day, but they boys didn't have school) and to have a little Halloween extravaganza.  Little is probably not the most accurate word, honestly.  We partied BIG.  Our first item of business: sneak out before it rained again (which, actually, it didn't, but it had been raining all morning, so we figured it might keep up) to visit the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins for Grandma's porch.  Then it was back to Grandma's house for pumpkin painting, cookie decorating, donut-on-a-string eating, apple-bobbing, and tape-the-eyes-on-the-jack-o-lantern-ing.  We also had a windy walk out on the golf course for a few minutes and watched Aggie the dog run and the leaves blow all around us.  At dinnertime, Heather and Gregg joined us for a super sloppy joe spread.  Then it was time for costumes and some trick-or-treating to all the doors in Grandma's basement, around and around the circuit a few times till all the candy was distributed.  The kids wanted another go at the dangling donuts and bobbing apples, this time with the now-present parents to join in the fun.  And then it was time for jammies and a sleepy drive home.

Lots of cute photo-ops set up at the pumpkin patch.

And a mini petting zoo, to boot!

Pumpkin picker.

She can lift it, so she can pick it!

Dem boyz.

We picked out an extra one to take home for our jack-o-lantern
since the one we picked at the Liberty pumpkin patch was already
rotting on our porch pre-carving.

Just the right size!

This was a highlight activity for her -
she loves to paint!

Although,, decorating cookies was a huge hit, too.
Candy corn and chocolate chips?  This girl was in
heaven!

I admit, I was super excited about this activity - it's something
I've only read about in Halloween picture books from the library.
And now I finally got a chance to try!  (I think Kage won this round.)

Callie had been looking forward to the bobbing for apples for weeks,
since we read about it in every Halloween book we checked out this
month.  It was also my first time bobbing, and I must say it's quite
a thrill to dunk your head in the water going after an apple.

After Sam's nap, he got a turn trying to stick a triangle eye on
our friendly Jack-o-Lantern.

And Grandma had a turn, too!

Callie's turn!

Costume time - they're sitting by their pumpkins
(which were both decorated by Cal).

Cowboy/Farmer/Scarecrow Sam and his big
sister Callie Shark

Trick-or-treat!  Heather was in the room with the
dress-ups, so each time they knocked she was in
a different "costume".

More donut fun.  (Gregg was champion this time).

Whew!  What a day full of Halloween cheer!