A Super Halloween

Today during the day we went to a Halloween open gym at our gymnastics studio. We don't often go to open gyms since it adds up for three kids, but I thought it would be fun. Plus, it was cold so going to the park wasn't that appealing. And Joshua was so excited about the holiday, he was having a pretty rough day so it was a good way to let him get some energy out. The pictures didn't come out that well because they were mostly just blurs the entire time we were there. The bigger kids liked jumping into the foam pit a lot and jumping on the trampoline. Hannah was pretty cautious. I thought she would like the trampolines more. But she mostly really enjoyed chasing the hula hoops and rings that I would roll for her.

I wish we got a better picture of the kids in their Halloween outfits. Here is Hannah in hers, which you can't really see it that well. And I didn't get a photo at all of Clara or Joshua.

After dinner, it was time to get into costumes. My kids were super excited this year, mostly because Joshua was. Previous years, they were like, "Okay, sure, whatever you say we are doing, I guess that's what we are doing." This year it was like, "When can we go trick or treating" all day.

Cousin Benjamin (aka Thor) came over for a little bit early in the evening. Though we didn't plan it, he kept with the super hero theme (great minds, etc.) so we had to get a photo of the League of Cousins.

In fact our entire family stayed "on theme". Jason was Captain America and I was Wonder Woman. I love Halloween and I certainly was not going to pass on the opportunity to dress up. I didn't feel it was feasible the last few years because we always had a baby and it was just too much. But now I have at least some time and I can put together costumes. Also, don't you love my boots? I found them used, but I really love them. I don't have many occasions to wear gold cowboy boots with rhinestones, but I wish my lifestyle contained far more. I had originally planned to get rid of them after the holiday, but am now keeping them in case I have a reason to wear them again and I sure hope that I do.

For awhile the Fouts family hung out, and the kids looked at who was coming next and helped hand out candy. 

But soon they had to go and the moment Joshua had been dreaming about all month and certainly all day arrived. It was pretty much everything he hoped. This year he has been really excited to learn that pretend scary things are a part of Halloween and it's funny to pretend to be scared. So he has enjoyed screaming around ghosts and jack-o-lanterns and other things like that. Imagine his delight when a flower delivery guy left this huge balloon bouquet on someone's porch who wasn't home. He thought the giant spider was great. I wasn't as sure. We live in a pretty friendly neighborhood and I haven't heard of anything like egging, pumpkin smashing, TPing, or other mischief you hear about on TV happening here or really any place I have ever lived, but I still wouldn't suggest leaving something like that unattended on Halloween.

Joshua was also really enamored with this Stormtrooper, who he thought was a robot. He wanted to follow him all night. We had a really fun time going out together. It was cold, but it wasn't too bad until the end and then Clara was really ready to go home. But it was 8 by that time anyway and that's when trick-or-treating pretty much shuts down.

Once we got home, I gave the kids some time to enjoy some of their candy. They certainly enjoyed that part of the evening. Once Halloween is over, I put all the candy together into one dish and we have some a few times more and then it just disappears one night, never to be seen again. But on Halloween, I pretty much let them eat what they want for awhile because I think that's part of the fun for kids. Hannah did have to have some limits because apparently her initial plan was to open everything and lick each piece and then discard it and I didn't feel that was a good plan. It was definitely a fun night and it is exciting that Joshua is starting to understand and show enthusiasm for holidays.