Halloween

Halloween isn't a one-day celebration anymore. Nope. For us, we had Halloween Part 1, 2, and 3.

For Part 1, we went to the church's trunk or treat, without the trunk part. Okay, so we basically just all sat in camping chairs set in a circle and the kids went around. For some, going around 5 times. Right, Logan? I had to come up with a last minute costume for Alexis because her costume didn't make it on time. So she was an angel. An angel who slept through the entire celebration. That night Kendall got bit by a mosquito under the eye, so her eye swelled up almost shut by the next morning. Fortunately, she's very confident and didn't care too much about the looks the other kids gave her. But it doesn't help that I have a million pictures from that weekend, and that she'll look back to these some day... 

For Part 2, we went to Aqua Tots, where the kids take swim lessons. Alexis got 3rd place in the costume contest. She earned some candy for her siblings. Thanks, Lexi :-) The older kids got to take their costumes off for a while and swim in the pool. Kendall and Taylor had to be rescued by the lifeguard, who was wearing a costume, because they were playing with each other, held on to each other, and were basically drowning each other. 

For Part 3, our neighborhood had a block party, with chili contest, costume contest, and everything. We had set up camp chairs on one street and the kids went around trick-or-treating. Except a lot of people preferred staying in the comfort of their own homes, so there weren't very many people on the street. And I think it makes kids lazy. Get them walking. Make them carry their own bag for a really long time, and then maybe they won't come home with over 10lbs of candy. Right, Logan? Oh, and Alexis won 1st place in the costume contest for her age category. There were only 4 babies, but she won hands down. Thanks for all the gift cards, Lexi :-)

For the record, we had 27lbs of candy, altogether. I'm not sure what it broke down to for each kid, but Logan had 4 gallon-sized bags, Taylor had 3, and Kendall had 2. And that's for all 3 days. I had them get rid of 1/2 their candy, which we donated to the troops, Kelly's dad and his troop, more specifically. He is in Afghanistan right now.

A part of me wishes that we could do family costumes. I always enjoy watching what other families came up with. But I believe in letting kids express themselves. So they picked their own costume. Shopkins Cupcake Queen. Ghost Ninja. Storm Trooper (Stars Wars). Mermaid. And Seal Team.