Halloween Celebrations

 We've been celebrating Halloween for two weeks with Pumpkin Festivals and Trunk or Treats.  We traveled down to Sarasota for the famous Hudsader Pumpkin Festival.  We were expecting a little farm with pumpkins and such but as we were pulling in being directed by the Sheriff, we felt it was more like Busch Gardens.  There were over 500 cars in the parking lot, more food than anyone could hope to consume, circus acts being done everywhere we turned, carnival games, crafts to buy or make, face painting and a full circus performance to end it all.  I'm still in the mind set that Halloween should be somewhat cool and crisp, and instead we were sweltering, desperate for shade.  The kids loved the carnival games the best, and Addison, unlike her brothers, delights in having her face painted.  We should have known as she decorates herself on a near daily basis with markers and stamps.  The best part for Marc and I was the circus of have-beens or never-weres.  The horse riding acrobatic family was the most interesting.  He must be on wife #3 or #4.  She was absolutely terrified as they rode around the ring standing on horseback.  Her husband, with the leathery skin, and shoulder-length locks kept trying to flip her upside down, but each time he'd say, "Up!" she remained frozen.  He even ended up crashing into the audience after losing his balance on the horse.
They had a huge corn maze and then a little hay bale maze for the kids.

This year Coleman chose to be a ninja.  Campbell went as a purple dinosaur (2 years in a row), Addison was a jaguar, and Cooper was a cat.

 Trick or Treating this year was so fun watching the kids.  Cooper fell asleep immediately and enjoyed a soothing ride in the stroller.  Coleman ran at full speed from house to house and was thrilled each time someone recognized him as being a ninja.  Campbell was anxious to return home to pass out candy and Addison for the first time enjoyed trick or treating.  She would be running to catch up to her brothers, who were inevitably already waiting for her at the door, yelling at the top of her lungs, "TRICK OR TREAT!"  

After receiving her goodies, she would turn back to Marc and I and shout again, "Look what they gave me!!" And then she'd either holler back to them "Thank You!" as she was running away or "You're Welcome!"  She charmed the neighborhood.

And Campbell with his sweet, loving heart, anxiously returned home, put candy in two separate bowls and then offered each bowl to the trick-or-treaters saying, "You can take one from each bowl." If they took two from one bowl, he would just look at them and pointedly say, "You can take one from each bowl." Campbell, Coleman, and Addison lined their little chairs in front of the door and waited for the doorbell to ring for the rest of the night, jumping up and down and squealing with delight each time it did.  And when we ran out of candy, I suggested they turn out the light and get ready for bed but Campbell wouldn't hear of it.  He emptied his treat bucket into the bowl so that he would have candy to give.  I tried to get him to keep the yummy things like chocolate and give the nasty candy, like whoppers.  In the end, the only way we could get him to go to bed was to leave a bowl of candy on a chair by the door, in case anyone came after we had gone to bed.

It was a Happy Halloween indeed.  

Here is a look at Halloween's past....

The years are going by so fast!  We are trying to not just enjoy but truly treasure each moment.

I know there are no pictures of Cooper in costume but trust me - they are coming!