Halloween Fun

Happy Halloween from the candy fairy and her pink pony!

Halloween 2011 included all the usual fun, including the Audubon Halloween hike (where Elsa spent almost an hour jumping in a huge leaf pile in her fairy costume). We also went to one new event this year—the Whitefish Bay Pumpkin Fest, which is a collection of hundreds of jack-o-lanterns, all lit up at night. Both girls loved it and Elsa was already asking if we could go back next year, before we even left the place this year. And of course, we carved our own pumpkins.

Digging out the pumpkin guts took a little getting used to ...

... for both girls. But Claire got into it in the end.

We ended up with one scary pumpkin and one happy one, as usual. Master pumpkin carver Bob did a fine job as always!

Elsa also got to wear her Halloween costume to dance class, which worked out well, since her Halloween costume is last year's dance recital costume, with wings added. Elsa decided early on that she wanted to be a fairy, so we looked at the fairy costumes at Halloween Express. I was not impressed. Then, as I inspected an overpriced green sparkly costume, I realized we already had another overpriced green sparkly costume at home. I could buy a pair of wings to add to it for only $10. Perfect!

The moms got to see two Halloween-inspired dance performances by the kids in their costumes—one ballet dance and one tap. They had learned both dances only the week before! They've come a long way since she started these classes.

Here's Elsa with her friend Eliana. Along with being in the same dance class, they're also in class together at Audubon, and they've become good friends. They almost always seem to be together when they're at school.

And of course, we had trick-or-treating on Sunday afternoon. It was rainy yesterday, but we got about an hour break in the rain right at 4 p.m., when trick-or-treating started. Here's Elsa, Claire, and next-door-neighbor Anna/Ariel. Claire did an excellent job of saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" this year, although both girls had to constantly be reminded about the latter. I guess they were just too excited about the candy to remember their manners.

We had planned to take the wagon, but the wheel fell off just as we were pulling out of the driveway. So Claire had to walk the whole time like a big girl (or, say, a pony). But she was a good little trooper in the name of candy. After each house, she would tell me, "I want more candy!"

Even though we didn't hit that many houses before the rain started back up, the girls did get a TON of candy. More people seemed to be home and giving out candy than in past years—possibly due to trick-or-treating's relative proximity to Halloween this year? And since there aren't a lot of kids in our neighborhood, some poeple attempted to make up for that by giving out four or five times as much candy as normal. At one house, the girls got entire goody bags stuffed full of treats, and another house gave away movie-theater-size candy boxes. Claire actually came home with a super-size container of Junior Mints!

So stop by for some candy if you're in the neighborhood, because we've got plenty. Happy Halloween!