Trick or Treating

We did our usual Trick or Treating fun with the Meyers for Halloween night. One thing I have learned in my 4 years of being a parent....all those "kid holidays" that as a child you spend days/nights awake looking forward to? Those are the most fun but most EXHAUSTING days for parents! Who knew! Halloween? So much more fun each year watching their excitement but shew! I was worn out last night when we got home!

 

And something to remember for next year? Pizza places are slammed and if you don't buy your pizza at noon you probably won't get dinner. The husbands waited about an hour for pizza that they said would be ready in 20 minutes before we tossed the kids some boxed mac and cheese and threw them in their costumes. It was a stressful start to the night but we recovered quickly once the candy came out!

 

It was really cold and windy so the girls were bundled up. Halle Kate also went back to her monkey costume. So long Spiderman!

 

Love these kids! We said many times last night how great it is to have friends with kids in the same stage of life. Even though I bet we're fired from food for next year since we were in charge of the dinner disaster!

 

Trick or Treat!!!

They were off and running. All of them understood what was going on this year and they loved every second of it! I thought no one would last long in the cold but I was wrong. These kids didn't stop until their buckets were full to the top!

Jared kept trying to get the kids to line up and walk calmly to the next house. Do I need to tell you that this was a hilarious adventure to watch? Those kids were not interested but he kept trying.

The girls were excited to get home and check out their loot. They had tons! And I learned that while M and her Daddy love chocolate but HK likes sweet and sour chewy things. Why is this sad to me? Because I don't like chocolate very much so I always have lots of sour chewies to snag but not anymore. I have some competition with Halle Kate!

Preschool parade and parties

 

We've had lots of fall parties and parades at CCA this week. The girls both got dressed up and joined their friends to enjoy to fall treats!

 

 

 

HK ditched the monkey costume and decided to be Spiderman for the school parade. She got several laughs with that crooked mask and silly smile!

 

Can't get this picture to flip! Here's Matney in the parade.

 

 

I went right to Matney's party after the parade so this is what she picked to wear. She refused to wear her tiara to school but she wanted to stay in the Merida dress all day long.

The pumpkin teacher in the background is one of three teachers in Matney's room. Her name is Ms. Sherrie and she is the greatest. Seriously. Matney only goes to school 5 days a week because we wanted her in the class Ms. Sherrie teaches. She's amazing...and she has promised not to retire before Halle Kate is able to be in her class next year! We are so very thankful for her love for both our girls. They adore her!

Princesses and Mickey

After the afternoon parade we were off to meet several of the Disney princesses.

 

Funniest story of the whole trip - We get into the room with Rapunzel and HK goes running to her and gives her a hug. Matney walks in behind and Rapunzel bends down and HK takes a step back, looks right at her and says "I do not like princesses!". We were in a room with several other princesses and people and lots of laughs. Poor Rapunzel wasn't sure what to say!

Meeting Sleeping Beauty. All the princesses were in the same room so you just walked from one to the next.

Cinderella

 

The exit of every ride and every attraction open into a gift shop. Most of the time we walked right through but after the princesses we stopped to try on mouse ears. Matney picked a beautiful sequin pair and HK found pirate ears. 

 

We also found princess and TowMater ears.

 

Hello, Mickey Mouse! After the princesses we headed next door to meet the one and only Mickey Mouse. Both girls were very excited!

 

 

 

Family photo with Mickey Mouse. Love that we took the time to do this!

 

Disney - day 2 afternoon

After Dumbo we headed over to a circus tent to meet Goofy, Donald, Daisy and Minnie. Halle Kate went running in the door, Matney was a little more timid.

 

 

Then we rode It's a Small World. Once a day was enough on this one but it lasted several minutes, had no lines and air conditioned so if I was there in the summer I'd put some ear plugs in and relax on this one!

Parade time! Many times a day they had parades around the castle with dancing and characters. Anytime the girls heard the music start they wanted to go watch. I think the parades were more fun for them than many of the rides.

I wish I knew who Matney was so excited to see in the picture above.

We rode the train around the park. It was another great way to take a few minutes out of the crowds and regroup.

Fireworks at an afternoon show. When they didn't have a parade there was a short play about wishes and dreams in front of Cinderella's castle. Again, this turned out to be a favorite.

There is a big afternoon parade that gets crowded quick! We were 20 min early and still almost didn't get a seat on the curb and we ended up on the sunny side of the street.

See the stranger next to HK? Before the parade had even started they'd become buddies and HK watched while sitting in her lap.

Big floats, Captain Hook and Smee, what more can a girl ask for?!?!?!