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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

lots of spooky fun

The month of October flew by in a flash! It is unbelievable to me that it is November already and that Christmas is just around the corner. We knew that October was going to be a busy month, filled mostly of fun Halloween activities. Olivia was so excited about Halloween this year, more than ever before. She had her costume planned out months ahead and the pressure was on for me to find a way to pull it all together in time. Last year she was one of the only kids at her school's fall family festival without a costume because I did not have it completed. It didn't bother her, but I told myself I was not going to let that happen again this year.

So here she is...our little mermaid. Put together (not made), piece by piece by me. The only part I am responsible for is the crown, all of the other pieces I found online. It all came together and made for one cute mermaid costume. The tail...the best part of the costume, I found on Etsy. If you are not familiar with that site you must check it out. It is a place for people to sell their homemade goods. I found a lady that makes mermaid tails and it only cost $19! Bargain! Olivia was thrilled with the costume and that was all that mattered to me.

Her first opportunity to show off her fancy tail was at the annual fall family festival at her school. It is a fun event that we look forward to every year! Olivia was most excited about the trunk-or-treat, which was such a huge hit with the kids last year that they decided to do it again. Last year I dressed my VW Beetle up as a ladybug, but since that car is no more I had to stir up the creativity pot and think of something. I decided to keep it simple and just make it a spooky trunk.

There were tons of fun things for the kids at the festival and the weather was perfect! Olivia enjoyed the little horse and buggy rides, the hay maze and making s'mores. She could not wait to get her costume on so she could start visiting all of the trunks and collecting her treats!

Before the trunk-or-treat began the kids were able to show off their fancy costumes in the costume parade. The best part of the day for Olivia was spending the afternoon running around with all of her little school friends. This is one of our favorite school events each year and this year did not disappoint.

Next on the list of Halloween activities was our annual trip to the Great Zoo Halloween. This was our third year attending this fun event and Olivia was stoked. I was happy with how much use we were getting out of our costume and it really helped that she liked it so much. There were multiple treat stations set up around the zoo for the kids as well as other fun activities.

Olivia was most looking forward to seeing her favorite horse, Gail. We heard ahead of time that all of the horses were going to be wearing costumes as well so Olivia could not wait to see what she was wearing. Unfortunately Gail had the day off but she quickly choose another horse that was dressed like an Indian. She enjoyed her final horsey ride of the season.

As we walked through the zoo collecting treats, Olivia also enjoyed running through the hay maze and playing some games. One of the coolest parts of visiting the zoo at Halloween is seeing all of the cool pumpkins that they decorate and carve. They also manage to make these amazing scenes with animals out of different types of gourdes. It is pretty cool! Overall I would say that Great Zoo Halloween lived up to Olivia's expectations once again.

As you can tell we had a lot of practice leading up to Halloween. Although Olivia had already worn her costume a few times she was the most excited to put it on for the official night of trick-or-treating. We decided to spend the evening walking around our neighborhood. It was a chilly night, but who thinks of that when the most important task at hand is collecting as much candy as possible. And that she did! She walked the neighborhood for over an hour before starting to get tired. I asked if she was ready to call it quits and she said no. She decided she wanted to keep going but wanted to tackle the rest of the neighborhood from her wagon. By the end of the night she had completely filled up her pumpkin. Now all of that candy is sitting in a bowl at the top of our fridge and I feel we may still be eating it a year from now. Funny thing is, Olivia is really only interested a few kinds of candy. The rest she seems to have no desire to try. No complaints here! It was another fun-filled Halloween in the Menor household and now I can relax for awhile before having to think up next year's costume.

Before wrapping up this fall themed post I want to share a few photos I took of Olivia during one of our unseasonably warm days in October. These photos were taken on the day we were supposed to have our annual family photo shoot with Vilma from GEM Photography, but she was ill and we had to reschedule. We decided not to waste the beautiful day and take some pictures of Olivia ourselves. Some of them turned out quite nice. Luckily we were able to reschedule our professional family photo shoot and I am anxiously awaiting the proofs. I will be sure to share them as soon as they are done.

Lastly, our beautiful Olivia turned 4 last week. Hard to believe that I am saying those words. As much as I wish I could have kept her as our little 3 year old, she could not have been more excited to celebrate turning 4. I have tons of pictures from her week long birthday celebration, including her fantastic mermaid birthday bash! I promise to get around to that post as soon as possible. This sure is one busy time of year!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

She was the cutest little mermaid ever. I just loved her costume. I can't wait to see her in just a few short weeks. Love Aunt Sue Sue

Anonymous said...

I would say Olivia got a lot of mileage out of Halloween. Her costume was just too cute. I wonder what she will pick next year?
Love,'
Nana

Wormie said...

That costume was just too cute! What an adorable mermaid!