fall fun

By early October we were knee deep in all of our favorite fall activities and gearing up for Halloween. A trip to the pumpkin patch always makes it feel like Fall, regardless of the temperature outside.

We still visit a small little pumpkin patch at a church near where we used to live. We have been visiting this patch since Olivia was a baby. We usually just get a few small and medium size pumpkins here because of the price, but the girls have always enjoyed browsing and looking for the perfectly shaped pumpkin to take home.

 

One of our favorite pre-Halloween things to do is visit our local Zoo. The annual Zoo Halloween is a must! I am always up for things that give the girls a chance to wear their costumes more than once, and the Zoo always does a great job celebrating Halloween.

Of course the treats are a big plus to going each year, but we especially love the cool pumpkin displays. The zoo does an awesome job painting pumpkins and making them look like different animals. It's also fun to see all of the different costumes the kids wear. This year Olivia dressed as Mal from Descendants (like every other 8-10 year old girl) and Cece was Doc McStuffins. 

After traveling through multiple treat stations you finish by picking out a mini pumpkin to take home. We had great weather this year which allowed the girls to show off their costumes. It was the perfect trip to the annual Zoo Halloween!

Halloween fun continued for Olivia when she was invited to attend a Halloween party at her best friend's grandma's house. Aleah's grandma loves Halloween and throws a party for her family every year. This year Olivia was invited to come along. I was blown away by the time and effort she put into every little detail and decoration.

There were crafts, games, snacks, a haunted house (or haunted room) and goodie bags. It was a night full of fun and laughs. She had a blast and created even more awesome memories with her best friend and her family. She is hoping to go again next year!

For years we have attended the Fall Family Festival at Olivia's school. This year was no different. Only different thing is that only Olivia is attending Peace Montessori this year. For Cece it was a reunion of sorts, as she had the chance to see a few of her little friends from her class last year.

Aleah came along with us to the festival which gave the girls the chance to wear their costumes again. Since they were both dressing up as characters from the highly popular kids movie, Descendants, it was cute to see them side-by-side.

We are continuing to adjust to life with Beasley. He is a a sweet pup with SO much energy. It is challenging dealing with all of that energy, but there are moments of calmness and that is what we cherish the most right now. The girls love him to pieces and love to get their snuggles when he is calm. Cece jumps at any chance to enjoy a calm moment with her Beasley. So sweet!

Cece continues to enjoy her new school and she seems to be very happy there. The school regularly posts pictures of what the kids are up to, which I love. It's nice seeing what your child is up to each day when it is impossible to get her to tell me anything. I just love seeing her hard at work and seeing a smile on her face.

We still had more Halloween themed activities to enjoy before the 31st. Each year our church hosts a fun event. I just love even more opportunities for the girls to wear their costumes. The girls had fun with crafts and games...and of course, tons of candy!

We also took the girls to a trunk-or-treat at our local YMCA. Our friends told us about the event and thought the girls would enjoy it. It was fun, but very cold! They will put up with a lot for candy!

After weeks of preparing for Halloween it was finally time for official Trick-or-Treating! We made plans to walk the neighborhood with our friends, The Douglasses. Weeks ago Olivia and her BFF, Aleah decided that they wanted to trick or treat together. Well,we made it happen!

The weather wasn't fabulous, but it wasn't freezing and the rain held off for most of the night. I was grateful the kids could wear their costume without big, heavy coats covering them up. We had a crazy bunch running around the neighborhood that night, but they sure had fun! 

After collecting a boat load of candy we headed to my Mom's for chili and even more treats! It was a fun night with fun people! Another successful Halloween!