Happy Halloween...Again...and Again...and Again...

One of the nice things about living in the burbs of a metro area is there is never a lack of activities for the kiddos! We have celebrated the Halloween Holiday a multitude of times and we even missed a few of the big events like Trunk-or-Treat and Gentry Farm (one of our local pumpkin patches).

We've been going strong since last Friday with lots of Halloween activities. It turns out this was for the best because it took Clinton about that long to get used to the idea of his Halloween costume.

We are discovering that Clinton is painfully shy. Since an adorable Halloween costume brought him lots of unwanted attention, he was quick to rip and strip. Thank goodness we had him fully dressed under there!!!

Last Friday was Clinton's school's Fall Festival. We were so excited about taking the kids in their Halloween costumes and getting lots of cute pictures. Well, I got a couple of pictures of Clinton in his dinosaur costume in the parking lot...and that was the last time we saw him in it. As soon as we walked up to all the activities, Clinton couldn't get his costume off fast enough. Heidi Sage, on the other hand, soaked up all the love and attention her custom gown and crown got her. And how much do we love those high heels?

Even though Clinton wouldn't wear his costume, we had another reason to be really proud of him....he rode the ponies! Last year we waited....and waited....and....wai-ai-aited in line just for him to have a nervous breakdown when it was his turn and not ride them. This time he walked right up, the supervisor swooped him and strapped him in, and Clinton rode with his head held high. I wanted to cry. It's so amazing to see him growing up and getting so big....about some things. He still likes to bring me back down to earth from time to time with an awesome two-year-old tantrum. Mmmmm...love it.

He also really loved the petting zoo, the bounce houses and the train!

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We were also able to get some pumpkins carved this week--a task that is not easy with a two year old, to be sure. Clinton likes to "hup" especially when sharp objects are involved. We had to find other ways for him to help and one involved him using a Sharpie... something he rarely gets his hands on, so he was thrilled. We let him color all over the pumpkins, and he could not have been more proud.

AND everyone who saw them knew what Clinton had helped with and told him what a great job he did.

While this picture is blurry, it's necessary because it's the only I got of Clinton wearing the dog bowl on his head while coloring his pumpkin.

Our finished products.

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The Franklin Fall Festival was today. This was the first year we had ever been. It was fun and there was a lot to do, but Clinton was still a bit shy about his costume so he stayed put in the wagon while we walked around. We were able to trick-or-treat a bit (from the wagon) at some of the stores and this allowed Clinton to see the benefits and rewards of dressing up and approaching strangers with an orange plastic pumpkin. This paid off later.

A still shy Clinton in his oh-so-cute-but-not-masculine-enough-for-daddy's-liking dinosaur costume. This is Clinton's shy face. While he may appear angry and disgruntled, it's truly just pure shyness.

"Okay, kids, give me your best smile!!!" Or not.

Pictures with mom and dad. (You can see the sugar is starting to make Clinton feel a bit more at ease in his costume.)

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After learning about trick-or-treating at the Fall Festival earlier in the day, Clinton was excited about getting his costume on and heading out to embrace the promised candy land. He was still quite shy once he got to the door of each house but forged through knowing that some kind of yummy sweetness was going to hit the bottom of his bucket. Don't you know he could just taste it?

Here are both the kids as we were getting ready to head out. It appears they're both chomping on something delicious, but fear not, Heidi Sage is only chewing her fist. However, Clinton was about half way through his 10th piece of candy.

Clinton at his first trick-or-treat of the night. It was our neighbor. Probably a good starting point, although he still ducked his head and wouldn't utter a word.

Heidi Sage found something else to chew on and was quite content with that. She also found people-watching to be VERY entertaining.

As we continued along our way Clinton would get braver. Daring to reach out and grab his choice of candy. Then actually looking at people as they answered their door. And then at about house #20 we heard the words loud and clear, "TRICK OR TREAT!!!". Once he was good and warmed up, he was running down the middle of the street roaring at everyone he'd pass. He'd turn to me and say, "Mom, I scared her!"

Heidi Sage looked a bit like a princess in a carriage (although she was really Glinda the Good Witch), and our neighbor Nicholas couldn't help but notice his little neighborhood hottie.

Clinton also decided it would be a good idea for him to pull Heidi Sage....this was a short-lived "good" idea, but still picture worthy.

It wasn't long before someone was too sleepy to hang with their big brother. She got just as much attention for looking cute while sleeping as she did when she was awake wearing a crown!

Clinton loved everything scary. In fact, the only houses we went to had scary things in their yards. That's how he decided which houses he wanted to approach.

Now that Halloween is officially over, we'll be looking forward to Christmas (and Thanksgiving). I'm sure Clinton will want to put his costume on tomorrow and go door to door, so I'll have that tantrum to look forward to. :-/ Hopefully, he'll be content with a piece or two from his stash.

Hope everyone else had a great Halloween!!

Glad it's FINALLY over,