Bringing in the spirit of Halloween

                         

One of my friend's out here (the one who used to live in our current house) was so kind to invite me and the girls to a fall event at the botanical gardens in NYC. We had a great time. There were owl pellets to dissect, weird monster-types to dance with, sculptures to play on/near, fish and botanical gardens to see, pumpkin houses, mazes, giant live bats, etc. 

A few days before Halloween, there was a children's Halloween event at the YMCA. They got to dress up, walk around the place playing games, and trick-or-treat. The picture below was taken right before we left. They were all fairy-princessy. Sonoma changed her mind about the outfit right before we left and became a chicken instead.

            

 
One of the games was a pumpkin-roll where you had to roll a pumpkin to a line and back - not as easy as it sounds. Those oblong things are tricky as our Tinkerbell could tell you. After the games, we found out that there was a haunted house. The girls had never been to one, but were really excited to try. At the beginning of the line, they ask how scary you want it to be (a little, medium, or a lot?). The girls chose medium 'cause, hey, they are tough, but they are still little kids, right? After it was over they both admitted that it was too scary for them. Oops. I guess good moms know when to step in and take over to say things like, "Nope, we'll go with "a little" scary on your first time, alright?" Ah well.  Live and learn.

The next day we had the privilege of hosting Dave and his girlfriend, Katy. It had been do long since we'd seen Dave, and we'd never even met Katy. The girls LOVED having them, and it was so good to catch up. I regret that we never got a group shot, or even a picture of Katy at all. Oops! But the important thing was that we bonded. Just check out good Uncle skills below on the tricycle! It was great to have them around for a couple of days. It was while they were with us that we heard, for the first time, about "Frankenstorm". Be excited about the next post...

 


















We went to Stew Leonard's grocery store with Dave and Katy. That's where we found this GIANT pumpkin that weighs over 1000 pounds! It was amazing, not to mention a seriously cute photo opp.