Wednesday, October 31, 2018
10.31.18 - Trunk or Treat
Tonight was great.
Clara went to school all in black with a witches hat with silver stars. Before leaving our apartment she was singing the Halloween version of "Baby Shark," which includes Princess Shark, Cowboy Shark, Mummy Shark, etc. It does not actually include Witches Shark, but she added those lyrics, I guess because she was a witch. Jane wore an orange frilly top with three little ghosts on it.
Most of the day went as usual. The only exceptions were that Beth made us some adorable Halloween crafts using the girls' hand prints and she also sent a great pic of Jane wearing one of the many $1 witches hats I'd bought for all the kids.
We had originally planned to take the girls trick-or-treating with Hunter at the end of the day before heading home, but halfway through the day Beth learned from a neighbor that trick-or-treating doesn't really start until like 6:45 pm, far too late since we pick the girls up at 5 pm. Jack tried to look up other trick-or-treat options, like maybe going store to store at the mall, but he couldn't find much. I know Clara wouldn't have known the difference but I was a little disappointed because this is the first year she has seemed aware of Halloween (vaguely - she understands pumpkins, witches, pirates, and now Jack-o-lanterns) and I thought she'd be pretty excited to see what her kids' videos mean when they talk about trick-or-treating.
But then Jack saved the day. Or rather Generations Church did. He found an ad for Trunk or Treat at this church all the way from 6 to 9 pm. Most Trunk or Treat events had already happened on Sunday, but this was on actual Halloween night.
So I put on my witches outfit and we picked up the girls and headed over there. We arrived a bit early and they were still setting up the trunks, but it was kind of fun waiting in the parking lot as more and more families arrived and everyone anticipated the moment when they would let us all in. Clara spent most of that time "flying" on her broom back and forth along the sidewalk and even cackling to herself, which was great. Jane also toddled all over happily. I don't think they even realized we were waiting for anything.
Once they did open up we decided to go to the very opposite end of the parking lot rather than along with the crowd. We wanted to check out this massive pirate ship but it wasn't actually done being set up yet, so instead we went first to the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown trunk, and that was Clara's first experience (with prompting) of saying "Trick or treat" and then being given candy. She was confused but excited.
Next we went to the Nightmare Before Christmas trunk. Most of the trunks included games to play before getting candy, and in this case "Sally" showed us a bean bag toss into jack-o-lantern buckets. Clara missed the first time but once she stood directly over a bucket she got 2-3 more bean bags in it on her first tries. :-P Then she got another piece of candy. She was literally jumping all over the place with excitement.
(Meanwhile Jane watched stoically from Jack's shoulders. Not unhappy but not super impressed either. Or perhaps she was just confused and taking it all in.)
The Robin Hood trunk included some kiddo archery. The Toy Story trunk had no game I can recall, just nice decor. Clara tried to take one of the stuffed animals in it and had to be redirected to the candy.
Then we came across a guy with a helium tank blowing up the tye-dye style balloons that had very tiny lights inside them. It was still dusk at this point so we couldn't tell yet but it wasn't long at all before you could see them glowing in the dark. That balloon was by far Jane's favorite part of the night.
We went on to an Alice and Wonderland trunk (with pin the tail on the Cheshire cat), Little Mermaid trunk (can't recall the game as we skipped it and just got the candy), and Wizard of Oz trunk (bean bag toss again). Every trunk was pretty beautifully decorated (Alice and Wonderland had an entire table with tea set) and everyone was very friendly and easy going.
The last trunk we went to was the most elaborate: Candyland. There were colored squares on the ground like the game. There were big stand up lollipops and a gingerbread house and a table covered in glass bowls all with different candies in them. The game was a ring toss onto some cones painted like candy corn. Clara basically placed all of her rings at once on the first cone. Then she got a bunch of candy--they were giving out like 6-10 pieces per kid.
So we were basically done with the trunks and hadn't been there super long yet, so we headed over to the play area where there was a giant bouncy slide and a giant bouncy platform, separately. The platform had a column in the center with two harnesses tied to one another, and the bigger kids (all boys) would harness up and each try to get a ball into a basketball hoop while the other tugged in the other direction. It was actually pretty hilarious. Clara was very curious about it and eventually climbed onto the platform and sat at the very edge watching for quite a while. There were a few times when I thought she'd get scared and want to get down, including when bigger kids basically climbed right over her to get on or off the platform, but I'd offer to help her down and she wanted to stay.
Meanwhile Jane was carrying the glowing balloon everywhere and toddling around the glass with Jack by her side, quite content.
After a while we headed back to the pirate ship, which was almost but still not quite done. We revisited and retried the Nightmare Before Christmas trunk. Then Jack and I decided it had been enough and it was time to go. When Clara realized we were leaving she did start to fuss a lot, but once we got her buckled in and offered her some candy she was content. (We had brought gluten free candy with us to use just in case we weren't sure about the kind she'd gotten. I gave her a full sized Reese's.)
Jane held the glowing balloon nearly the entire way home. Jack and I talked about how much easier, safer, and more fun Trunk or Treat is for little kids compared to neighborhood trick or treating. I need to send that church a thank you note for putting it all on.
After we got home we gave the girls dinner and then let the girls have a bit more candy. While we were all sitting at the table I lit our Jack-o-lantern. Clara kept asking me to blow it out because she likes watching the smoke swirl from the candle. Instead I just kept relighting the used matches and blowing them out, and she was pretty happy about that. Jane still played with the balloon all evening until it was time for bed.
Even though this is technically Clara's 4th Halloween, it felt to me like her first because we actually celebrated and she seemed aware of what was going on. I really love reliving the holidays vicariously through her. That's something I've looked forward to since before even having kids and certainly since Clara was a newborn, and now that season is starting!
Clara went to school all in black with a witches hat with silver stars. Before leaving our apartment she was singing the Halloween version of "Baby Shark," which includes Princess Shark, Cowboy Shark, Mummy Shark, etc. It does not actually include Witches Shark, but she added those lyrics, I guess because she was a witch. Jane wore an orange frilly top with three little ghosts on it.
But then Jack saved the day. Or rather Generations Church did. He found an ad for Trunk or Treat at this church all the way from 6 to 9 pm. Most Trunk or Treat events had already happened on Sunday, but this was on actual Halloween night.
So I put on my witches outfit and we picked up the girls and headed over there. We arrived a bit early and they were still setting up the trunks, but it was kind of fun waiting in the parking lot as more and more families arrived and everyone anticipated the moment when they would let us all in. Clara spent most of that time "flying" on her broom back and forth along the sidewalk and even cackling to herself, which was great. Jane also toddled all over happily. I don't think they even realized we were waiting for anything.
Next we went to the Nightmare Before Christmas trunk. Most of the trunks included games to play before getting candy, and in this case "Sally" showed us a bean bag toss into jack-o-lantern buckets. Clara missed the first time but once she stood directly over a bucket she got 2-3 more bean bags in it on her first tries. :-P Then she got another piece of candy. She was literally jumping all over the place with excitement.
Then we came across a guy with a helium tank blowing up the tye-dye style balloons that had very tiny lights inside them. It was still dusk at this point so we couldn't tell yet but it wasn't long at all before you could see them glowing in the dark. That balloon was by far Jane's favorite part of the night.
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| The Little Mermaid |
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| Alice and Wonderland |
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| Wizard of Oz |
Meanwhile Jane was carrying the glowing balloon everywhere and toddling around the glass with Jack by her side, quite content.
Jane held the glowing balloon nearly the entire way home. Jack and I talked about how much easier, safer, and more fun Trunk or Treat is for little kids compared to neighborhood trick or treating. I need to send that church a thank you note for putting it all on.
10.31.18 - Kid snippets: I'm not scary!
Clara is wearing all black today because later we're probably going to give her a black witch hat and go trick or treating for a bit. Anyway this morning I walked into our completely dark living room and she was standing there, silently, the only thing you could really see is a tiny pale face. Apparently she was waiting for me to light our jack-o-lantern. She said "Mama? Pumpkin? Candle?" As I lit the candle she went to sit on the couch and observe. I moved out of the way so she could see the Jack-o-lantern in all its glowing glory, and she laughed and squirmed happily and then announced "I'm not scary! [She means 'scared'] It's just a *pumpkin*!" Lol.
Sunday, October 28, 2018
10.28.18 - The Pumpkin Farm
Halloween is on a Wednesday this year and it's also going to be Clara's third day at her new preschool. We might take her and Jane trick-or-treating briefly in Beth's neighborhood if they and Hunter all feel up to it, but I expect at least Clara will be too tired so we'll see. That said, today may serve as our Halloween celebration of the year and, if so, that works just fine, because today was great.
Even though they could have slept in, the girls woke up around 7:30 am. That gave us plenty of time to eat breakfast and get dressed in Halloween-related outfits before Henry arrived--he drove up from the bay area just to do pumpkin patch day with us, which was great. We packed the girls into their car seats and gave them each Halloween books to read: Halloween ABCs for Clara and Five Little Pumpkins for Jane. Then we caravaned over to The Pumpkin Farm in Carmichael and parked just in time to see Beth, Jake, and Hunter taking their pumpkins to the car (they weren't leaving yet, they just didn't want to carry the pumpkins around). Clara was really excited when she saw Beth and Hunter from her window! She and Hunter sort of ran up to each other and Hunter showed her his miniature pumpkin. Such good buds. <3
We all went back in and Beth bought some popcorn and suckers for the big kids (I googled quickly and Charm Blow Pops are gluten free!) Clara was excited about but also didn't really understand her sucker and just kind of held it and reveled in its existence, so for the time being I took it back lest she drop it in the dirt.
We went and checked out the goats and pigs and sheep. Clara made all their correct noises. We walked past an empty chicken coup only to see the chickens leaving through a hole in the fence, which was kind of funny. No one seemed too concerned about it. At that point we saw the "train" coming round the bend and Clara was psyched. She waved to everyone as they went by and of course many of them waved back. Then we walked over to the big field of medium pumpkins and she and Jane examined many but touched very few. We also saw a hay ride go by and more waving ensued. Clara was just very excited about everything, it was great.
Beth et al had to get going at that point but we stayed. I got train ride tickets for everyone except Henry, who opted out, and MAN Clara was excited about the train. Last year she had been a little unsure about boarding it but this year she was ready to go. In fact I'm almost positive we sat in the same cart. When the conductor came by to shut our door Clara giggled excitedly and he clearly got a kick out of that. And when the train actually started she couldn't stop laughing and stimming, it was so sweet. We rode past Henry and she waved enthusiastically. Later she started singing her own rendition of Wheels On The Bus that was instead about trains. And then we past Henry again! Haha.
Jane, on the other hand, was very stoic. Not fussy but clearly zone-y and tired and unsure. To be fair if Jane were the oldest we wouldn't have bothered with any of this because she's not old enough to really get it or enjoy it. She just gets dragged along because Clara's old enough to be excited. So it goes.
Once the train ride was over Clara didn't want to leave, and I thought she might start throwing a fit, but actually she handled it very well. She fussed slightly but was soon ready to look at other things. We went over to the much larger pumpkins and picked one out to actually carve. Jack got a wagon for the pumpkin and Jane, and soon we added Clara to the mix and she seemed happy to ride in it.
We also got them two $1 miniature pumpkins to hold onto. Again Clara was excited and Jane was nonplussed. After buying our pumpkins we stopped by the big "Pumpkin Farm" sign and Henry took some great family pics of us (with his significantly superior phone camera).
Of course Jane fell asleep on the ride home but Clara was awake and cheerful. I had put the big pumpkin between their car seats and she kept touching it and asking for help, so instead I put it in her lap. She kept calling it the "momma pumpkin" to her "baby pumpkin" and played with both a lot (although she kept dropping the baby pumpkin). She was really interested in the bigger pumpkin and held it the whole way home.
Once we were back, Jane went down for a real nap and Clara played with the three pumpkins. She was just strong enough to carry the larger pumpkin around the apartment, and she kept moving it to different spots (desk, coffee table, kitchen table) and then examining it. Eventually she brought out the blanket from my room and "tucked in" the three pumpkins and said they were sleeping. Then she put them all under the desk and stuffed the blanket over them. Etc. She was very busy for a long time.
Meanwhile Henry and I visited and I made some bacon spinach pasta for lunch. The adults all enjoyed it but Clara wasn't interested. I eventually got her to eat 6-8 bites in exchange for that sucker she hadn't had earlier, and once she got the sucker, no joke, it took her about an hour to eat that whole thing. she was busy with it for a long time and her lips and around her lips got all red, it was pretty cute. Eventually Jane woke up from her nap and sat disgruntedly in my lap while she ate the rest of Clara's pasta. So that worked out.
When lunch was over Jack stood at the dining room table and scooped out the big pumpkin; Clara was very interested in the whole process and basically narrated what was happening and kept trying to fit the lid (I think at one point she called it the "head") back on properly. Once Jack finished scooping I carved the most classic Jack-o-lantern face, and she watched most of that too. Then we put a candle in and she was amazed, just as I hoped she'd be. At that point Jane was also pretty interested, although she seemed more fascinated by the match I used to light the candle. Still, definitely got her attention.
Jack went through all the goop and got the pumpkin seeds, washed and dried them, added some seasoning, and baked them. The apartment smelled wonderful. When the seeds were done Jane was actually a bit suspicious but Clara really liked them, which is great because apparently they are nutrient dense and high fat.
The rest of the afternoon Henry and I visited while he half played with the kids. Eventually he ran to Costco to get rotisserie chicken and potatoes and grapes, and while he was gone I let the kids watch a bunch of Super Simple Songs Halloween renditions. When he returned I made mashed potatoes and we had those with the chicken, and even Clara ate most of her share. Incidentally by now Jane was fully awake and not fussy or perhaps the first time all day, so that was pretty nice.
Jack left to get Clara's lunch box for her first day of preschool tomorrow, and Henry did most of the post-dinner cleaning while I just hung out with the girls, which was really nice. When Jack came back we visited some more but Henry headed out around 6:30pm so we could give the girls a bath before bed. While Jack bathed them I made Clara's lunch for tomorrow: tortillas, grapes, and more pumpkin seeds. And I somewhat marveled at how I'm already making one of my children lunch for school (of sorts). Jane finished her bath first, which I figured out when she wandered into the kitchen buck naked. I got her dressed and then read to her while she rested against my chest for a long time. Clara dawdled in the bath tub (supervised by Jack).
When they were done we got them ready for bed but before actually turning in for the night, we turned off all the lights and lit up the Jack-o-lantern again. Clara just sat at the table and stared at it.
Not long after that we put them to bed and I decided to memorialize such a sweet day.
Even though they could have slept in, the girls woke up around 7:30 am. That gave us plenty of time to eat breakfast and get dressed in Halloween-related outfits before Henry arrived--he drove up from the bay area just to do pumpkin patch day with us, which was great. We packed the girls into their car seats and gave them each Halloween books to read: Halloween ABCs for Clara and Five Little Pumpkins for Jane. Then we caravaned over to The Pumpkin Farm in Carmichael and parked just in time to see Beth, Jake, and Hunter taking their pumpkins to the car (they weren't leaving yet, they just didn't want to carry the pumpkins around). Clara was really excited when she saw Beth and Hunter from her window! She and Hunter sort of ran up to each other and Hunter showed her his miniature pumpkin. Such good buds. <3
We all went back in and Beth bought some popcorn and suckers for the big kids (I googled quickly and Charm Blow Pops are gluten free!) Clara was excited about but also didn't really understand her sucker and just kind of held it and reveled in its existence, so for the time being I took it back lest she drop it in the dirt.
We went and checked out the goats and pigs and sheep. Clara made all their correct noises. We walked past an empty chicken coup only to see the chickens leaving through a hole in the fence, which was kind of funny. No one seemed too concerned about it. At that point we saw the "train" coming round the bend and Clara was psyched. She waved to everyone as they went by and of course many of them waved back. Then we walked over to the big field of medium pumpkins and she and Jane examined many but touched very few. We also saw a hay ride go by and more waving ensued. Clara was just very excited about everything, it was great.
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| Waving at the hay ride. |
Once the train ride was over Clara didn't want to leave, and I thought she might start throwing a fit, but actually she handled it very well. She fussed slightly but was soon ready to look at other things. We went over to the much larger pumpkins and picked one out to actually carve. Jack got a wagon for the pumpkin and Jane, and soon we added Clara to the mix and she seemed happy to ride in it.
Of course Jane fell asleep on the ride home but Clara was awake and cheerful. I had put the big pumpkin between their car seats and she kept touching it and asking for help, so instead I put it in her lap. She kept calling it the "momma pumpkin" to her "baby pumpkin" and played with both a lot (although she kept dropping the baby pumpkin). She was really interested in the bigger pumpkin and held it the whole way home.
Meanwhile Henry and I visited and I made some bacon spinach pasta for lunch. The adults all enjoyed it but Clara wasn't interested. I eventually got her to eat 6-8 bites in exchange for that sucker she hadn't had earlier, and once she got the sucker, no joke, it took her about an hour to eat that whole thing. she was busy with it for a long time and her lips and around her lips got all red, it was pretty cute. Eventually Jane woke up from her nap and sat disgruntedly in my lap while she ate the rest of Clara's pasta. So that worked out.
When lunch was over Jack stood at the dining room table and scooped out the big pumpkin; Clara was very interested in the whole process and basically narrated what was happening and kept trying to fit the lid (I think at one point she called it the "head") back on properly. Once Jack finished scooping I carved the most classic Jack-o-lantern face, and she watched most of that too. Then we put a candle in and she was amazed, just as I hoped she'd be. At that point Jane was also pretty interested, although she seemed more fascinated by the match I used to light the candle. Still, definitely got her attention.
Jack left to get Clara's lunch box for her first day of preschool tomorrow, and Henry did most of the post-dinner cleaning while I just hung out with the girls, which was really nice. When Jack came back we visited some more but Henry headed out around 6:30pm so we could give the girls a bath before bed. While Jack bathed them I made Clara's lunch for tomorrow: tortillas, grapes, and more pumpkin seeds. And I somewhat marveled at how I'm already making one of my children lunch for school (of sorts). Jane finished her bath first, which I figured out when she wandered into the kitchen buck naked. I got her dressed and then read to her while she rested against my chest for a long time. Clara dawdled in the bath tub (supervised by Jack).
When they were done we got them ready for bed but before actually turning in for the night, we turned off all the lights and lit up the Jack-o-lantern again. Clara just sat at the table and stared at it.
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| Pumpkin Farm 2017 & 2018 |
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
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