Halloween Activities

The boys were excited to go to the ward trunk and treat. They had most of the games in the cultural hall and Rett just ran around crazy while I tried to help James do the games. One day they will both be old enough to be able to take out in public and not want to rip my hair out. Today is not that day :)

Rett's favorite game was this inflatable pool full of balls. He would jump in and throw all the balls out and wait for someone to come put them back in.

He saw these two balloons and decided that he had to pick them both up at the same time.

James discovered a hula hoop and I had no idea, but he is actually pretty good at it!

They shot the candy cannon before the trick or treating, and Rett was ready to dig into some candy. He was not excited about putting anything into his bag, he just wanted to immediately eat whatever anyone gave him.

After church the next day we sat down and did haircuts and I finally brought myself to do Rett's hair. It was getting to the point that he would cry and run away any time I tried to brush his hair and he would get bad tangles and mats in the back. I was amazed at how much older he looked with his hair cut short! It is still a little long on the top and will curl up a little bit, but I love that I can see more of his face now.

My mom came into town for Halloween and to watch Rett while I helped out with the fall festival at James' school. We really wanted to show her the newly renovated park, so we spent some time there one afternoon. Rett loves the big boy swings now! He could swing all day.

The next day we went back to the park for a little bit before heading to the pumpkin patch to pick out little pumpkins for his school fall festival. James was very focused on showing Grandma how well he can balance.

At the pumpkin patch we picked out little pumpkins and then decided to get a big one to carve at our house. I was not prepared for how expensive big pumpkins are! We picked out a very large one only to find out it was a 30 dollar pumpkin! No way! We put it back and got a smaller one instead :)

The day before Halloween was the big festival at James' school. They got to dress up in costumes, eat treats, decorate pumpkins, trick or treat around the school, take turns on a large bouncy house slide, play on the playground, and eat pizza with their friends. It was a full morning!

This is James with Ms. Suesi, the director of his school. He loves to stop by her office every morning just to say hi.

While they were waiting for their turn to go trick or treating, his class got to have free play with some of their classroom toys. James immediately went to the magnatiles and built a rocket ship. He loves those things! They are definitely on the Christmas list for this year.

I was mentally preparing myself for painting the pumpkins with the kids, but instead they did stickers to put on the pumpkin. It was so much easier! The stickers were different funny faces, so James did a Picasso version with the different parts of the face all over.

Finally it was time to line up to do some trick or treating! James always has to be in line with his three best friends. It is so stinkin' adorable!

Towards the end of the day, my mom brought Rett so he could enjoy some of the fun. Of course, all he wanted to do was swing :)

Once a month, everyone stays for lunch and eats pizza and pizza day happened to fall on the same day as the festival! So James and Rett got to eat lunch together at school with his friends. 

The next day was Halloween and everyone was still a little tuckered out from the day before. While we watched the Gator game in the afternoon, my mom convinced James to just "rest his eyes for a little bit" and he fell asleep for about an hour. Yes!

When it started to get dark, it was time for trick or treating! We pulled out the double stroller and decided to stay in our own neighborhood for the first time ever. We had a blast! It was a lot of walking, but so worth it. Rett didn't realize that he wasn't supposed to walk into the house when they opened the door, so he invited himself in. A lot.

James was full of energy and all about the spooky decorations this year. He loved them! Rett was really scared, so he had to stay back while James went up to the scary houses. At one house we didn't realize they had decorations that pop up and start talking when you walk by and Rett was so scared he was shaking uncontrollably! The owner of the house felt so bad, he ran up to Rett with a handful of candy to try to make him feel better. James said he wasn't scared at all.

Some of the decorated houses:

At this house, they put a toilet paper roll soaked in kerosene inside their pumpkin and lit it on fire. It was awesome! James said, "Hey! We have a pumpkin at home..."

My mom checked her step counter on her phone and we ended up walking over 2 miles around our neighborhood! After we made it back, the boys took a glow stick bath in the dark. 

While they were in the bath, I checked their candy. They got so much! I think they will need some help eating it :)