This is Us: Halloween Traditions

I said in one of my earlier posts how much I love this time of year and all the family traditions. These pictures aren't quite in order because this was the Monday before Halloween, but I was too lazy to switch them around.

We went to the corn maze at the American West Heritage Center. Luckily they also had some smaller things for the kids to do, because you can only keep kids interested, and in sight for so long in a dark corn maze.

Then, earlier in the month, we went to the Halloweenie Roast. There is a family in our ward, whose parents put on an event every year. It's free, and so cute, and they have a barrel train, a wagon ride, a campfire to roast marshmallows, and other cute things to see. The kids love it!

The pictures don't show it, but Grant couldn't get enough of the barrel train. He would get in his car, and wouldn't make a sound. He was mesmerized. (Until it was time to get off. Then he would throw a fit!)

That looks more like it!

We got so many pumpkins this year that we painted some and carved others.

We had a hard time deciding costumes this year. I figured that Grant is young enough that he wouldn't really care, so we probably should just find something that we could borrow from someone rather than buying it. But I couldn't resist when we saw this Paw Patrol costume at Sam's Club. Grant is currently OBSESSED (did I say obsessed) with Paw Patrol. Even after buying it, however, I was nervous that he would like the idea of it more than actually wearing it. Nope! He loves it. He loves the hat, he loves the backpack, he loves it. He's excited to put it on, and he's sad when he has to take it off. It's funny though because this character's name is Marshall, and that's the only one of the names that Grant can't say. But it was the costume that I thought was cutest. So he just calls it "Fire truck."

The first time that Meili saw his costume, she said, "Aw! Cute!" So now everytime Grant sees it, he says, "Aw, toot!" It is pretty "toot" if I do say so myself.

And then, there's Meili. Aye, yi, yi... This girl is going to be the death of me someday. She has so many opinions. I think I brought it on myself by giving her so many choices, and making her a part of the decision making process, and now we're paying for it. I told her in the spring that I wanted her to be Cindy Lou Who, and she said she was fine with it. (We even said that Grant could be the Grinch, which he would be so good at:) Then she decided that she wanted to be Elsa, and I told her that she could basically choose anything but Elsa. Then there was Hildy from the TV show the 7D. Then there was a genie from the show Shimmer and Shine. I was pretty excited about that one, and we even went to Joann with my mom to pick out fabric for the costume. Then she decided that she wanted pink hair, and a beautiful dress. So she said Aurora, but I said that she doesn't have pink hair. Then we went back to Elsa. Finally she narrowed it down to a fairy and the choices she gave me were an evil fairy, a pirate fairy, a butterfly fairy or a vegetarian fairy. Yeah. You heard me. A vegetarian fairy! So... I decided to take the butterfly fairy and run with it, before she could change her mind again.

We tie-dyed a shirt, made a tutu, and a headband, and she had some tights that went along with the colors, + some dollar store wings, and Ta Da! We have a butterfly fairy!

Another favorite tradition is always the Pumpkin Walk. Between the displays, the bus ride, and hot chocolate afterward, pretty much nothing spells fall for me like the Pumpkin Walk. On the way in, Meili said, "This is going to the best day ever!" Oh, everything's more fun with the kiddos! Sadly, the enthusiasm lasted like two displays before she said, "Let's go do the fun stuff." (The little wood board picture cutouts.)

This was the display that The Family Place (AKA: The Child and Family Support Center, AKA: where I used to work) made. I thought it was cute!

And now we have... Peter Pan...

... and Wendy

I don't know why, but I find it amusing that Meili is the one offering Psychiatric advice. Probably the same reason my dad teases me about a career in Psychology.