A Spooktacular Halloween Costume Party

Costumes...this is what every child looks forward to come Halloween time. What should I be? Savannah scanned the racks looking for a Freddy costume (from Scooby-Doo) but ended up eyeing a sparkly Tinkerbell costume complete with shimmering silver wings. Little Paigers also eyed all the sparkly, shimmering costumes and chose a Ladybug that also included glittery wings and a ladybug wand. The girls couldn't wait for the day to come when they could wear their carefully chosen costumes. It came soon enough when they got invited to their first kids Halloween costume party.

The evening began when they entered through thick fog with spiders, bats, and pumpkins lining the entrance into the party. They were greeted by a huge life size talking banana (my friend's husband). They then stood in complete awe when they saw a whole room full of children their ages dressed in all sorts of fun costumes. Among them was Snow White, Captain Hook, Minnie Mouse, Dumbo, a cheerleader, and a pumpkin to name a few. The girls were directed to a decorating table where they got to decorate lunch sacks with bat and spider designs. Or I guess you could say they glued as many eyes and cotton balls they could to a black circle on their bags.... it was SUPPOSED to be a bat or spider, but with toddlers it looked more like a uniquely and well glued sack. Little did they know these sacks would be used for all the prizes and treats they won from games they got to later play. The fun had only just begun.

First up was Musical chairs. Savvy played one round and decided she wanted to sit out and watch the other children play. Little Ms. Paige actually won the game. Seeing her scamper as fast as she could for a chair once the music stopped was hysterical. Actually seeing little 2 year-olds wandering around aimlessly was hysterical. Savvy sat on the sidelines cheering her little sister along and nothing was more cute then seeing Paige winning the game. She sat so proudly in that chair with a huge grin on her face. She got to pick a prize from a big sack of Halloween prizes. She chose a Mummy flashlight which made Savvy jealous so the next game, Pin-the-Nose on the Jack-O-Lantern, Savvy was first in line to play. After being blindfolded and spun around in circles Savvy managed to pin the nose on the pumpkin right in the exact middle. She was so determined to win a game after seeing the cool prize Paige won. Needless to say Savvy kept the lead after about 15 other children tried to out win her. She picked a flashlight too, only hers had interchangeable heads on it that made Halloween pictures on the walls. The night also included cookie decorating (and eating which Paige liked the best), a fishing game where they threw a fish pole over a curtain to retrieve a "prize". Some of the prizes they came home with were a Halloween whoopie cushion, Halloween hair rubber bands,and a Halloween blowup hat. Oh and I must not forget the Frankenstein pinata that gave them so much candy that they really don't need to go trick-or-treating. And Savvy's favorite thing of the whole night was the hallway they sectioned off that had strobe lights and an animated ghost wandering around making spooky noises. Paige was a little more bashful in wanting to go see the ghost, but Savvy couldn't get enough scares in her to stop looking through the curtain.

Nothing is more rewarding than watching your kids have the best time of their life right in front of your eyes. Watching the girls get their first taste of Halloween fun was just priceless. It was definitely a spooky and spectacular Halloween party.

Remlinger Farm Harvest Extravaganza!

YES! It's that time of year again to bring out the pumpkins and pumpkin pies and pumpkin spice lattes and anything generally "pumpkin." Brooke even started using the phrase "I turn into a pumpkin at 8:00" again, referring to the fact that she does indeed gain 200 pounds and turns orange in the face. All kidding aside, we decided this would be a good year to take the kids back to Remlinger Farm in Carnation. We went Sunday the 14th and it was a wonderful day to go. The sun was out, the wind was calm, and the kids were in good spirits. If you've never been to Remlinger Farms, it's kind of like a small scale Knott's Berry Farm. And if you've never been THERE, then I'll explain a little bit. This is a working farm - I assume that because they raise animals, grow corn, and have a barn. Well, it's probably more likely they have all that to get money from parents who want their kids to touch dirty animals and get their clothes filthy dirty with various activities. Scattered throughout the many acres of land are carnival rides and play areas which has nothing to do with actual farming but is nonetheless fun to do to celebrate the fall harvest (much like in ye olden days.) This is a guaranteed fun time for all.

The first things the kids did was ride the ponies. Our two little girls are not afraid of ponies and will ride them at every opportunity. The whole time the girls would not stop smiling. Then it was off to the giant blow-up slide. The only problem was the line was too long and the girls wanted to slide LOTS more. This seemed to be the big downside to the whole festival. Too many people and not enough rides. Luckily, the next line we waited in for the canoe ride was short and fast. The girls loved watching the wooden ducks float by. Now we come to the girls' favorite attraction of the day - the Hay Jump. This was a giant pit filled with hay, which sticks to everything and invades spaces not meant for hay. The girls jumped and swam and buried themselves over and over and over again. It was worth the admission price just to see them play. Afterwards, we tried out the Hay Maze, Flying Pumpkins, Spinning Logs, Toddler Ferris Wheel, Sort-Of-Carousel Horse Ride, Bouncy House, Whirley-Thing, and the Train Ride. The last ride of the day was the miniature Roller Coaster that was actually pretty scary. Not so much in the "Fast and Furious" sense but more in the "Years of Whiplash Therapy" sense. Definitely a ride designed with shorter occupants in mind. And what day would be complete without a second turn in the Hay Jump. By then most of the other families were on their way home (I think there was a Seahawks game or something.) We were feeling pretty exhausted by then too so we went back home. Oh, we forgot to pick out some pumpkins.