Halloween in Three Parts

Time for blogging is at a minimum these days so I'll try to document all our Halloween activities by breaking things up into three parts (you did read the title, right?). It works out great, since it was over three days! First there was the trick-or-treating at the mall experience on Thursday, next was pumpkin carving on Friday, and then finally the big day itself on Saturday.

Halloween Part 1: hanging at the mall with every child under the age of 12 in State College

So if you don't recall, Hayden is two and Eliza is 5 weeks old. Not exactly the best ages for a rollicking good round of trick-or-treating on Halloween. Nonetheless, Hayden is at an age where I thought we should introduce her to the concept. She liked her costume when she tried it on a couple weeks ago. (a costume chosen for her by her parents because we found it for super cheap at a yard sale - what a great buy!)
But taking a two year old around to houses to beg for candy seems a bit pathetic. More a reflection of the parent's desire for candy, than the child's interest in the holiday, especially when you don't really know anyone in your neighborhood all that well, as is the case for us. But when I saw there was trick-or-treating at the mall, I thought that might be a good venue to introduce trick-or-treating. Indoors, easy walk-a-bility and not even on Halloween so we could still be home on the big day to give out candy.

We invited Noah and family to join us and even went out for dinner ahead of time. For the record, keeping two toddlers entertained while waiting for dinner was super fun. A big shout out of appreciation for Mandy who bore the brunt of keeping Hayden and Noah occupied because both of them kept climbing over her, switching places, trying to draw on each other's placemats. Thanks Mandy! So we did dinner, which was fine but really not all that great. (but yeah for no dishes to wash afterwards!), and then we headed to the mall.

Now I should explain that the State College mall is not my favorite place in the world. I'm not really that big a shopper, but I just can't ever find ANYTHING at this mall. And when we've gone, it's never really been all that crowded. For the trick-or-treating, I'm not sure what I expected but I didn't think it would be all that busy. So we were just a bit surprised to roll up to the mall, a half hour into the trick-or-treating time, to have trouble finding ANY place to park. Not something close but any parking space at all! Eventually we did, many spaces away from the mall itself and there was a quick change in the parking lot into costumes. Noah assumed his role as fire fighter and Hayden was transformed into a dragon. We then headed towards THE MALL.

And when we got inside, things were even more overwhelming that the parking lot. There were people and children EVERYWHERE!!! There seemed to be a line of children and parents snaking along the store fronts for the whole mall. Tons of people. We just sort of jumped into a lull of people and joined the flow. Both Hayden and Noah carried their own treat bags and were okay walking with the flow of traffic. Don't they look cute in costume?!!!
Most stores had people in front, usually in costume, handing out candy. Hayden wasn't quite sure what to make of it, until she realized they were giving something to her. Then she swaggered around in her dragon costume, walking up to each person and saying trick-or-treat under Jason's prompting. Here she and Noah, go up to the woman at Sears.
We skipped around a little bit, avoiding a couple places where the line was really backed up. (were the pretzel people really giving away something so great? We'll never know.) There was a bit of herding going on, trying to keep Hayden and Noah focused on the trick-or-treating and not on the other distractions (e.g. the little coin-operated rides) that can be found in the mall.
We had almost made it around half the mall when Hayden suddenly realized she was getting candy, and maybe she could eat some of it. So we took a short snack break, which stretched into a long snack break as Hayden kept requesting more, each time we saw a bench. (for the record, she got one small piece of a Hershey's bar.)

Soon the kids were starting to show signs of tiredness so we hit a couple more stores and called it a night. We made it around half the mall. Not too bad for a two two-year-olds! Eliza slept soundly in her carrier the whole time, with several people commenting on her pumpkin hat. Hayden probably would have kept going a little longer, but she was willing to head home with the promise of candy in the car. She got a lollipop which she crunched instead of licked. It was a great introduction to trick-or-treating.
PS: some funny things from the evening: 1) Jason continually trying to put Hayden's dragon head hood on, and Hayden continually tossing it back. 2) the hand train that appeared anytime we walked some place. Mandy held Noah's hand who held Hayden's hand who held Scott's hand... 3) ordering Hayden a kid's meal - mac-n-cheese plus applesauce - and she touched none of the mac and cheese and just ate the applesauce, which turned out to be 'extra' (and it was only pre-packaged applesauce!) luckily they didn't charge us when I asked about it. read the fine print! 4) Hayden stepping backwards when surprised by the Italian cartoon chef (a costume) at the pizza place, only to pratically run forward when she realized he was handing out candy. What some kids will do for a treat! 5) trying to identify old movie stars as the kids asked "who's that?" on the wall. (there were lots on the wall by our booth). And then they decided to label everyone "doo-doo" or "dee-dee" and shriek with laughter.

Frosting

I guess Mother Nature was pretty excited about Eliza's three week birthday because she decided to frost the whole world (at least where we live) with a special dusting of October snow. I can't say that I was very excited about the world turning white, when it is only October, but Hayden seemed pretty tickled by it.

Since it's Thursday, Hayden was home with me and Eliza all day - no preschool today. What do we do on a random snowy Thursday in October? Well, I introduced Hayden to hot chocolate. She could probably take or leave the hot chocolate, but she really liked the marshmallows on top.
She did a lot of coloring with markers and stickers. We sorted through her clothes to try and keep her drawers from overflowing. Luckily the weather outside made it easy to know that it was time to put away tank tops and shorts! We folded some laundry. We watched a little bit of Sesame Street while I nursed Eliza. While Hayden was interested for a little bit, we've definitely done a good job not getting her hooked on TV since she asked me to read a book while we were watching the TV and then told me it was okay to turn it off as she started to play with other toys.

We all took nice long naps. Ellie was asleep for much of the day, just quietly resting in her bouncer.

Even Hayden took an almost 3 hour nap; She woke up in a great mood, excited to look outside at the snow.

She even helped get all her clothes on so we could go play outside in the snow. Can you believe how it kind of piled up? Where it stuck, we probably got at least an inch!

Eliza wasn't too sure how she felt about snow - this picture shows her arching back from inside the wrap as we walked outside. She soon calmed down and snuggled in - just so you don't think I was really taking a 3 week old out to play in the snow!

Daddy helped Hayden build a little snow man. His acorn eyes kept popping out, and Blizzard stole his arm, but he turned out pretty cute.


After outdoor play, which Hayden did not want to come from, we made dinner - enchiladas from the freezer thanks to my mom. Yum! And we made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. For anyone who might bake with Hayden, watch out! She'll taste just about anything. She went to town on the piece of lemon we had out to get juice from, she tried a small crumb of brown sugar that missed the bowl and she even started started tasting the bits of flour that were on the counter, saying "I like that." And of course, she licked the beater clean.

Despite the snow in October, we had a pretty good day. But I still wouldn't mind if Indian summer wanted to make an appearance next week!

Apples and Pumpkins

With all the cool rainy weather we've been having, plus the arrival of Eliza, we'd all been having a little cabin fever recently, so this weekend I was determined to get us out and about and on with life. Thus on Saturday we really were out and about, and it was great! We went to music class, as a "whole family" as Hayden has started saying, and then after class (and a brief stop at home to nurse Eliza) we were off to the Apple Festival at Way Fruit Farm. The weather wasn't nearly as nice as last year but we still had a great time!

the "whole family" posing with our pumpkins

What do you do at the apple festival? Well, first we rode a wagon out to the pumpkin patch to pick out a couple pumpkins. Then we listened to some live bluegrass music that had Hayden shaking her hips.We tried apple dumplings and corn and turkey soup for lunch. and even got some kettle corn for the ride home. We picked several different kinds of apples, straight from the trees! And as a bonus, Hayden got to wear her new rain boots and tromp all over the place in them. The weather was a bit cool, but the sun came out at times and it was wonderful to be outdoors and out of the house. We might even go again next weekend, if it doesn't snow!

heading out on the wagon ride to the pumpkin patch. Hayden claimed she didn't want to go on the wagon, but I think she had a good time. Do you like her festive headwear? (thanks Lori!)

Daddy leads the way on the hunt for the perfect pumpkin.She may have cool new boots (just like Noah's she says!) but that doesn't mean she can't take a break for a quick thumb suck and belly rub.
"HUGE" she yells, as she spots an extra large pumpkin. It took her a while to warm up to the pumpkin patch (too many vines to trip over) but she had fun sitting on the pumpkin 'bench' we found for her.Those sure are some cute pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. :)
On the wagon ride back to the main part of the farm. No those are not pumpkins that Sarah and I have hiding under the wraps -it's Eliza and Logan!

Hayden gets up close and personal as she enjoys the bluegrass band.

Picking apples

sometimes you need two hands to get them off the tree!Smile - I think we picked enough for apple pie!
This apple is red- delish!

Two Weeks

Can you believe it's been two weeks since Eliza was born? (and maybe a couple more days too.) We can't quite believe it and we've been living with her the whole time! Transition to life with two has been relatively smooth. Hayden had some difficult moments in the first few days, throwing some especially awesome tantrums for us and the grandparents, but generally she's handled the arrival of Eliza quite well. As it was with Hayden these first two weeks have been a blur of grandparent visits, nursing and not much sleeping so I don't have a lot to narrate. I think I'll just post some pictures from the last couple weeks, with captions of course, and then I'll need to go feed Ellie before heading to bed. (yes we switch back and forth between Eliza and Ellie; we're still try - feel free to use whatever name works best for you!)
putting on her 'going home' outfit in the hospital. aren't those ladybug feet the cutest?!!

"hi baby!"
as Jason pointed out, Eliza is going to have a very different perception of personal space than Hayden...

giving baby Eliza a sisterly hug.

hanging in the crib

Mommy and her girls



Eliza meets Lachlan!
Eliza was actually the last baby of the 'preggo posse' to make an appearance. Lachlan upstaged her (despite being due 2 weeks later) by about 4 days when he arrived on Sept 20.

getting her feet wet - at least someone enjoyed all the rain we've been having!

After being cooped up for most of a week with rain, we decided to brave the cool weather and go to Harner Farm to check out the pumpkins and ice cream before Grandma and Poppop left. Hayden loved pulling the pumpkins around in the wagon.


Eating ice cream with daddy.

Snarfing the last bit of Mommy's ice cream cone.

This is the chosen one!

Posing with Poppop and Grandma before they headed back to NC.

Showing off a snazzy big sister present. Thanks Mrs. Kurtz!
Just after her first (sponge) bath.

what big eyes you have Eliza!

After Grandma and Poppop left, Grammy and Granddad came to visit. Again, the weather was quite yucky but we did manage a visit to a local park in some sunshine. We even let Eliza out of the wrap to enjoy the warmth!

Posing with Mommy at the top of the slide.
Cutie pie Hayden!

And one last picture of our two favorite girls. They keep us busy but we love it!