Ahoy, Mateys! It's a Halloween Recap!

Okay, so that may be the cheesiest title I've used in quite a long time. :) But it was either that or "Halloween 2012" so I went with the less-boring option. The title is (obviously) based on our costume choices this year. The kids recently discovered "Jake and the Neverland Pirates"--a Disney Jr. tv show that they can only watch at Grandma's house (since we're the mean parents who still won't get cable). They both wanted to be pirates from the show--which was a change from the usual princess dress for Lauren, and it meant they would be in cute matching outfits, so we went with it. Here they are with their best pirate faces:

Our first Halloween adventure was trick-or-treating at Farmer's Market. It's the annual tradition of herding our kids in and out of as many downtown stores as possible while overwhelmed store owners hand out candy to the masses. In spite of that cynical (and accurate) description, it really is fun and there's a reason we try hard to get to this event each year. The kids love it and we love being part of our small-town community.

Next up on the Halloween adventure list: Pumpkin carving! We let the kids choose (and sort of draw) their own pumpkin faces, and Lauren chose a cat and Jon chose a dog. Lauren is always so good about reaching in there and pulling out all those yucky pumpkin guts. Jon tried it once and wanted to be done. :) Here they are in process and with the end results!

{Lauren took this picture of me, since I'm always the one behind the camera!}

Finally, the main event: Halloween! The kids were not allowed to wear costumes to school (boo!) but they looked festive anyway.

That night, we had Grandma and Grandpa over for dinner--our annual mummy dogs. Then we dressed up the kids and got ready to head out! Some friends from church joined us, since we have a small, kid-friendly neighborhood that's great for trick-or-treating. The kids literally ran from house to house, due to an overwhelming amount of energy and excitement. They made it through most of the neighborhood before Jon tripped and fell down, and then we were pretty much done after that. Time to head back home and check out the haul!

Gary temporarily lost his mind and told Lauren that she could eat as much candy as she wanted. Thirteen pieces later, she was finally done. Don't think we'll be making that offer again! :)