Halloween Festivities

I couldn't have asked for a better October here--my favorite month since we moved here almost a year ago.  The skies were sunny with almost no rain (maybe twice the whole month?).  I know that doesn't sound like the bar was set very high, but if you ever move to Aberdeen, you'll know what an amazing feat that is.  I don't think any other month since I've lived here can boast that record.  Everyone told me that the beautiful Washington summers make up for the rain, but the summer came and went here, and I was quite disappointed.  It was still cold and rainy--at least in Aberdeen.  So maybe that's why I loved October so much.  I was expecting much of the same, but it surprised me.  The sun sneaked up on me and didn't leave the entire month.  Good surprises are always welcome. :-)

Well, I meant to blog about Halloween, but I couldn't help but mention the month of October in general.  Trust me, it was very lovely.  Anyway, a few weeks ago we started our Halloween festivities by going to the pumpkin patch.  We went on one of Eli's days off from school.  Since Josh still had to work, we went with one of Eli's friends and his family.  We had a good time playing, picking a pumpkin, having fun in the corn maze, and riding in the hay wagon.

A few days before Halloween we carved pumpkins.  This year we did two, and Eli picked the face for both.  While we were at the pumpkin patch he saw some glow-in-the-dark pumpkin fangs, and he BEGGED me to buy them.  He drew the face on the other pumpkin in pencil, and I carved out his markings.

This is Eli's imitation of the pumpkin's face.

The night before Halloween we had a fall festival at the church with a trunk-or-treat afterward.  Then on Halloween day, Josh and I went to Eli's school (it was Josh's day off).  The school does something called a serpentine where the kids parade around the school in their Halloween costumes, and then Eli's class had a Halloween party where the parents were invited.  At night we did the usual trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.  Eli loved it all!  This year he wanted to be a knight/dragon slayer.

This is Eli's good friend at school and church.

Admiring all the delicious candy in his bag :-)