Halloween!

We got the Halloween celebration started early this year with our Thursday playgroup. I don't have any pictures of the event, but Thursday morning, we went trick-or-treating for canned goods with about 20 kids and their moms. One of the moms in the group had left fliers for her neighbors letting them know we would be coming by to collect canned food. The kids dressed up and we went door-to-door picking up bags of food and trying to fit them in with the kids in the various strollers and wagons. The kids all had a blast, and some of the neighbors even left treats for them, which definitely added to the fun!

On Saturday afternoon, we took a trip to Plymouth Orchards and Cider Mill to fill up on the last cider and donuts of the season, and pick out our pumpkins. We took a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch...

...and then picked out our pumpkins. Apparently we have very decisive children. Both of them claimed a pumpkin within 30 seconds of getting off the wagon.

Today, Juan Pablo started the celebrations at breakfast.

After naptime, we carved our pumpkins.

And by "we", I mean Jeff. Ana Luisa was very eager to get in on the action too.

Then the elephant and the little pumpkin headed out to get some treats. At dinner, just before going trick-or-treating, Juan Pablo said, "We're going to go to all the houses and say, Trick or Treat!" I said, "That's right! And what are the people at the houses going to do?" He answered, "Give us candy for the poor!" I guess trick-or-treating for the canned goods earlier in the week got him a little confused. He was pretty excited when I told him that this time he would get to keep everything we collected. And I'm impressed that he was ready to donate his candy to those in need.

This was the best we could do for a picture of both kids with their pumpkins:

The elephant took some time before we headed out to give the little pumpkin some lovin':


I walked with the kids down to my parents' house. We only stopped at a few houses, mostly the neighbors that we know the best. Ana Luisa didn't have a clue what was going on, but was more than happy to eat every piece of candy given to her. Juan Pablo was in full character, and gave quite the performance as an elephant. When we got to my parents' house, Tia Padu took Juan Pablo back out to a few more houses and he came back with his entire bucket full of candy, thanks to his extreme cuteness. Meanwhile, Ana Luisa ate more candy. Thankfully, despite massive sugar intake, both kids went to bed on time. And now it's time for mom and dad to go raid their buckets...