Halloween Bash

SO this is the last of my Halloween posts, I figured I should just write them all now and then go back to where I left off before the Holiday.This is Holly in her Witches costume. We are getting ready to go to a Halloween party at Alex and Araliya's house. This was the most frilly costume of the three she had, and Tanta Kat's favorite.Tanta Kat tried on several costumes too, we have a box or two of old stuff from previous years. She decided on putting together a few different costumes and making an 80's Angel for herself.We arrived around 5:00 and everyone was hanging out in the back yard. We loved this family of Robots. Baby Robot was about 22 months old. He had his grandmother visiting and she was the forth Robot, so great.Holly had a lot of fun playing with Mr. Robot and the Sand Table. Last time we were here there was Sand and Water and she got herself soaked. So I was glad that there was only sand today.This is Elizabeth dressed up like a Lion. She came up to Kat and asked if she could swing with her, so my little Angel too her for a swing. Isn't that so sweet.Alex set up some Halloween crafts, mask making and such for the kids to do. Most of them were too busy running and playing, but Araliya was very into doing the crafts, so sweetI love her little Bee Costume, but the best part is her little yellow and black sneakers, I think her mom said she got them while they were visiting Sri Lanka, they match just perfectly.Araliya has the best back yard, I love her play structure, the slide is so much fun. It goes super fast, and you have to climb the ladder to get to the platform. Its definitely a big girl structure, but Araliya is only 3 months older then Holly.I guess that means Holly isn't my little pumpkin anymore. I remember she was this little, it seems like just days ago, but I don't even think she was "This" little last Halloween.And now she is a little lady at her first Halloween party getting ready to go trick or treating for the first time. We added a string to the hat so it would stay on when she pulled it off, it made a big difference.Here are Kat and Joel enjoying some drinks, white wine for Kat and yummy Apple Cider for Joel, who is dressed up as a Jester. I was so happy that I convinced him to come in costume.This is Kavena, she is dressed up as a little elephant. It is just about the cutest costume yet. I love that the top is attached like a little hood, but the best part is the padding, a little elephant butt.This is Hanna and she is dressed up as Princess Belle. She is about 3 years old, I think she was one of the oldest little girl at the party. She made a beautiful Disney princess and she was really sweet.Here Holly is having a snack, the party was a pot luck. Joel made some butternut squash, and cheese hors dourves tart thingys, they were a big hit, he spent all afternoon cooking them.Holly had some bread and Mac and Cheese, our Hostess Alex made some yummy pumpkin soup, and there were lots of breads and pastries and other finger foods. She sat on my lap and ate some. But before long she was up and running and took her snack with her. Daddy was lounging and taking a break from running and chasing after her, but she wanted him to come and help her with the slide again.She is very persistent, and Mommy isn't quite tall enough to life her up to the top, and didn't want to let her loose on the platform, so she was forced to find something else to amuse herself with.That was easy, because it was just about then that Sarah arrived in her pumpkin costume. We were happy that Isabel and Richard could join us, I extended a last minute invite to them, because some of the other family planning on coming had to cancel.Look at these two! They are so happy to see each other. I love the little smiles on there faces and the recognition in there eyes of meeting an old friend again, the excitement of getting to play together.I think this outfit really suits Sarah's cheery disposition, it is such a Happy jack-o-lanturn, rather then a creepy scary one, it matches her well, and she actually looks really good in orange I think.This is the playroom in the garage, another fun place for the kids to explore. It is always a lot of fun to play with someone else's toys, the novel is so very entertaining.Once they got into the playroom some of the other kids followed and joined the. Elisabeth, Araliya, and her cousin is there with the pink wings, but I forgot her name. It was my first time meeting her.We had a lot of fun talking and chatting with the other parents. Elisabeth's mom and dad dressed up as lion tamers, which is such a good idea, they even had an Indiana Jones Style whip to make the look complete.Here is Sarah and Kavena meeting for the first time. Kavena is about a year old. She was very shy when she first arrived, she wanted to stay in her Daddy's lap but later she warmed up to the other kids.Here Araliya is back to the craft table, she is so adorable, of course the daughter of a teacher to be so interested in crafting during a party. We didn't do any at the party but we took home a mask to work on another day.This is a fun little swing, we actually got Holly to ride it a few times, it was like her witches broom. But we had to keep one had on her back to provide extra support, although she was holding on pretty well.Kavena didn't like her Elephant Costume and had a second "spare" with her that was a bit more comfortable, not a warm, so here she is wearing it and riding the swing with Belle (Hannah)I think Elizabeth really likes Kat. she kept playing with her and trying to swing with her and bringing her toys. She is about 22 months, but very big for her age. She has a sibling on the way in a few more months.Here is Holly with the Giant Bunny. I was so proud of her, she liked him, didn't even cry a bit. he however scared several of the other kids, they were in tears and eventually grandpa had to take off his costume.The next week we were watching Yo Gabba Gabba and there is a episode where "Story time" is about a magician and his rabbit, and he is a giant Rabbit, and we think Holly must have thought she was meeting that Giant Rabbit so wasn't scared.By this time it was getting dark and time to head out and go Trick or Treating. Holly was ready and excited to get outside, and she picked it up super quick.My friend lived on a little cul-de-sac in a low traffic neighborhood, so it was a great place to be for our first time Trick or Treating, I didn't have to worry about Holly running off and she was so good and held my hand.The entry ways up to the house door was very narrow, which made each house a bit of a challenge as a line of people went up and navigated going back and forth.Holly did great in the crowd, and she knew just what to do. She held her little bucket knocked on the door and took a piece of candy and put it in her bucket. It was the most adorable thing I have seen.Here is our Devilish host with her little bee, and my Angelic Sister with her little witchy niece. This is a great picture, I love the color contrast and the two girls look so cute together.Araliya was smart and had a big pumpkin bucket to hold all of her loot. On the other hand, Holly had only the small little pail. We would empty it and put her candy in our pockets so it wouldn't spill.We walked to several houses but it was getting late and by this time Holly was missing her Mommy and wanted me to carry her. She is getting to be so heavy, so I popped her onto my shoulders.She loved being up there, she could see everything from high up and be close to Mommy and still get to participate with the fun stuff. It also made it easier to get to the front doors.This is a little family shot that I had Isabel take of us. All dressed up on our first night of Trick or Treating. I think halloween is one of my all time favorite Holidays, we were having so much fun.I even let Holly have a peice of Candy, yummy chocolate, luckily she didn't get any of it in my hair, but I was certainly worried about it. She was so excited to get the treat.Here was a really neat pumpkin. It was carved witht he Words Trick or treat which was really neat. There were some fancy ones we saw, even one where the face was pucking up its guts, hilarious I know, but..Not so much when little monsters try and play with them. Yuck!. We headed back to the house, the girls were getting tired of the trick or treating, but wanted to play a little more. We let them into the playroom for one last run at all the new and exciting toys. They liked the freedom of being back inside and not having to hold hands and stay with Mommy and Daddy.Holly had one last ride on the Swing, and Mom had some snacks, as I hadn't eaten much earlier, someone brought some apple pie and i had a slice of that. It was yummy. We were also waiting for the other Trick or treaters to return,So we could say good bye to everyone. We left around 8:00, it seemed like a really long night, but we were there a total of only about 3 hours. When we got home we had left on our costumes to answer the door.Earlier int he week i got three bags of Candy from Costco, because last year I ran out, but this year we only got one group of trick or treaters, and the rest of the candy went to a bunch of guys dressed up as geeks at Joel's offic (3:-]) We had a great night!