Fall Festivities 2011

In mid-October, we found a Fall Festival at a family ranch. Grace couldn't wait to go. All day long I kept announcing what we were doing that evening and she would say, "We're going to the Faw Festiball!" We had been reading a book this month about a Grandmother who took her Granddaughter to a Fall festival. Grace, Kade, and I read it over and over again. Naturally, Grace was stoked to go to a REAL Fall Festival. We had fun riding on the barrel train, playing on the teeter totter, looking at all the farm animals, and bouncing on the giant air mattress.

The Saturday before Halloween, we joined up with Neil's family to go to a party for their Ward. Both kids got several comments on their costumes. No one had to guess who Grace was dressed up as. The games, trunk-or-treat, perfect weather, high quantities of sugar intake, and good company made for a really fun night.

We carved just one pumpkin this year, and we did it in record time. Grace drew the face and I cut it out. Once we were done, Grace called it our "mouse pumpkin."

Halloween night, we went to a party for our ward. It was just down the street, so we walked to get there. As we walked along, the trick-or-treaters on our street gawked and squealed over our two cute kids. They would call out at us from across the street, "Hi Annie!" or "Look Dad, Annie is catching up to us!" However, once we got to the crowded party, my height and my shimmery sash and red velvety cowgirl hat took the attention away from the kiddos. I was supposed to be a rodeo queen--totally unassociated with Miss America, right? Not many people understood the difference.

We ate chili and fry bread at the party. It was so crowded that we had to stand in such long lines to play games that as soon as we got to the front, the kids lost interest and didn't want to play any more. They spent most of their time on the slide and play set. Thus, we left early and took the kids around to do some trick-or-treating. Lots of people asked if Grace was wearing a wig. I am so proud to say that her hair was totally free, and overall, I spent about $15 on all our costumes, because I used what we already had around. It worked out so well.

We had such a ball together. Grace was so confident talking to people from house to house. However, we had a bit of a scare when she ran off with some other kids and wasn't with them when they returned to us, seconds later. We found her, alone in the dark, at the end of our cul de sac. She had gone off to knock on another door, but the lights were all off. She must have frozen in her tracks when she realized she was alone in the pitch black night. I desperately called out her name a few times. Finally, I heard her reply, "I'm right here!" Her little shoes clicked along as she ran towards me. That was so scary, but it turned out a lot better than it could have.