My apologies -- I haven't downloaded the photos from yesterday's Halloween extravaganza yet but rest assured we had a wonderful time!
It was a loonngg and fun day. It began with four soccer games in Ankeny -- Bo had three goals and Mazy had two goals and one assist. It was cold watching those games... Very cold! Violet and I will be kind of happy when soccer ends next Saturday.
Immediately following the games, we stopped at Casey's for drinks and a slice of pizza, and then on to the farm to prepare for the Halloween party. Here's a brief itinerary of the party:
1. Halloween terrarium -- kids went to a pet shop and picked out their favorite creepy crawlies -- snakes, insects, rats, spiders, centipedes -- and then designed little habitats for them. It was pretty fun!
2. Halloween mask decorating -- the kids used markers and decorated thin wooden Halloween masks. They were really cool -- witches, skeletons and Frankenstein's Monster.
3. Haybale maze and tower! Dad built an amazing haybale maze and tower out of big round bales. The kids LOVED it. And I mean loved it! They spent much of the day running around on it.
4. Mother Nature/Grim Reaper Scavenger Hunt -- The Grim Reaper stole the four elements from Mother Nature and the kids had to find them before sundown. If they didn't, the Grim Reaper would be able to rise from the Underworld and walk the earth forever! This was quite a complicated set up for young children, but I think thy understood it. I was dressed as Mother Nature, and Shawn had created tokens to represent the four elements -- earth, wind, fire and water. We wrote clues and hid them throughout the farm. The last token was the grim reaper -- a skull -- it was hidden back by the creek. As the kids were searching for the last token, Shawn came running around the corner dressed as a very scary and convincing Grim Reaper. The kids loved it! Bo was scared to death but then got over it when he found the skull token. The other kids went running from the Grim Reaper. It was great.
5. Costume parade and photos. We got everyone into their costumes and had my uncle Steve take photos of all of them.
6. Hayride through the fields -- Dad had a hayrack all ready for us and a bunch of us enjoyed a cool but fun hayride to the county line road, and then through another field to the fence that houses the elk herd. Dad shut the tractor off for awhile and we could hear a den of coyotes yipping in the trees, and the elk talking to each other. The sun was just beginning to set so everything had a beautiful golden hue to it.
7. Suppertime! By 6, everyone on that hayrack was famished and ready to eat! We had chili, tacos, pasta salad, deviled eggs, mummies in a blanket, caramel apples, cheese and crackers, and a bunch of great desserts! Aunt Jean made an AWESOME Halloween cake, I know I have a pic of it.
8. Bonfire and Dessert! And then, refueled by supper and treats, the kids headed back out into the dark for night tag and more running on the haybales. Troy got a bonfire going and we took turns milling around the fire, quieting fussy and tired out babies and toddlers, and chatting and munching.
9. Trick or treating with Grandma Katy -- And if that wasn't enough, we ended the night by letting all the kids trick or treat with Grandma Katy. She had nine or ten bowls of candy and toys on the table and they formed a line with their bags and went to town. Ahhh, nothing like one last jolt of sugar to get them into the cars for the ride home. :)
I think it's safe to say that everyone had a very good time.
Also, we ran out of time and didn't make the haunted garage this year or carve pumpkins. But there's only so much we can pack into our 7-hour Halloween extravaganza!
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