Halloween 2010

Last night ended up being really fun... it sure brought back flashbacks for Aaron and I when we were kids. After watching the Seahawks lose to the Raiders terribly, we woke the kids up from their nap to get them ready for the night's festivities. We were originally going to take them to the mall for trick-or-treating but everything for kids 12 and under is terribly early and Aaron and I both agreed that part of "Halloween" is that you do things later at night. Good thing we didn't go because Tommy & Samantha did and said the mall was pure mayhem and the kids really didn't get any treats.

So, we decided to start off the night at a "Fall Festival" that a local church was hosting for the community. Tommy and Samantha joined us with Brayden and Alexis. It was pretty crazy there as well and not really all that fun for anyone so after letting the boys bounce in the bouncy house for about 10 minutes and then shoot some basketballs for candy, we left. By then, it was starting to get semi-dark so we decided to start trick-or-treating at a nearby neighborhood.

It was really cute seeing the kids dressed up and get excited. This was the first year for both boys actually going door-to-door and it took them a while to get the hang of it---especially Jax. He wanted to run in the street or be carried by me most of the time. But, he knows candy really well and so he was more than happy to grab some at any chance. At the first house we went to, Jayden first tried to just open their door and then once the lady opened the door, Jayden walked right in her house. Apparently, us coaching him through what he was supposed to do didn't work. After that embarrassing, yet funny start to the night he finally realized that he was supposed to stay outside and say "Trick or Treat!" and then say "Thank you!" after he got candy. Jaxson wanted to eat his candy as we were going along... so I think he had half-eaten candy in one hand while grabbing more candy with the other the whole time. Rinse and repeat that whole ritual... after about an hour we were all tired, cold, and ready to go home. Needless to say that even in that one hour, both boys made out like bandits (half the houses were giving out full size candy bars it seemed) and we now have a plethora of sugary goodness at our house that we plan to ration out. I'm pretty sure it will last us until next Halloween at this rate. :)

Oh, and in case I didn't mention, Jayden was dressed up as Buzz Lightyear (he's in love with his costume and has worn it every day for almost the last week!) and Jaxson was Woody. Brayden also dressed up as Buzz Lightyear and Alexis was a ladybug. :)

Here are the pictures from our fun night as well as the pictures from the pumpkin painting on Saturday (although I think the kids painted themselves and ate more than what got on the pumpkins---thank goodness for Crayola's non-toxic paint!!).

Picking out our pumpkins at the store...

(he wanted to try on his costume early...)