Our Halloween started bright and early at the town parade, which is always held the Friday before Halloween. Since Halloween fell on a Friday this year, we got to have the parade on the day of Halloween. The downside to this was that instead of spreading out the fun we had to cram it all into one day. And since I also thought that for some reason Halloween would be a great day to volunteer in Ella's preschool class making pumpkin muffins with her classmates, by the end of the day, after trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, I was exhausted from all the celebrating.
At the town parade, Ella trick-or-treated at all the local shops.
The bathtub full of candy at the kitchen & bath boutique was my favorite.
The parade ended at a park, where "Amazing Andy" the magician performed for the kids. Ella has seen Amazing Andy perform at least five times. He never changes his act. I'm pretty sure I could recite it word for word if I was ever called upon to do so. And yet, Ella still thinks it is the most hilarious thing she has ever seen. This guy is some kind of genius with children, because it is not just my child he has this effect on. To illustrate my point, here is Ella watching Amazing Andy last year:
And this is Ella watching Amazing Andy this year:
After the parade and preschool, we waited for Daddy to get home from work so that we could eat dinner and head out to top off the day's festivities with more trick-or-treating. We live in a fabulous trick-or-treating neighborhood, and I was shocked at how much candy Ella ended up with. She ran from house to house, making sure we didn't miss a single one. At each home she rang the doorbell on her own and timidly said "trick-or-treat" as she not so timidly helped herself to a handful candy. Without fail, after each house she would complain, "But I need more!" It reminded me a lot of last year, when she said "We have get more!" after each house. Better grammar this year, but the same sentiment. I must have bought Ella's "glass slippers" a half size too big because one of her shoes kept coming off. I didn't intend for her costume to be quite so authentic, but other than that trick-or-treating went off without a hitch.
As usual, Claire sat quietly in her stroller the entire night, barely making a peep. A few people asked if she was sleeping, but no, she was just sitting quietly in a semi-comatose state with a glazed look in her eyes. Hopefully next year will be a little more exciting for her.
At the end of the night, with Ella's treat bag so full of candy that Daddy had to carry it home, Ella said:
"I'm tired. It has been a long, long day."
If I managed to wear Ella out, I know the day was a huge success.
And if you aren't sick of Halloween yet, maybe you will be after listening to Ella sing the "Pumpkins Start as Fat Seeds" song over and over and over again, while wearing her pumpkin shirt no less. She asks to wear this shirt every day, and if I tell her it's dirty (which it is at least half the time) she will wail with disgust, "AGAIN?!" Anyway, enjoy the performance. From what I can tell, the lyrics go something like this:
"Pumpkins start as fat seeds, planted in the ground. Soon pumpkins grow, they're big and orange too. Then you carve a jack-o-lantern, light it and say BOO!"
Pumpkin Song from Jennifer Woodbury on Vimeo.