Halloween in November

Thanks to hurricane Sandy, Halloween was postponed until the following weekend.  For the second year in a row, we celebrated Halloween in November...how strange is that?!  However, it was a beautiful, chilly fall night, and was the perfect night to venture out and trick-or-treat!

This year, Ty dressed up as Elmo...who else?!

 

And Brady was our little monkey...for about 3 minutes!!!

This about sums up Brady's costume experience...Ty couldn't figure out why the kid wouldn't stop screaming! 

Trick-or-treating was a blast this year!  This image of Ty walking up to his first house, all by himself, carrying his little candy bucket, is most definitely going to be one I'll never forget!

And then he ditched the candy bucket for some serious walking...

You can tell who led this trick-or-treating adventure!

And after walking by himself up a massive hill, and up and down every driveway on that street...he decided this was a much better mode of transportation!

Happy Belated Halloween, everyone!!!

Life With Ty #22 - Pumpkin Festival

This past weekend our family, along with some families from our Down Syndrome playgroup, made the trek out to Keene, NH to attend the annual Pumpkin Festival.  Now I'm sure your first thought is, what the heck is a pumpkin festival?!  Here's a little visual for you:

 

 

Yes, that tower is lined with pumpkins, as was a second tower equally as large, the entire Main Street, and the center of the round-about.  The tradition of the Pumpkin Festival began in 1991, with the goal of gathering the largest number of carved, lit pumpkins in one place at one time.  It currently holds 8 records in the Guiness Book of World Records for this!  Keene's highest record is 29,068 pumpkins, though Boston, MA currently holds the world record, with 30,128 (darn Bostonians!).

 

Another fun fact:  Eric and I both went to college in Keene, where we met as freshmen.  So the town holds a little nostalgia for the both of us! 

 

Anyway, this year, we decided to bring both of our boys to introduce them to the pumpkin tradition.  The event begins with a parade through the center of town, of all of the children dressed up in their Halloween costumes.  No surprise here, Ty is Elmo this year!  Though he was sweating bullets, he wore that Elmo suit happily, and waved to kids along the parade route as parents yelled out, "There's Elmo!" (I'm pretty sure he was slightly terrified of the crowds though!)

 

 

 

The rest of the day at the festival was spent with Ty's friend Connor and his family.  We braved the crowds (and navigated through some crazy college parties!) to check out the pumpkins, visit the college campus and get some food.  The kids were wiped by the end of the day, to say the least!

 

Ty and Connor, ready to drop from the heat!

 

Ty and Daddy checking out the pumpkins...Ty was not impressed at this point!

Me and my boys on our old college campus!


 

 



After the festival, one of our playgroup families invited us all over to rest and regroup after all of the commotion!  Ty got to spend some time with his buddies Jayci, Connor, and Josie, before we headed home after our long adventure.  We'll be back next year!



Halloween Fun

We celebrated Halloween today...yes on November 6th...see "Winter Preview" post below! :-)  Celebrating Halloween a week late has its benefits though.  We bought nearly 300 pieces of candy, 40 goodie bags, and a candy bowl for less than $10...thank you Walmart clearance aisle!!!  

Luckily, we saved our pumpkin that Ty's Nanny grew in her garden, and carved our jack-o-lantern in the afternoon.  Last year, Ty was only 7 months old, and sat on the sidelines while we carved pumpkins.  This year, he was able to sit at the table and join in the action.  He was not a fan of the pumpkin "guts" that we passed his way, but he quickly made a game out of throwing them on the floor.

He was much more interested in the actual finished product.  Sticking his fingers in people's noses and mouths is a recent favorite activity, so he had no trouble exploring the holes in the pumpkin's face!

Right before trick-or-treating began, he dressed up in his puppy costume and managed not to throw a fit while I tried to take some pictures!  Again, I was thinking back to last year when he could not yet sit, and I had to prop him against an ottoman to take a picture of him in his costume.  It's amazing what a difference a year makes!

We only trick-or-treated at 3 houses (his Nanny's, Grandpa's, and old babysitter's houses), but it was plenty!  He was more than happy to whip off the costume and play with our leftover candy instead!

I imagine next year will be much more action-packed, as we chase a 2 1/2 year old up the street, and try to keep the candy out of his mouth!  This year, I just got to enjoy watching him become aware of the holiday for the first time, and that was a lot of fun for me.  Happy belated Halloween!