Halloween Fun

Last Tuesday our family took an impromptu after-school trip to Walden Farm to soak up a little pre-Halloween fun.

We took a beautiful hayride and enjoyed a lot of the farm that I had never seen before.  It is beautiful, rustic Tennessee at its best.

After our hayride and a few pumpkin pictures, I thought it would be fun to get a family photo in front of this awesome wagon display.  Jim and I were so focused on helping his mom figure out our camera and making sure everyone was situated that no one noticed Brennan's silly face.  Don't tell Brennan, but I think it makes the picture just perfect.

For whatever reason, Cora is absolutely obsessed with scarecrows this year.  She points out every single one she sees, and believe me, there are a lot more out there than you realize.

Just before it got dark, Brennan climbed to the top of these hay bales and shouted that he was king of the mountain.  

On Friday we went trick-or-treating at Jim's work after school.  It required tremendous work to get everyone there on time, in one piece, and happy.  I had to gather costumes, snacks, dinner stuff for Cora, trick-or-treat buckets, my camera, wake Cora from her nap, and go pick up Brennan from the car line (the bus would have made us too late).  By the time we got there, I realized I had forgotten Cora's tutu.  :-(

Nonetheless, she and her little friend Myla made perfect ladybugs.

It amazed me how bold Cora was.  Brennan used to have to be pushed and urged to approach people, and saying trick-or-treat scared him.  This year he was over that, but Cora didn't share any of Brennan's reservations from years past.  She just marched up to anyone and everyone that might offer her treats and gladly took them.

On Halloween morning, Cora got to wear her costume to Mother's Day Out.  She was so excited!

I told her she made a cute ladybug and asked her what a ladybug says.  She replied, "Ummmm...  Maybeee.....  Trick or treat!"  :-)

Together Brennan and Cora were the characters from Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy, one of our favorite books.

We had to make a few adjustments.  First of all, Bumblebee Boy doesn't have anything that makes him look like a bumblebee except his striped shirt, so we made more of an effort with Brennan.  For Cora, I went with a black shirt instead of red, and although we tried to find the boots (they do exist!), they were all sold out and we had to settle for Mary Janes.  Nonetheless, another little trick-or-treater said, "Hey!  You guys remind me of a book called Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy!"  Mission accomplished.

Hope you had a happy Halloween!