Happy Halloween!

We have had an entire weekend of Halloween fun.  Friday night, the park district had a Hallow-Palooza festival that I took Malcolm to.  We went a little early because a half hour before the official start, they had a "lights on" version of their spooky walk.  He had been watching a Halloween special of Dinosaur Train that had a haunted roundhouse and he was eager to do the spooky walk.  About halfway through, he complained that it was too scary and I ended up having to pick him up.  It was still too scary, so we dropped out of the walk and went back upstairs.  Luckily, everything else they had there was a big hit.

Doing a scratch off craft.

Climbing up so he can slide down the inflatable slide.  He had already had a turn in the bounce house.

Fishing for a prize.

Throwing a football through a wreath.

Tossing beanbags into plastic pumpkins.

Throwing a plastic skull through a toilet bowl lid.

This was his favorite "game."  He had to knock on the coffin, then a gloved hand would reach up and hand him a prize.

He wasn't tall enough to get his head in the other cut-out.

Sunday, we carved pumpkins. Malcolm wanted a spider on his, so I found a tmplate online and printed it out. Dorothy wanted a kitty, so Kevin free handed a cat face onto her pumpkin. They both helped scoop out the pumpkin guts with appropriate comments about it being gross and yucky.

Malcolm appears to be dressed for the wrong holiday.

Dorothy thought sitting on the pumpkins was great fun.

Kevin preps the second pumpkin while the kids scoop out the other one.

Each working on their own pumpkins.

Malcolm started out cutting out his spider, but it was hard work, so I took over.  While I was cutting Dorothy started climbing spiders up my back to my head.  It made it difficult to cut the pumpkin.

Kitty pumpkin.

Spider pumpkin.

I put these guys up a few weeks ago and they still make me smile.  It's nice to have rats in the house again.

Finally, it was Halloween and time to trick-or-treat. Malcolm really got it this year and didn't need any help with going up, knocking, or saying, "Trick-or-treat!" and, "Thank you." Dorothy quickly figured out that people were giving her candy and was eager to get more treats. She was very cute telling people, "Happy 'Ween!" and talking about, "More treats," when we were walking between houses. She also really liked the doggies we saw while we were out, especially the two golden retrievers dressed as bumble bees.

White rabbit (she's is more excited than shows).

Tigger didn't want to wear his hat/mask, so I drew on a nose and whiskers.  I was going to do a black nose, but was informed that Tigger has a pink nose.  It was a costume we picked up for $1 at a neighbor's garage sale.  It's pretty terrible, but he loved it.

Malcolm kept petting Dorothy because she was so soft and fuzzy.  When Kevin put her costume on, she kept saying that it was tickling her.

Choosing candy at the first house.

Waiting for the door to open.

Checking out their loot.

They both got quite the haul and I have already stolen one of Dorothy's Butterfingers.  It's a choking hazard.

Apple Orchard

Last week, Kevin took Friday off and we had a family trip to the apple orchard.  It was a beautiful day and we all had a lot of fun.  First, we hit the play area where the kids climbed up on tractors, pet goats, and we went through the maze.

Malcolm remembered the tractors from last year and was very eager to drive them again.

Dorothy's first time on a tractor.

She really loved the goats.

Dorothy and Kevin coming out of the maze.

After all of that hard play, we had a little cider and doughnut break. Yum! Malcolm preferred the cold, non-spiced, cider, but Dorothy liked both. Both of the kids loved their doughnuts, though Dorothy kept calling hers a cookie.

She wouldn't let us break her doughnut into smaller pieces.  She wanted the whole thing.

Getting the last of the cinnamon sugar.

With full bellies, we headed over to the farm museum. Malcolm and Kevin really enjoyed this part. I would have too, but Dorothy didn't give me much of a chance to really look at all the neat stuff they had. Outside of the museum was a big bell that the kids could ring. Other than picking apples, I think this was Malcolm's favorite part. We had to practically pry him off of the bell.

He was just tall enough to reach the clapper to make it ring.

Dorothy needed a little help to reach.

After buying some doughnuts to take home, and sampling our way through the store, it was time to go into the orchard to pick some apples. This was easily the kids favorite part.

I learned my lesson the hard way the year before when I was stuck out in the orchard with two kids, a stroller, and a basket full of apples.  This year, we brought the wagon.

Dorothy loved picking apples and there were lots down low that she could reach.

Once an apple came free from the tree, she would fall down, holding the apple.

Malcolm was picking apples so fast that I could barely get him to slow down enough for a picture.

He discovered that he was big enough to pick two apples at a time.

Last year, I took a great picture of them sitting with the basket of apples.  This year, this is the best I could do.

I did get a couple of cute individual shots though.

I like it, even if he isn't looking at the camera.  He was tired and not interested in humoring me.

Santa's Village

There is a little kid amusement park by us that had closed a few years ago.  I hadn't realized that it had reopened until some friends invited us to join them, and the kids had a blast.  It isn't a big place, but it was just perfect for preschoolers.  There were a couple of rides that were a little too much for Malcolm, but a more adventurous four year old would have been fine.  Dorothy was too small for some things, but there was still lots for her to do too; which was good, because once she went on her first ride, all I heard was, "Meeeeee tooooooo!  Riiiiide!"

We got there shortly after it opened, but about an hour before our friends planned to be there.  Malcolm's first ride was the hand cars.  He checked out the map (upside down) and pointed out the spot he wanted to go.  It was nice and close to the entrance, but that also meant that there was a bit of a line.  Riders had to be 3 years old, and no adults were allowed, so Dorothy and I watched from outside the fence.

He had to turn the crank to move the car forward.

Going along the tracks.

He then spotted a ride that looked like a train that he wanted to do. It was actually a "convoy" of tuck cabs the kids could pretend to drive that ran around on a track. He climbed into a lower section and Dorothy and I climbed into an upper section. Dorothy immediately grabbed the steering wheel and started driving. Before the ride even started, she declared, "All done!" and tried to stand up and get down. It was a few more seconds before the ride moved and she kept repeating at me, "All done all done all done!" and couldn't understand why I wasn't letting her get down. Once it started moving, she loved it and wanted more when it was over.

Waiting for the ride to start.

Since we were right by the snack area and it was lunch time, we took a little break and I tried to get the kids to eat something. They each ate an apple sauce, drank an apple juice, and had a few bites of a soft pretzel with mustard and were ready to get back to the fun. Even while waiting in the lines, Malcolm kept proclaiming it the best day ever.

By then, our friends had arrived, so we met them over at the race cars where Malcolm and Tim were ready to go. Dorothy was ready to drive too and the attendent said she was big enough, so she got to "drive" her own car without help. I was the one who strapped her in and I did it extra tight just in case she decided to be done before the ride was over. I didn't need to worry, she didn't want to get out.

Going round and round.

After that, the boys wanted to go on the balloon ride, but it went up really high and I was afraid that it might scare Malcolm. There was a giant slide right next to the ride they wanted and when we suggested the slide instead because there was no line, they enthusiastically ran right up. We weren't sure if they would go down because both boys have histories of changing their minds at the top, but both came down with no hesitation, then ran up and did it again. After several turns, they still wanted to go on the balloon ride, but I suggested the airplane one Malcolm had seen earlier because it was similar in style, but didn't go as high.

This slide is the only original ride from when the park opened in 1959.

I don't have any photos of the airplane ride, but our friends might send me some. The boys rode in one plane, and Dorothy and I rode in another (painted like the General Lee) and all the other adults watched and took pictures from the ground. Dorothy loved this one. There was a bar that you could push and pull to make the plane move up and down. The boys went up really high, but I stopped Dorothy and I about half way up. Then she realized that she could do it too and pulled us up as high as it would go.

One of the boys spotted the tilt-a-whirl and wanted to go on it. All of the kids were allowed on the ride, but each had to be accompanied by an adult. I asked for a volunteer and Jeremy said he would go with Malcolm. Dorothy and I got cut off in line and I wasn't going to make everyone wait just for us, so I asked the attendant if 4 people could go on one. We joined Malcolm and Jeremy in the pod and Jeremy and I sat on the outsides with the kids between us. Big mistake. Just as the ride starts up, I realize that how fast your pod spins is based on gravity. With Jeremy and I on the outsides, we built up a fair bit of momentum and were spinning much faster than we had planned. Malcolm was looking pretty worried and said it was going too fast. I put my arm behind Dorothy to keep her head from banging on the back of the pod. Luckily, our ride was pretty short. They stopped the ride for someone else, but we got off too. After that, the boys opted for a more tame ride.

The cars mostly just go in a circle.  They also sway left to right a little, but not much. 

Tim had not been on the convoy, so we headed back for another ride. This time, Dr. Anne rode with Dorothy.

This was just before the attendant said that she needed to be sitting on the seat herself.  For the rest of the ride, we could only see the top of her head.

The boys check things out before they get moving.

Tim is very excited while Malcolm coolly leads the convoy.

Our whole group went on a sleigh ride, then it was time (way past time) to get Dorothy home for a nap. The adults offered to let Malcolm stay with them and he and Tim could have more fun together. After transferring the carseat, Dorothy and I headed home. Evidently, the boys had a great time after I left and went on the hand crank cars about 4 times in a row. There was also a hay maze, a bounce house, and Malcolm went on his first roller-coaster. They asked him who he wanted to go with him and he picked Dr. Anne. Dr. Anne does not like roller-coasters, but she made it through like a real trooper. At some point, the power went out for at least part of the park, so Malcolm got a pass for free admission that is good for a year.

After the park, everyone came back to our place, and we roasted hot dogs over the grill and made s'mores. It was a really long day, but a lot of fun. It is a good thing Malcolm doesn't have school tomorrow, because I bet they will both be sleeping pretty late in the morning.