Grandma and Grandpa Came AND Trick or Treating!

Brandon's parents came to town at the very end of October.  It was a very fun time to have family in town.  They were able to carve pumpkins (see previous post) with us as well as trick or treat!  Such fun!  

They arrived on a Friday afternoon.  M was at school and T was napping.  They made such great time that I was able to go for a short walk while they stayed at home with a sleeping T.  As usual, their visit was a surprise.  M was VERY excited to see their van in the driveway and to see them sitting on the steps when he got off the bus!   He was thrilled to go through his back pack with them and tell them all about Kindergarten.  He even got some wrestling in before T woke up. T was very excited to see the surprise guests as well!

M: I can't believe you are here!!!!

M: I love you Grandpa Tom!

M: I am so glad you are here Grandma Judy!

M: This is a little book that teaches us our sight words. 

M: We sound out words and guess how to spell them. 

M: I've got you Grandpa Tom.  

M: I think I am falling off. 

T: AHHHHHH!!!!  You are really here!  I knew you would be here!!!! (She loves to say that when she is surprised)

T: I love you Grandma Judy.  You give great hugs. 

Brandon's mom made some tasty soup for dinner.  What a great gift it is that she preps and brings a meal for us!  After dinner clean up we carved pumpkins.  It was a good night.

Saturday morning we woke up to rain.  We were quite bummed as our community does a festival for kids downtown each year and it would be very wet this year.  The kids were SO EXCITED to put on their costumes.  Thanks to Amazon and hours of decision making, the kids got just the costumes they wanted!

T: I l REALLY look like a princess!

M: I am officer M.  I am going to direct traffic. 

I can see so much of their personalities in this one!

T: I sure love my best big brother!

T: I am going to get you M!

M: Even the back of the uniform looks real! 

They were ready early so we had to do some library book reading and some Christmas shopping via book orders as well.

Sweet reading time. 

T: I want every book about princesses.  I don't want any other  books. 

We decided to brave the elements and give it a try.  Our dear friends joined us.  We were quite a crew of strollers and an Ergo and umbrellas and costumes.  We didn't do any of the festival activities, but they sent us home with a pumpkin to carve.  Since we had already done that I decided to cook the pumpkin so we have homemade pumpkin meat in our freezer for casseroles or baking.   Even without the festival, we did trick or treat at the local businesses.  It is a great way to get people into stores and a great and safe way for families to trick or treat.  It is a lovely idea.  Sadly, as lovely as it was, it was still very wet and cold.  The kids looked adorable in their costumes and the workers were complimentary and generous with the candy.

Making our way downtown. 

S is leading the way! 

It is a great thing we had a police officer with us to help us cross the street!

The kids got A LOT of candy.  Wow!  I am thankful a large percentage of it was chocolate so they were not able to eat it.  Being allergic to dairy pays off for parents on Halloween.  Our kids consume less candy and Daddy scores all the chocolate.  This year he had to share with his parents.  Luckily he is great at sharing.

T's stash... on the floor... in a pile!

M's stash... on the table...sorted perfectly! 

After trick or treating we came home to warm up and eat CANDY!  I immediately put the pumpkin seeds in the oven so that protein would be on the way.  I also popped a big batch of popcorn to balance out the sugar.  Tom and Judy bought some cider at the festival so our house smelled like fall amazingness.   We played cards and other games inside while we ate.

T: I have a great card to put down.

T: Look at this one Grandpa Tom!

Every once in a while I get a short lived cuddle.  I think she might be trying to get away!

T: Grandma taught me some clapping games.  They were really fun and hard work too. 

After lunch T went down for a nap and Grandpa Tom and M went to the Y to swim.  They were gone for SEVERAL hours.  They didn't get back until dinnertime.  I has the crock pot going and was trying to figure out if the kids would want to do actual trick or treating.  Thankfully they chose not to.  It was cold and wet out.  We had ten kids come to our door and the kids enjoyed seeing them.

The kids' school was doing a "Trick or Treat for UNICEF" thing so we got a bunch of change and had them walk around the basement collecting change from the adults.  They enjoyed this and I felt much better about them getting money from family than about them asking neighbors for money on trick or treating night.

Sunday morning was filled with church and Sunday School.  During T's afternoon nap M and Grandpa Tom headed back to the Y for more swimming.  We went out to eat on Sunday night.  The kids had school on Monday so after waving to each of the buses, Tom and Judy headed home as well.  Grandpa Tom was able to help T eat breakfast and take the items off her chart!

T: Please say "Busy Bee" Grandpa Tom! 

T:  Thank you for helping me with my breakfast!  

It was a great weekend together.  A lot of candy was consumed.  It was good to have the extra adults here and good for M to get extra energy out at the pool!   We are blessed with an incredible family!