Halloween Festivities

Colin and I kicked off our Halloween festivities by creating a special care package for Aunt Jen.  She was so excited when she received the box that she created this collage to show all her loot.

For the record, Colin did indeed color the pumpkin all by himself.  Way to go little buddy!

 

We visited the pumpkin patch with some of Mommy and Colin's friends. Colin had just woken up from a nap and was apparently still half asleep...He wasn't too interested in all of the fun activities.

 

Checking out the goat.

On the hayride with Mommy!  Turns out he wasn't too wild about it.

Colin just wanted to chill in his stroller so Mommy had to pick the pumpkin out alone.

Looks like Colin approved

We were so happy to have Mimi and Pappy visit us in mid October to take part in some Halloween activities.  Colin loved having Pappy at the house the last time and warmed up to him right away.  He was so into Pappy that when he would walk into a different room Colin would start crying. He is craving some male attention (poor Mimi wondered if she was chopped liver). A few times a day Colin would grab a book and toddle over to Pappy so he could read to him.  It was beyond adorable.

Note: I have tried to read this particular book to Colin a several of times and not once have I even made it half way through without him stopping me.  Pappy, of course, made it to the last page.

Colin is the man of the house.  "Don't worry Mimi, I've got the lawn, you just rest."

Mimi and Pappy visited the Air Force Base for the first time and joined us for the Squadron's Halloween Chili Cook-off.

Colin got to wear his giraffe costume for the first time.

He was totally excited to wear his outfit and as soon as it was on he was on the run.

Can't get over that adorable bottom.

Mommy and my little giraffe.

Such a trooper!  He kept his hood on for a good portion of our time.  I think he's going to like playing dress up.

Colin's eyes quickly narrowed in on the bounce house and he couldn't get in fast enough.

Wahoo!

All that bouncing sure did tire our little man out...

Trying to hang in there for a photo with Mimi and Pappy.

 I knew trying to carve a pumpkin by myself with Colin AND try to get photos would have been virtually impossible.  I was so thankful to have Pappy take over the project for me.

Pappy drawing his Jack-O-Lantern.  The same design his father did as a kid (two teeth on top and one on the bottom).

"Looks good Pappy!"

"So what am I supposed to do with this thing?"

"Hey Mom, give that back...I've got this."

Colin seemed very concerned and uneasy.  He just did not think he could do the job with one spoon and one bowl.  He kept going over to the cabinet until we opened it and let him decide what he needed.

Apparently another bowl was needed to do the job.

Colin was determined to figure out how to pour out all of the pumpkin guts into the bowl.  He was pretty adamant that there had to be an easier way than scooping it out with a spoon (or even worse, your hand!).

Turns out there isn't an easier way...

It took little time before our chef was cooking up some pumpkin seeds in his kitchen.

Time to carve the pumpkin!

All that work made Colin hungry for a snack.

Not so sure what he thinks about the jack-o-lantern....

Yep, definitely not a fan...

It's not that scarey, right?

We continued our festivities a few days before Halloween at a Trunk-or-Treat at the Navel Base where Colin was less than impressed. 

"Mom, I'm really not a fan of this trick-or-treating stuff."

Cutest giraffe ever.

Finally, the big night...Halloween!  We had a quiet night at home with several trick-or-treators. 

Colin dressed in his dinosaur sweatshirt to greet the trick-or-treators.  I tried to teach him to "ROOAARRR" when he answered the door but he didn't bite.

In fact, he wasn't even sure he wanted to answer the door at all.  He anxiously stared at the door waiting for the doorbell to go off again unsure whether to get excited or run away.

I gave Colin a piece of candy each time to hand out.  I think he only actually handed out about five pieces the whole night.  Considering no one ever rings our doorbell and we rarely have visitors Colin was totally confused.  Lilly, on the other hand, is a Halloween pro and is totally in love with this holiday.  I swear it is Lilly's favorite day of the year.  She eats up all of the attention.

Patiently waiting for the next round of kids....No Halloween costume this year for Lilly.  I couldn't decide which outfit I wanted to get so I ended up with nothing.

What a fun time we had celebrating Halloween/Fall this year!  We've missed Daddy for Halloween the past three years and are hopeful we'll have him home with us next year.