Halloween Activites - Trick-or-treating

We did our trick-or-treating Saturday night in Orlando.  Downtown Disney (which is shops and restaurants) had free trick-or-treating.  DD is a neat place to go and wander around anyway and there are some really neat stores so it was fun to go trick-or-treating there (we were in Orlando for the weekend already).  We were only there for about an hour and a half since we had the 2 hour drive home and we didn't want to get home terribly late.

Walking up to our first candy "station".

Kaelyn - so happy to be Jessie again.  :-)

TRICK-OR-TREAT! ...And remember to say "Thank-you" :-)

She isn't particularly concerned with getting lots of candy.  We usually never eat much of it.  She looked in her bucket at one point and said, "Four lollipops?!!"  like that was just so silly to have that many.

We actually only stood in line and got candy from 5 or 6 places out of 20.  Kaelyn would have happily stopped at one.  She mainly just enjoyed walking around dressed up.

Halloween decor at Downtown Disney.  (Notice the lollipop in her mouth)

I told her to grin and she said, "I'm eating my lollipop" as if I had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world.  Everyone knows you can't eat a lollipop and grin for pictures very well at the same time!!!

This makes me laugh because I imagine someday she will hate this and I will be so thrilled to have a picture like this.  Double click it to see why.  I don't know WHAT that expression was.  I think it was just the way she had her mouth open ready to put the lollipop back in her mouth.

This is outside the Disney Christmas shop, which is one of our favorite places to wander around in.

A sunset shot over the water at Downtown Disney.  The paddle boat you see in the foreground is actually a restaurant, "Fulton's Crabhouse".

And the sky glows a little more as the sun goes down further.

They had a DJ on the stage out by the water.  He was playing music and doing dance activites with the kids.  Kaelyn was dancing and this little boy dressed up as Woody saw her and wandered closer and closer to her.  I am certain he was fascinated since he was Woody and she was dressed as Jessie.

Some little girls befriended Kaelyn and they were all dancing/playing together.  As you can see, the one was a scarecrow (I'm guessing from the Wizard of Oz) and the other was a cowgirl.

For whatever reason, this girl decided she wanted to play with Kaelyn so Kaelyn just went right along with it.

Halloween Activites - Pumpkin Carving and K's Halloween "parade"

This past week we carved a pumpkin.  We had gotten one a couple weeks ago when we went to the pumpkin patch.  Kaelyn has been begging me to "carve the biggest pumpkin" ever since then.  She has a book (a beginning reader book that I got her) that she can mostly read by herself that is about the princesses and Halloween.  One of the princesses "carved the biggest pumpkin" in the book so that is why she was so interested in it and that's the way she asked every time.  Actually, pretty much the way it worked was that Mom sat out in the kitchen one afternoon/evening and carved the pumpkin by herself.  Work has been crazy for Kevin lately and he has put in several late evenings.  Kaelyn doesn't exactly know much about pumpkin carving.  She did come out once I was a good ways along and she wanted to help so she got to try it for a bit and we got a few good pictures with her.  This was only the second time in my whole life that I've carved a pumpkin so I really wasn't happy with the way it turned out because I messed it up but we could still tell what it was supposed to be so I guess it was acceptable.

I wasn't willing to turn her loose on it by herself.  Her fine motor skills are not that great so I can only imagine what might happen if it were just her, the pumpkin, and a little saw.

Kaelyn's class carved pumpkins at school on Wednesday.  I'm not sure what all that consisted of or how that worked out but I think her teacher is pretty brave to do pumpkin carving with 9 or 10 ESE Kindergartners!  :-)

I sincerely hope that I don't need to say this but just in case: it's Winnie the pooh.

Thursday, all the Kindergarten classes at Kaelyn's school got to take their Halloween costumes to school  for the [Kindergarten] Halloween "parade".  They all dressed up and then each class walked all the way around the courtyard in the center of the school.  A lot of the parents were there and some of the older kids (classes) came out and watched them walk around.  It was pretty cute.  When Kaelyn's class came out and she first saw me she was waving and yelling, "It's my mom!  Hi Mom!  Look!  I'm in the Halloween parade!"  It cracked me up.  She was so excited to be in the "parade" and she was so excited that I was there watching her!  :-D

There are only 9 or 10 in her class but the regular Kindergarten classes were bigger so there were quite a few of them walking around.

My camera lens kept fogging up at first despite my best efforts to keep it wiped off.

And... she spots me!  :-)

She was waving at me here - and look at that proud grin on her face (she's never been IN a parade before).  :-)

And a wave over her shoulder after she passes me.  Actually, since we were all in the center, most of the parents stood over by the sidewalk where all the kids came out and then we walked across the courtyard to the other side and stood where they would pass right by us again.

A quick picture of the two of us before I left after K's class got back to their classroom.

Life the last few days

Just the snapshots from our camera over the last few days:

This "mat" is actually a dance mat from a princess dance DVD.  However, ever since Kaelyn first got it, it has been a magic carpet to her.  When she first got it for her birthday almost a year and a half ago, Rachel and then Kevin "flew" her all around on it to the song from "Aladdin" where Jasmine and Aladdine fly on the magic carpet.  She just came across it in her toy basket the other day and decided her [beloved] monkeys (and tiger) should go for a ride on the magic carpet.

Kaelyn was sitting on her bed reading last night shortly before it was time to get a bath and go to bed.  Buster had been running around chasing her a bit earlier in the evening and he was very tired out!  I went in Kay's bedroom to take care of some laundry and found them like this.  Buster actually seemed to find her reading relaxing.  Maybe that was not the case but he layed right down close to her and soon started falling asleep.  :-)

I guess this is why Kevin and I put up with him even though neither of us are big animal lovers.  He really has been a great buddy to her though sometimes they annoy each other and Kaelyn gets scratched and growled at or Buster ends up in his cage 'cause she decides that's where he needs to be.  :-)

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend, we took Kaelyn to a pumpkin patch - Florida style of course.  There are a ton of photos here so without further adieu, Pumpkin Patch 2010:

Her "guns" pose.

Maybe I will try to post comparison pictures later on from each year that we've gone.