Halloween 2021

So just like almost every other year I definitely felt like we didn't do as much as I had hoped for Halloween this year, but with constant colds, my New York Trip, and just being pregnant it was a recipe for a lazy year. However, I still made the most of it so here's what we actually got to do this time around:

Sept 11th: costume shopping - this is a big part of Halloween, of course, but picking out costumes is so fun. Initially we didn't think we'd have a Spirit store open near us so we were just going to look online and have the girls pick from the options there, but then I saw our store nearby did open so we went and let them look around. Larry and I always do a theme so we went with Paw Patrol (since the girls love it), he chose Mayor Humdinger, I will be Chickaletta, which we found both online at a good price. Gwen ended up going with our theme opting for a Skye costume, but Cara picked something that is just so Cara - the hulk! With Lucy we figured we'd recycle the old Lion one Gwen wore when was almost 1 (she's so much bigger than Cara or Lucy is at that age), but when we tried it on it was a little too small so we're doing Gwen's dog costume from last year (see Trick or Treating portion below for pic).

16th: Cornbelly's - we had a discount coupon for Cornbelly's and even though Cara was still fighting an ear infection, she had been on antibiotics for a couple days and everyone said they were feeling good enough to get out of the house so we ventured to Cornbelly's. We were able to take the girls on some rides, let them play on some playgrounds (They have multiple ones there), go through a gravity house, and even do a bit of the corn maze (The girls got sick of that kind of quickly and so we left at that point to go out to dinner). Even though we didn't do nearly as much as you could've done, we still had a few hours of fun for the day :)

25th: pumpkin carving - we didn't really do a pumpkin patch this year (Cornbelly's had pumpkins for grabs, but we didn't get them there), so we just grabbed some large ones from Costco. I love the ones there since they are large and not expensive. Monday night we had the girls pick out their favorite designs from a book we got. Normally the girls want nothing to do with pumpkin guts, but it's my favorite part haha. This year, however, Cara loved pulling out the guts. She thought the slimy-ness of it was so cool. After carving was done we found some candles to light them up and marveled at the work. I love pumpkin carving night most of all haha.

27th: decoration drive - I had seen some houses in our neighborhood and in the one  across the street so I figured a drive around both to look at decorations when it started to get dark would be so much fun! Turns out between the two 'hoods there were really only a couple hand full of houses that actually had any decent decorations (although many with a huge spider web...makes me wonder who had the deal on those haha). I was bummed we didn't get to see as many as I had hoped, but the girls had a lot of fun - though that may have been mostly because they got to be in the car unbuckled so that was just the fun part for them haha. 

30th and 31st: Trick or Treating - in Utah it's a big deal if Halloween ends up on a Sunday and there's this whole "should we go out Saturday or Sunday" debate. I was all for going out either night, figuring we'd just play it by ear. Well then Tori mentioned having an overnight and having Lilly and the girls go out on Saturday so I figured why not? I know I'd love to go both nights so that's what we did. Saturday night we went one direction from our house and went until the girls were done walking and man were there SO many people out. We didn't go all out with our costumes (mostly because we started late since we had Lilly's birthday party until around 7 that night), but still neighbors got the gyst of it (and seemed to go crazy for Gwen's costume). Then Sunday we all got dressed up and did the face paint and the whole shebang; then we went out, much earlier, and started in the other direction from our house and I went until the girls were tired again. It didn't feel like as many people were out and not as many houses were lit up, but it was Halloween, dang it, and my girls were going to have fun. Overall, I didn't go all out like normal, but we had a TON of fun and it was the Halloween I had always dreamed of. I'm so glad this is (or should be) my last Halloween pregnant and I'm so excited at the idea of taking all my kids out next year (if not then, then the following year). My girls have been so excited to get all the candy they got (and boy did they score big) and it was so cute hearing "I said trick or treat and they gave me candy" or "look a candy bowl on the porch" comments. Everyone loved their costumes, although Lucy wanted nothing to do with any costume haha. 

And now Halloween is over and the girls are down and we can get excited for Gwen's birthday and Thanksgiving and I'm so so excited for the other holidays and to get my Christmas shopping started.