Halloween!!!!

Halloween seemed to last for days this year.  Nothing wrong with that but it just meant Ty got to wear half of his dress up clothes in public places. :)  First, we headed to the Irvine Zoo with the Jazayeri's for some animal education and treats.  Look at these two peacocks!  Their outfits were a hit, especially since there are peacocks all over the Irvine park. 

When we got there, they were feeding the bears in pumpkins, pretty cool.

And Ty couldn't wait to touch this hissing Madagascar beetle.  Ewww!

And this tarantula!  Who's kid is this?!

Here's a better picture of the four of them, they're so cute! 

The zoo had 5 stations you had to go to and answer an animal question to get a treat.  They also had craft stations set up, such as this one, where the girls made masks.

Piggies!

They've also added a few new sections to the zoo like this area where you measure your arm span next to different bird species.  Tatum's as big as a Red Tailed Hawk. :)

A fun family day with our besties.  I tried to get a picture of the kids with my mom since she was volunteering that day and manning one of the stations, but the photo didn't come out.  She was a witch like Tatum.

Some more animal touch, ewwww. :)

And goat feeding.  This kid isn't afraid of anything.

In the petting zoo area, the little goats were dressed up.  Ty and Tatum loved it!

And Tatum found a witch goat!  What a fun activity and a great way to kick off the Halloween spirit. 

Then it was time for our Halloween party at Grandma's cul-de-sac in San Diego.  Mom lives in a wonderful neighborhood where she's met some pretty friendly, fun people.  She decided to throw a little Halloween party in the yard out in front of her house.  She invited the neighbors and asked that they bring any kids or grand kids to dress up and join us.  We set up tables and chairs and everyone brought some delicious snacks. Lots of fun!

Here's the witch fingers I made.  So fun to make and yummy!

And Mom made these yummy rice krispy pumpkins, cute!

Yet another costume for Ty.  He's a pirate today!

The witches!  Here's Mom with her neighbors Mary and Barb and of course, Tatum.

And some of the kids.  I'm not sure who's under the Darth Vader mask but the cowgirl is Mary's great granddaughter.  These two got along wonderfully and were practically best friends by the end of the party. :)

We set up croquet and ladder golf for the kids to play.

Tatum enjoying one of Grandma's yummy pumpkins.

Ty loved hanging with the boys.

 

And at one point, Tatum got a hold of my camera and took lots of interesting pictures. :)

Here's a flattering photo of me with Barb's son Michael.  Yes, even the parents dressed up. :)

We had a hard time pulling Garrett away from his football game.  He was really getting into character. :)

 

What a fun family!

The day before Halloween was the animal parade at Ty's preschool.  They have strict rules that the kids have to wear an animal costume.  All of Ty's costumes are pirates, firemen, super heros, knights.  No animals.  Thank goodness a friend passed on this dragon costume.  We made sure that fictitious animals still counted as animals and when Ms. Karen said yes, Ty couldn't wait to wear the costume! 

There's a cute hat that goes with it but the costume is for a 2 or 3 year old and Ty's extra tall so we barely could get it over his shoulders and velcroed shut. :)

The kids just love this parade.  They start up at the classrooms and walk out to the parking lot and then back down to the play yard and around the circle.  They feel so special with everyone looking at them and snapping pictures.

My cute little dragon.

Note how high the pants ride up, looks like he's a dragon waiting for a flood. :)

Then Mrs. Friesen got the class together for a photo.  Ty has a few close friends in his class.  Colin, the lion next to him, and Blaine, dressed as Max in the back.  They all get along really well though and Ty even plays with some of the girls, such as Ella, the pink flamingo, and Hannah, the raccoon. :)

I tried to get him to put the hat on but it was really too tight.

My sweet little dragon, I can't believe he's already in the preschool parade!  Time flies, I wish I could slow it down.

Later that afternoon we decided it was time to decorate our pumpkins.  Both kids didn't want to carve them this year so Ty opted to paint his.

He took a lot of time, diligently placing paint and color in just the right places.

And Tatum loves decorating her pumpkin using her princess pieces.

Ta Da!  Perfect pumpkins for Halloween. :)

It's Halloween!  Tatum's school let the kids come dressed up on Halloween and participate in a Halloween parade.  I was told Ty could walk in the parade too so he chose to be a pirate again.

Here's Tatum with her friend Ellie.  These two aren't in class together any more but became fast friends in preschool and enjoy gymnastics and Daisy's together.  So cute!

And here are some of Tatum's classmates.  From the left, there's Chloe, Madeline, Scarlet, Regan, Tatum, Allison and Abigale.  And looks at all the commotion and costume craziness behind them!  This was quite an event.

And here's Tatum's 5th grade buddy.  Each 5th grader takes on a kindergarten buddy.  This is Katie and she's made a bookmark for Tatum, come to Tatum's class and done some crafts with her, had Tatum come to her class to see a big kid's classroom, and then on Halloween, they got to walk together in the parade.  Tatum really enjoys Katie.

And at the end of the parade, the 5th grade buddies got together with Tatum's class for a group photo.

Later that afternoon, some of the volunteers threw a Halloween party for the class.  This was like no other party I remember as a kid. There were helpful parents with funny costumes on,..

there were tables set up with arts and crafts and activities,...

there was a singing witch who called up her fellow witches to help her make a witches brew,...

and each witch added another ingredient to the brew. (Tatum LOVED this!)

Then I was the volunteer for an outdoor activity where the kids had a string hanging from the bottom of a plastic cup and they could pull down on the string and make funny, spooky noises.  Only bad part was a lot of the cups broke so it was hard to keep 5 kids occupied.  But they also each got a bag of the witches brew so that kept them busy. Here's Nina, Katelyn and Grace enjoying some witches brew.

And here's Tatum making an Owl face cookie!

And here's her pumpkin bowling, another outdoor station.  This party had everything!

Before the day ended, Mrs. Kirchmeier read a funny Halloween book.  What a fun day at school!

And then it was time to fly over to the Douds for another party and more fun!

And yes, another costume change for Ty.  This time he chose Batman, and I'd like to point out that he's wearing his Batman underwear on the outside of his sweats, like a true Batman. :)

Then a group shot of all the kids.  Look at how cute they are!  The Douds have three in there, Trevor, Andrew and Addi and the rest are fun friends and neighbors.  We truly have the best neighborhood!

Everyone sat down to enjoy a chili and cornbread bar, delicious.  Here's Colin giving his meanest Angry Bird face. :)

And Tatum with Addi.  Such sweet girls.

Colin's whole family dressed up as Angry Birds, even little Rhys! 

And then it was time for the parade and the introduction of each character.  The kids really love this.  They get to show off their cool costume and then receive a goodie bag.

And here's the amazing Veronika who throws this wonderful party and takes some beautiful pictures. 

Angry Bird Colin!

Tatum the friendly witch!

And Batman!

I love these two!  They really enjoy each other and get along great. 

And Ty really enjoyed his treat bag. :)

Then it was time for some trick-o-treating!

This was the first year I think Ty really understood and kept up with the group.  He LOVES candy so after a few houses he asked if we could go home and eat it now. :)

Tatum's favorite part of the night, more than the trick-o-treating, is passing out candy at our house.  So we walked down a few streets and when we came to our house, we said goodbye to our friends and sat on the porch to hand out candy.

And maybe eat some too. :)

Can you tell how happy he was after dumping his bag out on the floor?!  What a fun night!