The Drake Department of Domestic Development: Halloween 2011

This year was the first time that Mira picked her own costume. She chose an adorable little witch outfit (and I added the striped tights because every good witch has striped tights and also because CUTENESS OVERLOAD). And poor Ellowyn got Mira's hand-me-downs, like always: she wore Mira's old goldfish costume. Someday that girl will have something of her own... I'm just not sure when that will be.

This year the girls made good use of their costumes; we attended FIVE different Halloween events. (It would have been seven if Mira hadn't been camping the weekend prior... yeah, we get around. :-P)

1) Halloween party in the park:
The Tuesday before Halloween, we met a bunch of friends at the park for a Halloween costume party. We painted pumpkins, ate Halloween themed snacks, and played on the playscapes. At one point several of the kids were all sitting together eating lollipops. It was so cute how they were all lined up together. I swear the photo below is completely unstaged! (I didn't bring my camera, but my friend shared with me this photo that she took.)

2) Halloween party at a friend's house:
Saturday evening on Halloween weekend, we went to a big party with a bunch of Mira's friends. One of the moms hosted in her big beautiful backyard. The costumes at this party were awesome. It made me wish that I had dressed up as something, since Brian and I were one of the few not costumed.

Yes, the baby there with Ellowyn is dressed up as french fries. His big brother was a hamburger.

You've heard of mini golf... well here's witchy golf.

Why yes, that is a bouncy house in the background.

3) Hyde Park Fall Festival:
My parents' house backs up to a park owned by Hyde Park Church and every Halloween they throw a big festival there. It's really great for preschoolers: activities, bouncy houses, a train ride, crafts, a puppet show... basically everything a toddler could want in a Halloween celebration. So the Sunday of Halloween weekend, that's what we did.

"Fishing" for candy.

Ball toss.

Bean bag toss.

Everyone's a winner!

Crafts.

Cookie decorating.

Obstacle course

Ellowyn had fun from her comfy seat in the stroller. Plus this sock is delicious. Wanna bite?

4) Fall Fun Fest in Round Rock:
And the Hyde Park Festival was so fun that we figured we'd do it all again the next day. On the morning of Halloween (Monday), the city of Round Rock put on a similar festival in Old Settler's Park. We also ran into quite a few of our friends at this event, so that was fun.

Watching the jugglers.

Bean bag toss. Again. By the end of the festivities this year, she was a pro.

There were some uniformed police officers there with a police car for the kids to look around in.

More crafts.

5) Trick-or-treating:
And of course, Halloween evening we went trick-or-treating in my parents' neighborhood. Last year, Mira was only up for about 4 houses. But this year, she thought trick-or-treating was the best thing since sliced bread. She said "trick-or-treat" at every door and remembered her manners with a "thank you" after receiving candy or compliments on her costume. After every house she'd say "And now let's find ANOTHER house!" I think we probably did about a dozen houses before Ellowyn demanded bedtime.