Halloween: In Pictures

Better late than never, right?

Carving pumpkins. Sarah and I are in charge of "directing the operation"... which means that we don't get dirty!

Katie

My two Harry Potters...Katie (left) and Bethie before school

Bethie, Sarah, and Katie. They wanted to stand in front of the decorations. I wanted them to stand in front of the lovely Burning Bush. Turns out the desire to go and beg the neighbours for candies far out weighed their aversion to the Burning Bush.

Dan, his parents, and the children. My parents and I were the ones on the sidelines, not in costumes, and shocked at the extent that Dan and his family would go to make Halloween magical!

Sarah became too tired to walk so she hitched a ride with a neighbourhood child.

Sarah and her grandmother looking at the "graveyard" that was in my front yard.

Dan's parents brought to our house a massive amount of life-like decorations that wowed the neighbourhood. My children were thrilled.  As I tucked them into bed, they told me "This was the best Halloween ever!".

I am now very worried about how I am supposed to top this next year...

Walking

Dan and I took the children for a walk around Mud Lake on Thanksgiving weekend.
The twinnies saw this sign:

They then informed me that dogs were not allowed to bicycle on the path...and then they skipped away. Because banning dogs from bicycling through the woods made sense to them. I would like us all to rally together and fight this ban. Because if there were bicycling dogs, I think they should be entitled to bicycle wherever they like!

I swear, the twinnies just naturally pose this. It cracks me up!

Sarah had no desire to stop for photos. Poor little girl, she's going to have a rough life if she doesn't accept that I demand frequent photos of my children. And they must be smiling.

Awwwwww.

Why do both Dan and Sarah react to me taking their picture as though I am the paparazzi? You'd think that they would be used to it by now!

Oh my God, I love autumn!!!

Why walk when you can dance?

Bethie couldn't help herself, she had to join in!

Katie is a budding photographer. I tried to warn her that Sarah is not the most willing subject, but she wouldn't listen to me.

The walk went well...LOUD...but well.

The Pumpkin Patch

To add complications to my life, I insisted that Dan and I take the children to the pumpkin patch...a couple of hours before we were expecting people for Thanksgiving dinner. Keep in mind that the turkey was not in the oven, I was supposed to be at home waiting to have my dishwasher installed, and I hadn't bought all the groceries I would need for the party. The children were eager. Dan was less than thrilled. But I need his brawn.

So off we went.

The twinnies pose for a photo.

Would it kill them to give me one nice group shot????

I told Bethie that each child had to carry their own pumpkin...

...Katie found one that was easier to manage.

(As it turns out, Dan and I each carried the massive pumpkins chosen by the twinnies, and Katie carried the little pumpkin that Sarah chose).

The twinnies didn't want to sit with me on the way back to the car. I was annoyed, but they felt rather "grown up".

When we returned to the car with the pumpkins, the children announced that they were dying of thirst and may possibly even die from starvation. I told them that we were 5 minutes from home and I would nourish them promptly. That's when I was informed that I was an inadequate mother, and that all they really needed was some pumpkin pie, sold conveniently at the gift shop. Ummm, no.

When we got home, the children placed their pumpkins on the porch and admired them...for 30 seconds. Then they announced that they needed more pumpkins, but not to worry, the ones from the grocery store would do.

Sigh.

Mr. Cool And The Cow Train

When I first met Dan, I thought he was "cool". That lasted for about 2 days. I have spent the last 15 years laughing at Dan for his complete lack of coolness. And yet, there has been no improvement. So the laughter continues...

Dan and I took the children apple picking. And that's when it happened. Dan saw the "Cow Train" and simply couldn't resist a ride!

Some children, Dan, and Katie waiting for a ride on the Cow Train. Please note, Dan is the only adult going for a ride.

Katie is very excited.

Dan is...not as excited.

Bethie (left) and Katie use this waiting time to get in a couple of photographs.

Dan just waits. And waits. And waits. The children look around, and climb in and out of the Cow Train. And do things that children do. You know, the types of things that drive Dan crazy.

As the wait time increases, Dan's patience decreases...

"LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

 And off they went. Dan had so much fun, he rode the Cow Train again!

The man cracks me up!!!!!!!

Fairies and Lanterns

In August, Mum and I took the children to a lantern making workshop. We thought it would be fun. It was. It was also very hot!

Sarah took great care in decorating her lantern. She really enjoyed herself.

Bethie enjoyed having Granny help her.

Katie initially enjoyed making her own lantern. Then she delegated the rest. Sigh.

On August 20th, Dan and I took the children downtown to the Lumiere Festival. It was fun. The girls really like everyone commenting on how cute they looked.

Katie, Sarah, and Bethie all dressed up and ready for the Lumiere Festival.

Katie was a bit disappointed. She had envisioned everyone dressing up as fairies and then parading through the streets with lanterns in hand. When she realised that she wouldn't be a star of the parade (and that there wouldn't be a parade at all!), she was inconsolable. I felt badly.

At one point, massive lanterns were sent off into the night sky. There were huge crowds around them, and the children couldn't get too close. After the last lantern had been set off, the crowds dispersed. Dan and I sat down and gave the children some juice. After about 5 minutes, another lantern was produced. My children got an excellent view of the entire operation. In fact, we kept having to tell them to take a step back!

This lantern, we told the twins, was especially for them. They had to make a Birthday Wish, and the lantern would carry their wish into the sky. This pleased them to no end!



When we were leaving, the International Fireworks Festival was just beginning. It was perfect timing! I left Dan and the children on the side of the road to watch the fireworks while I went to find the car. By the time I returned, the children were begging for bed. YAY! We'll definitely go again next year.

Splatter Party

I decided to have a Splatter Party for the twins 6th birthday. I booked the party for the day before their actual birthday. Because their birthday fell on a Monday. Because it's easier to have a party on the weekend. Because it was no big deal.

Wrong!

The twins were rather insistent that they have their party on their birthday, not the day before. So, I lied to them. I told them that their birthday was on the Sunday and that everyone else was confused about the date. They bought it. Thank God.

Anyway, they had a lovely time with their friends, covering canvases (and themselves!) in paint.



The children had to fling the paint on to their canvases.



It was a very messy procedure.

Everyone was covered in paint.

Only one person cared.

OK, two people cared...but Katie was "painted" intentionally by a little darling she had invited to the party.

Bethie is soooo animated. Sarah kept going to the basin to wash her hands, but she always came back for more fun.

These balloons were filled with paint, and the children had to pop them over the canvases.

Blowing out the candles on the Splatter Cake.

All the children gasped when they saw all the colours inside the cake. It totally made all the work worth it!

Everyone had a great time!

Treats

When I was a child, my mother used to take my brothers and I to the bakery every once in a while, and let us pick a treat for ourselves. I thought this was great. However, it's something that I never, ever do with my children. Probably because they have soooo many "treats" that it would be more accurate to refer to them as "staples".

The other day, we took them to The Cake Shop, and let them pick out their own treats.

Bethie chose a fish cookie

Sarah chose a cookie of some sort, I don't know what it was...but it was colourful and that was all that mattered to her.

Katie chose a "Catherine and William" cookie...because the name of the new duchess is actually Catherine Elizabeth, which THRILLS the twinnies.

Pretty fancy, eh? Unfortunately, it was made from gingerbread. Katie doesn't like gingerbread. I, however, just LOVE gingerbread so it didn't go to waste (but don't tell Katie!)

Bethie also made me buy 6 cupcakes for $14. They were Harry Potter themed. Not that special though, especially for that price!

Sarah and Bethie wanted another run through The Cake Shop.

All in all, it was a successful trip to the bakery. However, it was expensive, and I won't make the trip out there again. I'll stick to the free cookie at Loblaws. I'm fancy like that.

Enid Blyton's Lives!

As I mentioned earlier, Dan had failed me by purchasing the wrong hats for the children. Mum came through...

My grandmother would have loved this!

 

And the obligatory shot of them dancing.

Sarah started to lose interest in the hat. Apparently, she does not accessorize for my amusement. 

After Mum and I took these photos, we wanted to see what the hats would look like with the sea as a backdrop. The sea is a bit far away. We settled for the Ottawa River.

And let me tell you, the hats looked GORGEOUS!

See!?!

The group shot.

And Sarah's hat?

Heaved onto the beach.

Sigh. Two out of three ain't bad.