This is Halloween!

With Virginia at age 3 1/2, we knew Halloween was going to be a blast this year, and we were not disappointed!  We did the usual visit to Moore's Pumpkin Patch in Castro Valley earlier in the month, and also had a great Halloween party and playdate at our house with all of her buddies (which we pretty much forgot to photograph!).  We also visited our friends at Chez Neumansky in the days leading up to Halloween to see their haunted front yard and visit Virginia's friend, Tasha.

Pumpkin Patch Highlights:

The only photo of our "Pumpkin Pizza Playdate" party (the kids kept us too busy!):

The PJ afterparty with Griffin:

Since Alameda has such great spooky Halloween decorations, we invited Mimi and Papa to come for the holiday this year.  We carved pumpkins with Papa and were silly with Mimi all week long.

Virginia had very firm ideas about her Halloween costume this year (a butterfly), and all of Thomas's convincing and cajoling would not budge her off of it.  So, a butterfly it was!  Most of the butterfly costumes on the market were inappropriately trashy, so we made our own with a pair of wings, an orange fluffy skirt, a black leotard, and face paint.

Halloween itself was a rainy day, but we made the most of it trick-or-treating with Virginia's playgroup buddies, Xander and Isabel, all around the Gold Coast.  Virginia got a lot of loot and lots of compliments on her cute costume.

Tron, Tinkerbell, and Butterfly:

Ready to get some candy!:

Virginia and Tasha (aka Butterfly Fairy Pirate Princess):

Spooky Gold Coast decorations:

Assessing her loot with Mimi, clearly after having way too much candy!

Happy Halloween

Oompa loompa, doopity doo, I've got another costume for you!

I'm happy to report that Virginia thoroughly enjoyed her third Halloween.  This was probably the last year that we could select a costume for her, and Thomas went all out with his selection of the original Oompa Loompa.  He seriously considered having the costume made by someone on Etsy and paying the big bucks for it, but I luckily found a ready-made one on HalloweenCostumes.com this year.

We began the day with a trip to daddy's work to attend the "Horrorick Scarington" Halloween party.  Virginia happily decorated cookies and paraded around in her costume.  We then made a cameo appearance at GayGay's office, where Virginia put on a show for Susan's coworkers.  Then it was off to a chaotic Wee Play Halloween party with Kim, followed by a 2 1/2 hour nap so that she could rest up for the big night.

Trick or treating started early - about 5:15 for the toddlers.  Virginia was a little hesitant and wanted help in ringing doorbells and approaching new people.  But once she learned that there was candy involved, she came out of her shell a bit, saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" to everyone she saw.  We ran into a lot of her buddies while trick or treating, and she had a blast.  She also loved answering the door later in the night when we came home to hand out candy.

Here are a few of the best photos from the night!

First candy of the night with dada (a reward for wearing the green wig for the photo opp):

Best buddy Tasha at Chez Neumansky's Haunted Pumpkin Patch:

With playgroup pal Xander (aka Buzz Lightyear):

The Wallace girls from across the street (future babysitters!):

Oktober & October

Fall is here in California!  We started the month of October off right, by celebrating Oktoberfest at our favorite local German restaurant, Speisekammer.  Thomas and I enjoyed our German beer, and Virginia wore herself out at the jumpy house.

Virginia is getting very excited about Halloween this month.  She is finally at the stage where she fully understands holidays - the goodies, the decorations, and the rituals.  And Halloween is a BIG DEAL in Alameda.  The many old Victorian houses really lend themselves to creating a spooky atmosphere and the residents of them decorate them right.  To see a glimpse of some of the better Halloween decorations on the  island, check out our friends, the Neumansky family, and the Alameda Haunt Your House contest.

We made the trip last weekend to Moore's Pumpkin Patch out in Castro Valley.  Virginia's bud, Johnstone, came along and we rode teacups and enjoyed more bouncy house fun.  Very few pumpkins were purchased, but at least we wore the kiddos out for the morning.

Stay tuned for more spooky updates in the coming days...

Halloween

Halloween in Alameda is awesome. An island of victorian houses, it automatically is two steps ahead of the rest of the area in getting spooky. Our neighborhood is well known for getting dressed up for the holiday, and we had been advised that we should be prepared for a crowd of trick or treaters.

Virginia, our little pirate wench, made the most of it. She did do a little trick or treating on our street, heading to the houses of a few neighbors. But for her, the highlight was actually staying at our house with us and passing out candy to visitors. I would estimate that we had over 400 trick or treaters that night. She camped out at the doorway -- which was rarely closed during the height -- and then dutifully transferred candy from our cauldron to everyone's bags. It was for her an operation in logistics, and she approached the work with the utmost seriousness.

Picking Pumpkins at the Patch

Virginia decided it was time to get into the Halloween spirit and took us with her on her first visit to a pumpkin patch this week. She invited her friend Natasha along to maximize baby cuteness. Plus, Natasha's parents are real Halloween experts. Natasha's dad Dan was unfortunately under the weather, so her mom Irene came along alone.

The girls loved running among the pumpkins and even shared a pony ride. Virginia also took a ride on the train -- which she loved until it stopped. We were then treated with a full blown terrible twos tantrum, which is still kind of amusing to us because Virginia is just starting the process. I'm sure once she's had 100s of such tantrums, we won't find them as amusing. She made a speedy recovery, purchased some pumpkins and went on her way.