Pumpkin Patch + Halloween 2014

Halloween snuck up on me this year.

October was a busy month...it didn't even feel like October the first 2 weeks of the month because of our 90 degree heat wave that lasted over 10 days. Then, we escaped to Lake Tahoe for a weekend away.....then it was Grammy's 103rd Birthday. 

Scattered in there was Conference Week and of course going to the World Series!

October was a blur because our lives were scheduled around the Giants games.

I am not even kidding....we had the Divisional Series, National League Championships & World Series that the Giants played in and we watched every single game live...sometimes with friends, neighbors or just the 5 of us...we adjusted our schedules so that we could watch the games. 

Pathetic or Dedicated? I'll let you decide :)

We won the World Series on October 29th and then the next thing I knew, it was October 30th and we hadn't even gone to the Pumpkin Patch yet.

Every year since Kate was a baby, we have gone to the same Pumpkin Patch. It is a 30 minute drive from our house (with no traffic) and in the "country". On the afternoon of the 30th, Luke didn't wake up from his nap until almost 4, so there was no way we were going to that Pumpkin Patch.

So, I decided to suck it up & go the "Pumpkin" Patch a few miles from our house.

  I use the term "Pumpkin" Patch loosely.

It was basically an empty lot with a bunch of pumpkins & hay bales.

  There are also bunch of bounce houses surrounding the pumpkins. So random.

 The kids were in heaven even though I felt like a mom fail for taking them to this "Pumpkin" Patch at 5:30 on Halloween Eve. 

Bounce Houses & Big Slides...what's not to love?

There were also sheep next to the Pumpkin Patch, although Luke thought they were dogs & kept shouting out "Bo Bo"...our dog's name.

I had visions of getting adorable photos of my kids at the pumpkin patch, but yeah...that didn't happen. Luke is on the GO....he won't sit still...ever.  I tried to sit him down on a hay bale, but he kept running away toward the bounce houses yelling "Jump!!!"

At leasat got some pictures of beautiful pumpkins:

 So, there you have it...Pumpkin Patch 2014 at 5:30 on Halloween Eve. No pictures of my kids with pumpkins. FAIL. But, at least there were pretty twinkle lights.

 After the Pumpkin Patch we headed home for our annual Pumpkin Carving Night.

We carve our Pumpkins on October 30th & watch Charlie Brown & the Great Pumpkin.

 Sidenote: When we were getting the newpapers laid out to cover the kitchen table, we saved the Sports section since it was all about the Giants winning the World Series. Kate saw the Sports section and said to us "Hey Mom & Dad..the Giants are FAMOUS! They are in the newspaper" So funny.

 Kevin is the master pumpkin carver, my role is to make the Pumpkin Seeds.

How weird is this seed that was in one of the pumpkins?

My Pumpkin Seed Recipe is {HERE}

 We always let the girls design their own pumpkins. 

Here is Claire's design & carving:

 Kate's:

 The Pumpkins lit up {Kevin's is on the left}

 We didn't have school on Halloween...it was Teacher Work Day and I had meetings until noon. The Giants World Series Parade was on TV, so we watched that for a bit.

 And...it RAINED on Halloween!!! We are in a drought and of course the one day it rains is on Halloween....when we don't want it to rain because of Trick or Treating. #ironic

My girls were sooooooo excited about Halloween this year because they have had their costumes picked out since July. Yes, of course they picked a Frozen theme (like half the little girls in America!)

I knew that Anna & Elsa costumes would sell out fast, so when they told me this summer what they wanted to be, I bought their dresses. 

We have done a "theme" for Halloween costumes every single year of their lives, but I really thought last year would be the last year of the theme. But, this idea was ALL Claire's! And, Kate was thrilled with being Anna, since she loves her, so we had another theme Halloween. I am sure this is the last year for that!
And because Luke is only 2, he didn't get a say in his Halloween costume because his older sisters decided for him....he was Olaf, of course!

 As you can tell, Luke was thrilled to be Olaf. Hahaha.

He was not a fan of the Olaf hat. He wanted it off.

And, he wouldn't sit still for the photo....Luke is always on the go.

The only way I could get Luke to sit still is to give him a lolipop.

 For the past 3 years, we have had a few families over before Trick or Treating for dinner & drinks.

It is one of my favorite Halloween traditions! 

Because it had rained all day and was wet in our yard, we had the party inside. 

(I was just happy the rain cleared up so we didn't have to trick or treat in the rain!)

Here is some of the food that we had at the party:

I normally do a "dessert" table....but since it was Halloween and the kids were going to be getting a ton of candy, I decided to scale down the sweets at the party. I know...shocker! 

 I had pumpkin seeds. Recipe {HERE}

Pumpkin Dip with Gingersnaps. Recipe {HERE}

 And some candy corn :)

 Here was the dinner....quick easy & lots of bite sized goodies.

Turkey Meatballs....I really need to blog these. SO good!

 Kate's favorite...Mummy Dogs

 Bagel Bites:

The best dip ever...Recipe {HERE}

And, of course...drinks!

I also give each of the kids who comes a glow stick necklace to use while trick or treating :)

It was such a fun year trick or treating. It was Luke's first real time going since for the past 2 years he has been in a stroller.

2 houses in our neighborhood always give out drinks for the adults. Hot Toddies & Spiked Apple Cider. Love it! And, I love my dear friends who we trick or treat with every year! I love that their girls and my girls are such good friends.

 We finished trick or treating and our court was having a bon fire.

 I love our neighbors :)

 Of course we brought out the spotlights and played Corn Hole!

 The girls favorite part of Halloween...sorting their candy :)

It was a fun, fun night. And, at the end of the night, I finally got a picture of all our Frozen Crew...including our dog as Sven :)

 Halloween, 2014...you were a good one! 
You can see our Halloween Parties from the past 4 years {HERE}

And, if you haven't checked out my Crock-tober post, be sure and do that!

 

The Crock Pot Giveaway ends this Sunday night at Midnight!

Enter {HERE}

Happy Friday!! We have a 4 day weekend....So Happy!!