The Day We Had A Royal Halloween

So this year for Halloween, Katelyn and Brooke were both princesses. Katelyn picked out her dress when we were in Disneyland earlier this year and with just a few minor alterations, Brooke fit into Katelyn's Cinderella dress (or "Rella" as Brooke calls her), so they were all set.

This year, the first graders got to wear their costumes to school and stay in them all day because not only were they having their classroom party in the afternoon, but that morning they were going "Pumpkin Caroling" at a nearby care center for the elderly. Brooke and I were lucky enough to attend both events. The kids all looked so cute in their costumes and were surprisingly well-behaved, given their sugared-up state. They entertained the residents for awhile and then we headed back to school. "Her Royal Highness The Younger" (aka Brooke) was really worn out after all the singing as you can see in this picture. She almost went to sleep in the stroller on the way back to school.

We had a few minutes to get some food in her and then it was time for Katelyn's classroom party. The party was a lot of fun - they had great treats, games, crafts and prizes. Her teacher is such a great lady and really makes sure everything is special for her class. Brooke thought she was in heaven... she spent most of the party spinning in circles while squealing and/or singing (see video clip below). She thoroughly enjoyed being with all the big kids and loved spending the afternoon with her amazing big sister.

After school it was time to paint and carve pumpkins with Daddy who had just gotten back into town. He had been traveling a lot so his eyes were a little bloodshot - Brooke was not a fan of the eye mask and cried until he took it off.

After pumpkin carving, it was time for dinner and then we got ready to hit the streets. We met up with our good friend Tami and her kids and headed for the "Trunk or Treat" in the Church parking lot. Katelyn, "little" Kyle and Kara were immediately off and running. Since this was Brooke's "first actively trick or treating Halloween," she wasn't sure what it was all about at first, but she caught on quickly. The funny part was that she didn't realize until much later in the evening that she was getting candy in her bucket. She enjoyed the sheer mechanics of walking up to cars and saying "trick or treat" to people dressed funny and then they would give you stuff. Once she discovered it was candy, she found a whole new appreciation for the night's activities and the speed at which Katelyn and her friends were traveling at during the evening. It was such nice weather that it really made the evening very pleasant - no one was cold and the sugar kept the kids from getting worn out, so after the "Trunk or Treat" we did some "Trick or Treating." Katelyn and Brooke both had wands that glowed in the dark - they were a huge hit - in fact Brooke was so attached to hers, that she would only let go of it to help pass out candy later on in the evening (see video clip). As soon as she deposited the candy in the person's bucket she would say "wand wand wand" until she found it. In her other hand, she held on to her favorite piece of candy - a blue sucker. She licked it every once in a while, but was just happy holding on to it. Katelyn on the other hand was ready to eat all of her hard work. She told Gram that she was going to put all of her candy in a box and label it "private" and then hide it in her room. Kyle reminded her that Brooke wouldn't get to eat very much of her own candy so Katelyn would have her's too... she decided the box wasn't necessary anymore.

Brooke was intrigued by all the "kids" as she called them, and just like Katelyn she loved handing out candy. She did however, NOT like any of the ones that she said were "scary." So, when the "scary kids" would come to the door, she would run and hide (and usually cry a little) by our witch, with her sucker and wand in hand. We had such a great time and loved seeing our little princesses enjoy themselves so much.

Throughout the month of October, Brooke loved saying "Halloween." It was so funny to hear her say because it was so clear. So Katelyn also taught her to say "trick or treat" so she would be useful in collecting candy. The funny thing was that we could not get her to say it on camera. So, Katelyn helped us make the following video of some of Brooke's Halloween Fun, including the un-fun parts where we tried to get her to do her "tricks" on camera. Happy Halloween!