Halloween 2018

Halloween Festivities

10/20: We went to our usual pumpkin "patch" (Rasmussen Farms house on 9th East) to get our pumpkins. Ruby was looking specifically for a tall, skinny pumpkin with a not-too-big stem and Ellie wanted a perfectly round one. Jeff and I picked our pumpkins and this year the girls' pumpkins were bigger than ours!

I'm glad I took a picture of our pumpkins because just a few days later I noticed that two of our pumpkins were missing in the morning. Apparently some teenagers had fun going around the neighborhood stealing pumpkins from porches. (We weren't the only ones.) It was a sad coincidence that the two stolen pumpkins were the girls' pumpkins.

10/25: Eastridge 6th Ward Fall Festival
We ate dinner at home before going to the party this year, seeing as I vowed not to sample the chili cook-off submissions after last year's food poisoning incident. The girls still had plenty of time to play all the carnival games with their friends before it was time for trunk-or-treat. We were surprised to find that Gracie was dressed as a wolf. She and Ruby looked like they had coordinated costumes! Thanks to Grammie for the costume! (Don't ask me why she painted a mask on her face.)

We brought Stella with us again and they had fun going around with Ally and the other kids.

Note about Ellie's costume: Ellie initially wanted to find a costume that coordinated with Ruby's since that's what she usually does. I told her she should choose whatever she wanted to be. She's always wanted to be an elephant but it never coordinated with Ruby and in past years I could only find elephant costumes for infants. Once we started looking, all of the costumes had a trunk sticking out of the forehead or the chin, which Ellie said just looks wrong. We found this elephant costume and Ellie loved it. However, the elephant ears don't look at all like elephant ears - African or Asian. Anyway, I made this elephant mask in an attempt to make her look more like an elephant even though she wouldn't be allowed to wear it to school. It turned out OK but I wish I'd gotten felt and I wish my sewing machine wasn't broken!

10/29: For some reason the kids had no school the Monday before Halloween. It was the perfect chance to get together with friends. We planned on stopping to get a couple pumpkins to replace our stolen ones and I figured we might as well get pumpkins for everyone. The pumpkins were all half-off but somehow we got 5 pumpkins for only $6!

The girls had the best time carving pumpkins together. I was very impressed with how well everyone did with so little help!

Ruby's cat pumpkin

Ellie's elephant pumpkin

Wednesday, October 31: Halloween 🎃

Ruby's last elementary school costume parade

They're always in too much of a hurry to stop but for some reason that doesn't keep me from trying to take pictures.

At Sprucewood the fifth grade always learns the Thriller dance and performs it for parents after the parade. I was pretty lucky and got a seat on the side where I could see Ruby (part of the time anyway).

A week before Halloween I got a text from Ellie's teacher asking if I could help with their class party. I brought a Halloween bingo game and got to run that station with another mom who had another fun game. I was too busy running my station to take any pictures but I did get this one! Ms. Bronson had the kids go to recess in the middle of the party, which made the party go longer than I'd planned. I had to leave early to go set up for Ruby's party! 

Ruby had told me her class wasn't having a Halloween party but then I got a text from her teacher the Thursday before asking if I could help put one together. I worked with Kate Stoker to plan the party. Kate was awesome - she came up with all of the ideas; I mostly helped recruit other parent helpers and bring supplies. I made this guessing game that kids could do with extra time between stations.

When Kate asked if I'd be in charge of the Donut on a String game I didn't even think about the logistics of pulling it off. I bought three dozen donuts and tied a ribbon around each donut the night before. When I got into the classroom I had to figure out where to hang the main line and string up enough donuts for the first group. The class was at recess, Ms. Wilbur had the desks all moved already, and she had metal hooks that can attach to the carpet walls. It was a little stressful getting it set up but Ruby and a few friends stayed in from recess to help set up. The kids were wild about this game. Everyone wanted to be in the first group to play.

1st group: Tommy's team

2nd group: Ruby's team
It was so entertaining to see how differently each kid approached the game. The boys were generally more aggressive and the girls were more patient. Within each group there were a few who wanted to get the donut off the string quickly and then a few who were persistent in trying keep it on the string as long as possible. I told each group they could approach it whichever way they wanted since there would be no winners. That didn't stop four or five in each group proclaiming themselves as the "winner."

Ruby's approach

3rd group: Porter's team
I was pretty impressed with how long some of them were able to keep the donut on the string. When it was all over I felt like it had been a success. I don't think I'd do that game again but it was fun to do once!

We were meeting up with friends to go trick-or-treating at 6:30 so I actually got the girls fed before we went. I tried ordering a jack-o-lantern pizza from Papa Murphy's first but they must have been slammed because I couldn't order online or get through on the phone. And I sure as heck wasn't gonna go down there and stand in line! I found out that Papa John's was doing jack-o-lantern pizzas too and that's our favorite anyway.

It's go time!

We met up with Ally & Ben Johnson, Stella & Vivi Dyer, and Mya & Addy Taylor (and the parents) at the Johnson's house. I never did get a picture with everyone in it. I was having fun chatting with the parents and the kids were too excited to stop for a picture! First we went all the way down and back on Blue Heron Drive.

Aside from watching the girls have so much fun, my favorite part of the night was when I saw my primary kids out and about in their cute costumes. At one house I saw Katherine Squire and her older brother. I said hi to both of them and a few seconds later Katherine turned around and said, "HEY! I know you! You're my singing teacher at church!!!" 

Ruby and Ellie's favorite stop was Grammie's house. She even had big candy bars for her favorite trick-or-treaters! Ellie proclaimed that Grammie is the nicest person in the world.

The girls asked if we could go to "the hot cocoa house." Every year the Poulsens decorate their garage and have food for anyone who comes by. They do hot cocoa and hot dogs and it's become tradition to stop there for cocoa. It was actually cold this year so the cocoa was extra nice. And Ellie had worked up an appetite for a hot dog!

We made it back to our house a bit before 8:30. The girls dumped out their loot and did a candy trade before the friends had to go home.

The girls love handing out candy at our house but this year we got back so late that we didn't have that many trick-or-treaters that came to our door. Ellie said we watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown every year after we trick-or-treat, so I let them watch the 25-minute show before bed.

October hikes

Tuesday, October 2: Willow Heights (2.86 miles) + WOW trail in Wasatch Mountain State Park (4 miles)

I had been feeling anxious about getting up to the mountains to see the fall colors before all the leaves were blown off the trees. I kept seeing pictures of how beautiful it was but it's just not the same as going on a drive up the canyon and seeing the gorgeous colors in real life.

We finally had a chance to do a mountain drive and I crossed my fingers that we'd still find some golden leaves on the aspens. We started by driving up Big Cottonwood Canyon to hike the Willow Heights trail. I've heard that it's prettiest in the fall and it did not disappoint.

the sunlight hitting the leaves was magic!

The sun kept hiding behind the clouds and then peeking out moments later. I'd stop to catch the perfect lighting and before I could take the picture the light would disappear. 

Next we drove over Guardsman Pass, not yet sure if we wanted to drive down through Park City or through Midway. We peeked over the summit into Park City but the leaves were mostly done so we opted for Pine Canyon Road that takes you into Midway.

Along the way we saw a trail sign and decided to check it out. It appeared to be unnamed, but after looking it up at home I found that it's called the Wasatch Over Wasatch trail ("WOW").

We quickly discovered that it's a popular mountain biking trail. There wasn't a ton of traffic but more than I expected for this seemingly remote trail. There was one mountain biker that we leapfrogged with almost the whole time. He kept stopping so we'd catch up with him and pass him just to have him pass us a few minutes later.

The colors were magnificent! 

I went off-trail to try to get a picture of this orangey aspen. The lighting wasn't quite right but it was worth a try. 

When I got back on the trail after taking the picture I realized my pants were all covered in stickers! Doh!

We didn't know where the trail would lead or how long it was so we finally decided on a good turn-around point and headed back. Turns out it's a 9-mile one-way so I'm glad we didn't go the whole way! If I ever get into mountain biking I'm totally hitting this trail!

After we got back to the car we drove into Midway and then into Heber for lunch. We debated about which route to drive home. We decided on the Provo Canyon route, and while we were driving that way Jeff said we might as well drive the Alpine Loop and through American Fork Canyon.

approaching Timpanogos on Alpine Loop Road

We stopped at the Summit Trailhead to use the facilities. Jeff got this gorgeous photo while he was waiting for me.

We got home a little before the girls got out of school. I felt so happy that we'd finally gotten out to see the fall foliage. My fall season is complete.


Thursday, October 4: Corner Canyon - BST, Hoof 'n' Boot, Canyon Hollow, back on Clark's (4.75 miles)


We didn't have much time to hike so we opted for staying close. We've done the Clark's to Ann's loop so many times we decided to wing it and wander around on some other trails for a change.

Up at Peakview Trailhead Draper City had a sign showing a future expansion project. Coming spring 2020. 👎

Thursday, October 11: Red Pine (4.15 miles)

This was the day that we went to the temple in the morning and then did an afternoon hike. We had recently gotten some snow in the mountains but we didn't think Red Pine would be too snowy yet.

turns out it was pretty snowy

It was gorgeous up there! We hiked up as far as we could go before we had to turn around to make it home in time for school to get out.

Tuesday, October 23: Fifth Water Hot Springs (5.5 miles)

I'd heard about hot springs in Spanish Fork Canyon years ago and pretty much forgotten about it since it's not really in our neck of the woods. I'm pretty sure Jeff suggested going and I am so glad he did. It's so much more exciting to explore new trails and terrain then going to a trail we've been on a dozen times.

It's only an hour drive to get to Spanish Fork Canyon and then something like ten miles into Diamond Fork Canyon to get to the trailhead. So it didn't really take much longer than getting to Silver Lake Flat or Timpooneke.

It was a gorgeous morning! It was misty and the rising sun was shining on the fluttering golden leaves. I really didn't expect to see any trees with leaves still holding on but the canyon's elevation isn't as high as our northern canyons.

On the drive to the trailhead I spotted a bald eagle perched in a tree. I almost didn't believe it! I told Jeff and we decided to turn around to get another look. The majestic bird was still there when we came back around!

I wished so badly that I had a telephoto lens and legit camera for capturing this beauty!

We pulled the car around to be on the right side of the road and just as I was focusing my camera to take a picture it took off! It flew away with a small rodent dangling from its beak. That was truly one of the most amazing things I've seen in nature.

We also passed a herd of cows ambling down the road. Jeff happened to take a photo of this guy right when he took a moment to have a poo.

We drove past the trailhead, not knowing exactly where we were meant to stop. The road curved parallel to a stream that began to have the strongest sulphur smell. We knew we must be close! I finally determined that we had gone too far and turned around.

The hike in was wonderful! There's not much elevation gain. You go up a little hill then down a little hill. It was so pretty and the trail is nicely maintained. It's about 2.5 miles to the hot springs but it's quite easy. The girls would love this hike.

You can smell the hot springs the closer you get. And - tada! - there they are!

I loved how it was cold enough that mist was rising off the hot water.

How cool is this? Greenish water on the left not more than four feet from a pool of bluish water.

We finally found the people whose cars were also parked at the trailhead. There were probably only fifteen people up there but most of them were in swimming suits and soaking in the springs. We hadn't planned on doing that but I didn't really want to take pictures of other people in the hot springs. I think it's usually much busier than that, so I suppose we were lucky it wasn't a Saturday.

We hiked above the main hot springs and found the source!

There wasn't anyone else up at these hot springs. I felt like I would regret it if I didn't take a chance to dip my feet in. It was SO hot I couldn't put more than my heel in! No wonder nobody was soaking in this one!

This was my favorite. That color is unreal!

We will definitely be returning to Fifth Water Hot Springs with the girls next time. I'd like to explore some of the other trails in the area, too.