Happy Halloween!

To say the girls were looking forward to Halloween is a gross understatement. Sydney actually did this back in June:

Liesel started her countdown in early August:

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to find out three youngest girls would still be able to celebrate Halloween. Liesel felt like she was too old for it- technically it is a Primary activity and Liesel is in Young Women. One of her younger friends asked where she was and when I told her what Liesel had said, her face visibly fell. Our ward still had their Trunk or Treat just asking that everyone wear masks and adults drop candy into candy buckets rather than letting kids reach in and take their own. It was surprisingly good to see some old friends in person, and the kids got a lot of candy. The sister missionaries killed it with their costume!

It's a princess year!

It's interesting to see how things have shifted from the girls wanting these every year to actually being more excited about non-princess years. 

Ireland is actually wearing the largest sized princess gown we have.

She's more excited about next year when she can choose her own costume rather than a hand-me-down.

Gita was happy to wear the Belle costume again after our Utah trip.

She's kind of in the sweet spot when it comes to Halloween where she's excited to get dressed up and she has the stamina to do a decent amount of trick or treating.

Liesel and her friend down the street watched movies and ate candy while these girls hit the neighborhood. A lot of people left out bowls of candy with a note to just grab their own. One guy used a tennis racket to serve candy to them without getting too close. 

Even though it wasn't as busy as previous years (although to be fair, our neighborhood is always relatively quiet), at least it was a chance to dress up and go out. We haven't had that kind of excitement in a long, long time and I'm so grateful there was a small semblance of normalcy, even if just for a few hours. The moon was so perfect for a night like tonight!

And the candy haul was pretty sweet:

MOSI Boo Fest

In yet another attempt to create normalcy in anything but a normal year, I signed the girls up to attend Boo Fest at the MOSI. They could pull out their costumes (Liesel just settled for some Halloween make-up) and head downtown in the first time in what feels like forever. 

In a vacuum, it wasn't that big of a deal but with a pandemic lens, it was a huge deal to attend an actual event celebrating an actual holiday. 

Now that masks are de rigueur, this one that can be programmed to have different patterns is pretty darn cool.

Many of the exhibits had been changed up to have a Halloween theme. They added aliens to the Space Center which I thought was pretty clever. They also added pirates to the Ships Gallery and we spent waaay more time there finding them all (there was a scavenger hunt) than we would have otherwise.

There were little treats for the girls which were slid down these long tubes to maintain physical distancing.

Even the cow by Farm Tech where I've taken dozens of photos of the girls in visits past was roped off and had a mask on.

Here's a closer look at the makeup look Liesel did. I'm particularly impressed with the spider's web necklace. It says, 'I'm too cool to wear a kiddie costume but I'm so cool I can create illusions with makeup.'

There were some really great spots for photos and before we left I had to get one of the girls by this pile of pumpkins.

Yes, technically it's a princess year but any chance Ireland has to dig out that Luna Lovegood costume, she will take!

With reduced capacity, we weren't bumping into other people everywhere we went which was nice. 

Sydney was so happy, and I was happy she still had Halloween as part of her childhood in 2020.

 

Tidbits

Liesel was starting to give me a bit of teen sass so I decided to make light of the situation and take some photos.

She was rather annoyed with me- MOM!

Eventually I got her to laugh though.

Usually when you see this shape in the Midwest sky, you head for cover. This one looked pretty non-threatening though.

This one looked pretty cool too.

I can't remember who sent me this but it gave me a much-needed laugh.

It was pirate day at school and this is what the girls came up with. Brigitta felt her sweater with the fur fringe looked like a pirate captain's coat.

Liesel and Ireland spotted this spikey pumpkin at Joann's and had to get a picture.

Ireland also found this heart shaped potato chip. Could anything be sweeter?

My sister Katrina picked up some UFO's- in quilting parlance that's Un Finished Objects- from a fellow quilter. She passed this one on to me. Everything was there! And one row was already done, it just needed to be finished!

Here's the finished top. I agonized over the placement of the owls, squirrels, foxes and hedgehogs. It needed to look random but evenly spaced and well, that is definitely not my quilting strength. I was happy to get this one off to my quilter!

Sydney adores this dress and sadly hasn't been able to wear it since we've been doing church remotely. She decided to wear it anyway one Sunday and I snapped some pics. 

It's such a cute dress!

At least we will always have the pictures.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

With restaurants opening at a reduced capacity, Brent took me on a date in what seems like forever.

It was so nice to get out with my man!

Sydney's closet had a huge metal shelving unit that really didn't make any sense at all. She's still little and her clothes just don't take up that much room. I'd resorted to storing linens there and decided to remove it. Brent whisked it away to the basement where it was actually needed and I bought her this sweet bench to store toys. I'd purchased the sign ages ago but didn't know where to put it and now I'm simply in love with this little space. Sydney is an oddly private little girl- she doesn't even like to change in front of me. Instead, she sneaks into her closet and closes the door for privacy. I think she's going to love this space!

I love it when Brent tickles the little girls. Their laughter is music to my ears.

I know being home and remote learning has been tough on these girls, but I truly hope they are growing closer as a result. I think they are, but only time will tell. Moments like this give me hope.

I had to flip for the front line worker outfit from American Girl- complete with mask! Some of the people I love the most in this world are nurses and they are constantly on my mind as we navigate through this pandemic.

In an attempt to save my sanity, I've been taking walks in the morning. It's become one of my favorite habits, especially around this time of year! The trees are just so beautiful and the air is so crisp!