Pre-Halloween

Is it just me, or does Halloween get more festivities every year? Not that I'm complaining; we love Halloween around here! But between trunk or treats, fall festivals, "safe" trick or treating at retail shops... it just goes on and on.

First, the weekend before the big night, my parents flew out for a quick visit. I signed the kids up weeks ago for the Children's Fall Fest at the library and luckily, grandma and grandpa got to attend with us. And I really do mean lucky, for me at least. It was a very hands-on, parent needed activity, so I am very glad I had many extra hands to actually make it through in one piece. There was crafts, snacks, trick or treating, and games. Ellie couldn't do much, but Jude had a blast.

The next morning, we all headed out to the Danville weekly farmer's market. It also happened to be the fall craft festival (with more trick or treating; how much candy do we really need?). The highlight? Riding the pumpkin train with grandpa.

We were very sad to see grandpa and grandma go, especially Jude who begged and begged to go back to the airport and get on a plane with them. 

But after they left we squeezed in even more pre-Halloween festivities.

Jude painted his pumpkins, complete with "sprinkles" (glitter).

 We also tried our hand at making carmel apples for the first time.

 To be honest, I've been feeling a bit of Halloween burnout this year, which is unusual for a holiday lovin' gal like myself. Really, I think it's just some parenting burnout in general. Plus, between the stores dumping out their Christmas stuff weeks ago, Jude continually asking me about our Christmas travel plans, and me trying to start planning for hosting our first Thanksgiving, I've been feeling kind of like, "wait. isn't halloween over already?" I had a few more Halloween decorations I wanted to make and activities I wanted to do with the kids, but the last two weeks of October I was feeling a little too "eh" about the whole thing to make them happen. BUT, the excitement came out for actual Halloween night and I think overall, we all had a lot of fun.

 In the end, there's a reason why I put up all the decorations, talk endlessly about trick or treating, or try so hard to make family traditions and activities happen. It's all about making the magic that I remember and cherish for my little ones. And in that way, it's always all worth it.