Trunk or Treat

Our Thundering Herd got all dressed up for an evening of candy collection.

I am so thankful that nearby churches organized safe, fun events in their parking lots.  We visited 2 different ones this year.  They go by the name "trunk-or-treat."  Replacing the previous "trick-or-treat" these events involve going to a church parking lot and trick-or-treating from parked vehicle to parked vehicle.  Folks decorate their cars, and hand out candy next to their trunk.  

From the standpoint of safety, this is a great alternative to dark neighborhood streets.  Also, churches tend to stay away from the dark, gruesome, death-focus that encompasses Halloween.  There is nothing Christian about Halloween, so it is nice that churches will step up and be a light on an otherwise dark night in the world.

From the standpoint of candy, this is a much faster way to fill a bag with candy, than can be accomplished going from house to house.  We only stayed an hour at the first location, and the kids ended up with heavy bags, filled with goodies.

The second church we visited had a carnival event going on in their parking lot.  The kids went from booth to booth and played games.  The prizes were candy.  There were also big bounce houses, hotdogs, and popcorn.  We had a blast.

The kids were pretty pleased with the events and activities we attended this year.  The weather was great  for an evening out.  Plus, they got their fill of candy...

*There is no way we are eating ALL of this candy.  We are fixing up a box to mail to my brother-in-law who is currently serving in the Army, in harm's way.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere!

We collected quite a few of pumpkins this year.

PawPaw grew a pumpkin in his garden, for each of his 10 grandbabies.  This year, he gave the largest to Jersey #5, and the smallest to Jersey #1.  Our eldest was not so thrilled with this plan.  She was certain that she deserved the largest pumpkin, being the first grandbaby and all.  She made up for it by picking the largest pumpkin at the Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin patch.

I took the opportunity to take pictures of my Lil' Pumpkins, with our table full of pumpkins...

Pumpkin carving was a fun evening activity.

We had so many excess pumpkins, that I decided to carve my traditional upside-down pumpkin face.  I did this first when I was in middle school, I think.  I have carved my pumpkins that way ever since.  Still cracks me up to this day...

We lit candles in the carved pumpkins....

....then turned out the lights and watched a movie while munching roasted pumpkin seeds.  Good times!

McCall's Pumpkin Patch

I took the younger 4 kids on a field trip to McCall's Pumpkin Patch.

We enjoyed a hayride out to the pumpkin patch.  (Well, mostly enjoyed it.  Jersey #3 has terrible hay fever, so his poor little nose runs yellow the minute he goes near the hay.  He doesn't complain a bit, though).

Out in the field, each kid was able to pick the largest pumpkin they could carry back to the tractor....

We dropped our pumpkins off at the van, and enjoyed the other exhibits.

It didn't take us long to break the rules.  I had barely closed the gate to the bunny exhibit, when I noticed Jersey #2 had picked up a rabbit and was holding it.  PawPaw raises rabbits, so Jersey #2 didn't think a thing of scooping one up.  Oops!  Some of the other kids thought it was great that she did that, because they got to pet the rabbit.

There were plenty of live animals to enjoy.  Goats, cows, sheep, oh my!

Jersey #5 found the tractor to be the most fascinating thing on the farm.  He rode it 3 times.

The other children spent the bulk of their time on the big slide...

(In an attempt to *help* his little brother go down the slide, Jersey #3 came down on top of Jersey #5's head.  All I saw were his little lets sticking out.  Thankfully, he was not hurt.  Instead, he was laughing and couldn't wait to go again.....on his own).

It didn't take Jersey #2 long to go down head first.  She has been this way since she was a baby.  The road less traveled....head first.