Halloween

Obviously, the highlight of this week was Halloween, but we had plenty of other things to do leading up to it.  On Friday, Evie's school hosted Peace Day.  I told Evie I would be there in time for the peace-nic lunch (a picnic style potluck) and she asked me if I was going to bring fruit because that's what Grannadaddy brought when he joined her for it last year.  And then she asked me if I would bring the blanket, which I brought on her first Peace Day 2 years ago.  She has an incredible memory!

So, I did, indeed, bring fruit and the blanket and we got settled and asked Sasha to join us, but since it was a little rainy, she didn't want to.  Evie wasn't upset by this and instead picked several other friends to come and share the blanket and soon there was no more room!  I love her generous, outgoing nature.

After Peace-nic, we left school early and went to the mall.  Evie got to pretty much dictate where we went and how long we spent at each of her favorite activities, which included the playground, the Disney store, the coin-operated merry-go-round, and the bungee trampoline jump.  Then we ran to the car in the rain and we were soaked to the bone!  So we went home, changed, clothes, and went to game night at church.

Sunday was the Fall Festival at our church, and Evie got to dress up as Wonder Woman.  She enjoyed trunk-or-treating, playing carnival style games, winning a couple of goodies at the cake walk, and getting her face painted.

Marina had asked us a few weeks ago if we wanted to go trick-or-treating in their neighborhood, so she and I picked the girls up from gymnastics and went to their house.  Sasha seemed less sure that she wanted us to come because they tend to always do what Evie wants to do - not necessarily because Evie is bossy, but because Evie's assertive and Sasha doesn't speak up for what she wants to do.  So Marina asked if Sasha could pick the houses we went to for trick-or-treating, which, of course, was fine.  I talked to Evie on the side about how she needs to start asking Sasha a little bit more about what she might like to do, and Evie implemented that right away.  Soon, Seth and Dmitry joined us and Marina did everyone's make up and we were off to get some candy.

Sasha was a witch and Evie was a princess

Their cat Pouncey enjoyed tagging along on our trick-or-treat journey

The girls had a great time going up to doors and getting candy - they didn't exactly remember to say, "trick or treat", but they were rewarded for their efforts all the same.  Then we came back to the house and had dinner.  At that point, the girls had been together all day and it had been a lot of excitement so it kind of devolved into Sasha saying she didn't want to eat, Evie being upset that she was eating all by herself, and then Sasha wanting to just be alone.  The girls ended the night on good terms, but it may have been a little too soon to try to combine trick-or-treating efforts.  On our way home, Evie said next year she wants to go with just me and Daddy so that she can pick which houses to go to.

We stopped by Granna and Grannadaddy's house so they could see her in her costume. I remember my Dad driving me to my grandparents' houses on Halloween too, so that was a nice tradition to continue. 

Evie's 6th Halloween is in the books, and I know they'll get more magical for a few more years and then she'll be too "old" to go...  These years are so precious to me and I wish so often that I could bottle these moments to experience again.