Halloween Week

This year we finally went to Boo After Dark at the Denver Zoo.  I love all the lights.  We saw a few animals.  Nobody loved the freezing cold night, but the bags full of candy made up for that in the end.  Luckily we all ate dinner together at Margaret's house, because we then didn't find each other at the Zoo until the very end!  Note to self:  since cell phones exist, try actually remembering to bring yours!

Katie and our good friend Aly before we started exploring the zoo.

'Bat Boy' Alex and Max the black cat.  The previous Friday we went to Bat Encounter at the Botanical Gardens.  They had a few live bats that the presenter walked around.  The smallest was the size of a gerbil - with wings.  The largest he brought has a 6 foot wingspan!  My photo-taking skills need some help, but here's one of them:

We are still working on getting our own bat house up.  I wonder if they'll go after squirrels . . .

We managed to hit the bat exhibit in Tropical Discovery.  I think Alex was equally impressed by the hundreds of bats in their fake cage as he was seeing them live and closer up.

Roger was Oma's designated driver for the night.  Her knee seems to be better post-procedure, but still a little tender.  Max and Alex did not mind doing a little hitch hiking.

The festive Andersons.

One very cute little bunny.  Go ahead and try to offer your hand to help her walk - she'll just start to run in the opposite direction!

The grapes costume rides again!  Saturday night we went to a carnival at our friends' high school, and Katie and I won in our age categories for the costume contest.  Katie's competition was a little stiffer than mine:  I was one of only two adults who actually dressed up, so we both got prizes.

I'd say it's a pretty good event when everyone is too wiped out at the end to even dig into their candy stash, and instead conks out on their neighbor!  We'll probably go out for a little trick-or-treating Wednesday night, just for the atmosphere and because it's supposed to be a balmy 40+ degrees instead if 25!

halloween is almost here

Amazing what a difference a 2 year old makes vs. a 1 year old. We've had some time for crafts this season . . .

Glue ghosts - about the easiest thing we've ever made. Make ghost shapes with glue on parchment paper, decorate, let dry for a few days. Ta da.

Reversible table runner.

Halloween skirts - Max just served as a model for a pint-sized skirt; he remains true to the tiger costume.

A few new guys for our halloween tree. The white ghost in the upper left is wearing pumpkin mittens.

Painting pumpkins - true to form, Max chose green and Alex went with blue.

Coffee filters + liquid water color paint = fall leaves.

Pom pom spiders - mom on glue gun, Katie on design and eyes.

Decorating haunted gingerbread houses. (Note to Williams Sonoma: if you're going to advertise a great kit on your catalog, actual have it available for purchase, so psychos don't fall in love with it and then have to replicate it on their own.)

The amount of candy on the houses was riveled only by the amount of candy eaten by Max.