13 Days of Halloween: #11

#11:  A MONSTER EGG HUNT

Though we spent much of last Sunday recovering from a busy week, I'd found this cute Monster Egg Hunt Party Game at Target.  

I assigned Hubby the task of 'hiding' the eggs in the yard, and he hid them in exactly the right places for our boys' "hunting" abilities...

"Daaad, the bag will just slow me down! 
I have a golden egg to find..."

And, Little Brother did find it.

Big Brother was standing by to relieve LB of any castaways.

We were pleasantly surprised that the candy provided
was pretty good.

...LB will show you...

We didn't need a golden egg to tell us ;)

Fun...simple...[apparently] memorable...and reusable!  [Big Brother is still talking about the monster egg hunt.]  

Until next hunt, monster eggs!

13 Days of Halloween: #12

#12:  A MONSTER EGG HUNT  

THE UTAH GINORMOUS PUMPKIN REGATTA

We shuffled our 13 Days of Halloween around a bit to make room for a funny [yet, impressive] 'Halloween' event, The Utah Ginormous Pumpkin Regatta.  

900-1500 pound pumpkins...in a water race.  

OF COURSE we'd be there.

+  Before the regatta, we had a good breakfast.  It's finally eggnog season which means Pumpkin Spice Eggnog French Toast!  We used Cinnamon Burst bread [from Great Harvest], and only had one slice left over so I take it my boys liked it!  I love eating breakfast with my family on the weekends.

+  Hubby also tried to teach Big Brother how to blow his nose, with a little tape and a tissue...

...we're still trying.

+  so...THE PUMPKIN REGATTA!  Despite the pumpkin "boats" moving a bit slowly toward the "finish line," the pumpkins ARE ginormous and the pumpkin boat designs/captains' outfits are a lot of fun to see.

At the promo booths Big Brother had his face painted,

"A blue cat" [his idea]

The boys sat inside of a giant pumpkin, and we won free Chik-fil-A food by spinning a prize wheel.  Although Little Brother never looked happy in our photos at the park, we all had a good time at The Utah Ginormous Pumpkin Regatta!

+  Big Brother spent some time with his aunt J [who made him a fantastic, Halloween-themed game board to encourage him to use the potty]!  I love my sisters.

And I love this boy.

13 Days of Halloween: #13

With only 13 days left in the month of October, our countdown to Halloween has begun!  

#13:  A CANYON DRIVE + DECORATE THE BOYS' BEDROOM DOORS

Today,

The 1-year-old's eyebrows should have been telling...

+  Our most eventful outing to a retail store, ever.  A cell signal black hole in the mall led to: a failed text message to Hubby, two trips into the mall, multiple 'laps' around the department store, a lot of curtain twirling and electrical outlet cover flipping, momentary loss of my 3-year-old [more than once], and a migraine.  It did not lead to:  a purchase of any kind.

+  I missed seeing my beautiful Activity Days girls, but somehow pulled off a brief nap which lessened my migraine.

+  The boys and I went out again to complete our daily 13-day-countdown activities, and only made it as far as the craft store [in search of door decor].  

If the shopping had been left to my 3-year-old, we would have made it out of the store with a 5-year supply of thread, half a dozen toys, a healthy collection of Mickey Mouse stickers and a   1-month supply of [Christmas-themed] PEZ dispensers.

+  In place of a canyon drive, after dinner we went on a family Halloween "I Spy" walk around the neighborhood.  Before we left the house we each came up with one thing to "spy" [+1 extra thing]: 

A BLACK CAT, 

A PUMPKIN, 

A SKELETON, 

A SCARECROW, 

and SOMETHING PURPLE.

We only spied 3 of 5 things, but our "something purple" was fun:

+  An entire corner of a parking lot + a thick layer of dry, crunchy, undisturbed leaves = perfect leaf-crunching conditions!

Big Brother wearing Little Brother's pants [because they look like basketball pants]!

Little Brother, not wanting to leave.

+  <HUGE sigh of relief>  The boys were thoroughly worn out when we finally got them home from our walk.

Today, we didn't start or finish a project [after spending much of the day attempting it].  Our living room windows remain undressed...but we have windows, and our home is heated.

My boys' bedroom doors remain undecorated...but my boys came home from their walk to a warm bed.

We missed an Activity Days activity we were looking forward to...but we ran errands together, and snuggled up for a nap. We sat with Hubby at the table tonight and had leftovers and peanut butter sandwiches for dinner...but we ate, and our boys' bellies were full when they went to bed. 

We came home from our walk to a warm and safe house...

Today, we made imperfect memories together...but I am grateful to have had the day to spend with my boys.  

Costume Photo Leak/13 Days of Halloween

October 19th - October 31st

October is one of our favorite months of the year the only month we even care about, and Halloween one of our favorite holidays our favorite holiday [Hubby's edits, LOL].  I can't believe we are already 3 days in, with the final 13 days fast approaching!

Big Brother [3] has already tried on both his Halloween costume and his little brother's costume [1].  In fact, Little Brother should probably have a pair of Halloween pajamas on standby, because I'm half expecting Big Brother to run off with his costume before the night is over!

Traditionally, we keep both our annual Halloween party theme and our costumes hush-hush until the party.  

This year (for the first time) we invited our guests to dress the theme, and to dress the theme they must know the theme...

Medieval Fantasy

I'm quite excited about our costumes this year...I can't help but leak a few photos!

Any guesses??

*****

Our 13-day countdown

begins October 19th 

I'm enjoying the month with my boys while the day still has a bit of length and before the November/Black Friday/Christmas bustle, and crowding, and 

...madness.  Before low and bitter temperatures, frosted windshields, snow, and ice.  

Beginning October 19th, we'll count down the final days of our favorite month and post our favorite photos each day!  Here's the countdown:

13} A canyon drive + decorate the boys' bedroom doors

12} A Monster Egg Hunt

11} Halloween stories by the fireplace

10} Make a Halloween treat

  9} A Halloween pajama party

  8} A Halloween craft

  7} Carve pumpkins

  6} Our Halloween party!

  5} Monster face painting

  4} A Halloween game night 

  3} A Halloween "concert"

  2} A Halloween dinner party

  1} Trick-or-Treating!  

I'd love a link to your most recent Halloween post!

Happy Haunting!