Halloween - Brian's First Time Trick or Treating

Mom wanted to take Brian trick or treating on Halloween. A couple weeks ago, she had a Friday off so she, Erika and Brian went costume shopping and then had lunch. Erika let Brian pick out his own costume. He was about a year and a half at this point, so she was curious to see what he would pick out. He immediately went to the Elmo costume. She put it back and went to a different part of the costume store just to see if he would pick it out again. He did. He wanted to be Elmo for Halloween. They went to the nearest McDonald's to get a Boo Bucket so Brian could put his candy in it.

We had tried the weekend before Halloween to take him to a trunk or treat in Rainier at the park, but it was cancelled because of the weather. We were bummed out but then we heard that either McKenna or Roy didn't cancel theirs and a tree fell down on top of a person and killed them. Instead, we went over to Megan's house to hang out with her kids. Brian was wearing his Elmo costume, and I wore my penguin one. We thanked her for having us over for a couple hours.

Doug had stopped by earlier in the day wearing an Oscar the Grouch costume on his way to work. He and Brian got a picture of them in their Sesame Street costumes together. It was adorable.

Mom made plans with Erika, Zac, me, Doug and Sonya to bring Brian over to Doug and Sonya's house so he could trick or treat in their neighborhood. We were hoping that it wasn't going to rain, but you can wish in one hand a crap in the other...

Of course, it rained and we were all bummed out, but Brian didn't seem to care! He wore that Elmo costume proudly and was ready to go trick or treating when Erika and Zach brought him over. We all met at Doug and Sonya's house around 5ish. I didn't wear a costume because it would have gotten soaked and I was mostly there to take pictures of Brian trick or treating. 

Doug and Sonya had decorated the outside of their house with signs, lights and other Halloweenie things. She also bought snacks and candy. Some of the kids who trick or treat at their house are not as well off as others, so she hands out things like small Pringles containers, granola bars, crackers, etc. We had a few groups of kids stop by before we got Brian ready to go outside.

We all went outside and started on the opposite side of the street Doug and Sonya's house was on. Everyone seemed to be kind knowing that this was Brian's first-time trick or treating. A lot of the people said he was cute. Some let him grab his own candy, others handed him candy for his Boo bucket and some of the houses Brian tried to walk into. We laughed and told him that those were not our houses.

Mom carried him part of the time and the rest of the time he waddled in his rain boots down the road. We did see a couple groups of kids out in the rain trick or treating. I imagine if it was a drier day we would have seen more kids running around the neighborhood. I remember trick or treating as a kid in the neighborhoods of Rainier. We used pillowcases and came home with tons of candy. Some of the candy would last until December or later. 

We crossed the street and made our way back towards Doug and Sonya's house. We were out for maybe an hour or so. The rain did not let up but luckily, we had umbrellas with us to keep us somewhat dry. I wore my rain jacket as well. 

We got back to the house, dried off some and went through Brian's candy. He was happy just putting the candy in and out of his Boo bucket and relocating items in their living room.

We all thanked Doug and Sonya for having us over and letting Brian trick or treat in their neighborhood. We all went home. I got home and made some dinner. We were all excited to see what Brian decides to be for Halloween the next year. We may even have a new baby at that point as well.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Next Adventure: Halloween Party with Friends

Mom and Dad's Birthday and Pumpkin Carving with Liz, Maddy and Isla

September definitely got away from us. We were painstakingly trying to work on the rental house's roof before the bad weather arrived for the year. We cut it close, but we did get it done on time. I felt bad that we didn't celebrate Dad's birthday in September. I talked to him about it and he said that it was fine, we could do it at a later time when everyone wasn't as busy. 

Mom was at a quilting retreat during her birthday weekend. She also said that we could celebrate it later on in October. I found a weekend to have both, Mom and Dad's birthday party that worked for everyone. I asked the both of them if pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, brownies and ice cream were fine and they said it was. 

I contacted everyone to let them know that we were doing a birthday party for Mom and Dad and told them what we were having, when it was and what time. I had asked Liz if she and her girls would like to carve pumpkins and we set aside a day to do it but had to change it because the girl's grandmother, Susan created plans without telling Liz until the last minute. So, we had to reschedule it for the last Sunday around 4 before Halloween. I told her that would be fine, but my Sunday would be busy with birthdays. I had to juggle two different events.

I went shopping for the pork chops and the potatoes after work on Thursday since I was already out and about. I hit up the Costco and the Walmart and then went home. I got the house all cleaned up and made the brownies on Saturday and made sure everything was ready to go before I went to bed that night. I wanted Sunday to go as smoothly as possible.

That morning, Ben and I got up, did a few things to finish preparing for the birthday party and found out that Zac was sick and wasn't going to come and, of course, since Doug works the weekends away, he and Sonya weren't going to come either. So, we were going to have 10 of us instead of the usual 13. I hope someday Doug will get a different job, and he can join us with family gatherings again. Ben and I started peeling potatoes and getting the pork chops, green beans and gravy ready since everyone was supposed to be here around noon.

No one had arrived and it was pretty much noon. I texted everyone to let them know that the food was done. I had to wrap everything in tin foil to keep it warm because everyone was late! Everyone started to arrive and I gave them a bad time for being late. Their excuse was that it was so early for a party. I mostly did it so Erika could get Brian home at a decent time, and I had another event to go to that evening. September and October definitely got away from us this year.

Everyone grabbed plates and piled food on top. We all talked about random things - how the rental was going, work, retirement, projects, etc. It was quite the array of topics. Of course, Brian was a ham and wanted to touch and play with everything! I did collect a bunch of toys over the years just in case we had small children in our family to entertain. I was excited when I found an old school Fisher-Price cash register about a year ago. He thought that was the greatest thing in the world!

We cleaned up and I grabbed the brownies. Trish volunteered to bring vanilla ice cream. She helped me dish up to those who wanted dessert after we sang Happy Birthday to Mom and Dad. They opened gifts and cards and thanked everyone for thinking of them. Everyone helped clean up and headed home so they could get ready for the work week.

I got ready for my second event of the day. At 3, I texted Liz to let her know I was on my way. I brought the three little pumpkins with me, some carving tools and the Coke. Just before I got onto I-5, I ordered the pizza online. It told me that it would be ready in about a half hour. Perfect. Just enough time to get there, grab it and head to her house. She told me, "See ya in a bit."

I get to Pizza Hut in Centralia, and it was literally ready for me to grab the two pizzas and leave. Her house was just minutes away. I pull up, park and bring the food and drinks in first. I go back for the pumpkins and carving tools. I even remembered to bring a Halloween themed tablecloth. I think Liz appreciated what I was doing for her and the girls, but I can never tell. I believe the 4-year hiatus really did a number on the friendship. I didn't want to, but I really thought she didn't want me around anymore, so I left. It is what it is, I guess.

Anyway, we enjoyed the pizza and pop and conversation. One thing I didn't know about Liz was she didn't like to touch icky things, that included the inside of a pumpkin. She made an exception that day and turns out it wasn't really that bad. I also learned that the girls have never carved pumpkins before, but Liz had, when she was a kid. She showed them how to cut the top and scoop out the insides. They drew faces on their pumpkins instead of carving them. I carved the third pumpkin since Liz didn't want to do her own but help the girls with theirs.

Once we got all the guts out, Liz and I separated the seeds so she could clean them up and cook them in the air fryer for later. While we did that, we talked about a bunch of stuff. She told me that one of her aunt's in Mexico wasn't doing that well. Her mom has been going down there to help out and spend time with her. I told her about the progress with the rental, and we briefly touched on work. I let her bring it up because she had told me during the DJA that she didn't want to talk about work. I respected that request.

Her boys came in to give her a bad time and one of them wanted help on their homework. He wanted her to help him with his speech he had to give in a day or two - something about the argument on should college players get paid. That was up my alley. I had actually done a group project on that very subject while I was in college years ago. I shared my input. I didn't care if they used it or not. 

I didn't want to overstay my welcome, since it was a work night and all, so I thanked her for having me over and she thanked me for the pumpkins, pizza and pop. I told her it would be fun to do this again next year and she said it would. We would have to find a good time to do it next year if they had the time. She walked me out and I told her I would talk to her tomorrow. She said the same. I headed home.

I let her know I got home and she told me, thanks for letting her know. I got cleaned up, did a few things and got ready for another work week. It was a busy day, but I sure had a lot of fun!

Next Adventure: Halloween - Brian's First Time Trick or Treating

The Pumpkin Patch with Mom, Erika and Brian

Mom wanted to take Brian to the pumpkin patch now that he was a little older and walking around. Last year when we took him, he was literally a potato actively wondering what we were all doing. It was fun but we knew the next year it would be more fun.

I took the Friday off, so I had a three-day weekend to do whatever I wanted. I slept in, because I really needed a good sleep, and then I got ready and met up with Erika and Mom in Tumwater at Meconis for lunch. I had my usual. Like always, my sandwich hit the spot.

We drove over to Rutledge Family Farm off of 93rd in Tumwater. We were hoping since it was a weekday, there wouldn't be that many people there. Last year we went on a Sunday and boy, was that a mistake. We pulled in and it was a little less busy than last year which was great to see. We found a close parking spot, grabbed what we needed because it was a little chilly and wandered over towards the pumpkins with a wheelbarrow and Brian's wagon. I was kinda excited to see if he would put pumpkins in the wagon.

We started walking around the pumpkin patch looking at the pumpkins we'd like to bring home. I called Ben to ask what shape of pumpkin he would like to have, and he told me to send him some photos and he would choose one. I sent him some pumpkins that fit his profile and he did end up picking one he liked. I put that in the wheelbarrow. We got into some of the little pumpkins and watched Brian pick them up, set them down and he did put one in the wagon. Mom and I tried putting some in his wagon and he would grab them and toss them out. We laughed hysterically.

At one point, there was a little boy, his mom and his dad picking pumpkins and he was interested in Biran's wagon. We told his parents he could push it for a few minutes. The little boy didn't want to stop, and you could tell Brian didn't want this little boy touching his wagon anymore. His parents told him to give the wagon back to Brian and they thanked us for entertaining them by sharing.

Once we found the pumpkins we wanted, including Brian, we wheelbarrowed them over to the cashier's station to be weighed. I had four smaller pumpkins and three larger pumpkins to carve at some point later on in the month. We took them to the cars and Brian got to ride in the wheelbarrow. We took the wheelbarrow back and Mom and Erika decided that we should take Brian into the kids' area to play with the available activities. We each paid an entrance fee and went in.

I bought an apple cider slushy because it looked good. We wandered around with Brian for a few minutes until he found something that interested him. Erika, Brian and I took our shoes off and bounced on the bouncy mat. It was funny watching him jump on it. Then he fell on his face. He was okay. 

Erika and Brian waited their turn on the tractor ride and went around the pumpkin patch two times. Brian was having a good time unlike the other small children; they cried and wanted off. We walked over to the bubble making station and spent a good while making bubbles for Brian to poke. He and Erika swung on the swings and then he saw the talking tractor, and we watched the tractor for a bit. It made Brian smile.

It was getting late and Erika needed to take Brian home so he could get in a nap. Erika thanked us for coming out and getting pumpkins with them. I got back into the Escape and Mom followed me in her Expedition, we hit up the Walmart in Tumwater, drove out to Lacey to check out Hobby Lobby and Michael's for a couple of things. I headed home so I could make dinner and Mom drove back out to Rainier.

Next year, I am excited to see how Brian is at the pumpkin patch. We will be weeks away from meeting the new baby at that point.

Next Adventure: Mom and Dad's Birthday and Pumpkin Carving with Liz, Maddy and Isla