Homestyle Halloween

Halloween of 2020, the weirdest year EVER, happened to be just wonderful!  We were six weeks into having our most favorite neighbors down the street. It might have been the biggest surprise of our lives minus the twin pregnancy when Gaga & Paw Paw bought a house across the street & four doors down in September! There are too many things about it to count that bring a smile to each of our faces every single day.  Halloween was the perfect opportunity to consider our "jack-pot" situation & plan a big bash! Everyone received an invitation and then lined up one by one to call Gaga & RSVP. It was funny when one person would hang up then the next would call immediately.  In preparation, she decked out the backyard with spider webs & the back windows were decorated by the kids with bats & spiders. So festive for our SPOOK-TACULAR party!

After not spending much time with my brothers this year, they came into town & it was so fun!  My mom has saved many of our childhood costumes including a number of ones that she made. I was Jessie from Toy Story my senior year in high school so I figured it might be fun to dress up! The waist did not quite fit the way it used to before four pregnancies but a clip fixed it up until I moved & it popped off. Robby threw on the old Captain Hook wig Eloise wore in 2014.  

The line up this year included a fireman for the second year in a row, but he had an addition the he received for his birthday a couple weeks prior. It was a backpack sprayer. For weeks, he kept our flower beds, Paw Paw & Gaga's flower beds & his siblings well watered! 

I mentioned old costumes earlier. Charlotte happened upon a dress I wore in 8th grade & it fit her perfectly. I reminded her that I was unusually small & she is normal sized. We paired it with Gaga's heels, cat ears, a painted nose & some glittery eye shadow. She looked like the prettiest cat I had ever seen. 

Eloise, oh Eloise. She was set on the idea of being a pirate. Here she is decked out in the costume she designed and Gaga made. All I contributed was the thing on her head. Fine by me! Leave it to the professionals! She insisted on the tiniest of gold triangles that they worked together to attach. Gaga also spent more time than she should have making felt boots to go over her shoes. She was adorable though & out of everyone, has worn her costume the most since Halloween. She has a great imagination! 

She told Uncle Scott her plan & he looked up the names of some female pirates. He called her one afternoon and told her that she could call herself Sadie the Goat. She is said to be an American legend. 

Some facts about Sadie the Goat:

• she was a vicious street mugger in New York
• her "move" was to get a running start & headbutt her victim in the belly 
• she eventually had her ear bit off in a bar fight
• it was given back to her & she wore it in a locket around her neck

Hmm....thanks Uncle Scott! She was not aware of the details but took on the attack method & chased her brothers down to headbutt them. She also loudly declared when told to do the dishes, "Sadie the Goat doesn't do the dishes!"

The twins, hahaha.  There has been this pair of glasses at my parents house for years. Arlo used to be so terrified of them that they were hidden up in the closet & he would ask before we even traveled to Kingwood if Gaga put them away. He's not scared anymore & he thought his big bros were pretty funny. They opted to dress identically & we were thinking about them adding white hair spray then decided against it because they were going to take a dip in the hot tub that night. 

Gaga really did herself up nice too! Paw Paw hasn't had that much hair in years....or ever I guess!

It has been pretty wonderful to have my own mother just a few houses down. We don't dress like this everyday but wouldn't that be fun? She wore her costume in a tap dancing performance, minus the wig of course, ha!

Notice the skeleton hands Kyle and I replaced ours with. I got them at the dollar store, they were great for a game of don't drop the egg & then Arlo scratched the guinea pigs with them for weeks after. They would flatten out like pancakes and relax. Who wouldn't like that? 

We had yummy snacks....

and played an abundance of games including a scavenger hunt where they collected bones, assembled them & cracked the riddle to enter the door to the closet where they found a bucket full of candy. This fall for school we have focused on human anatomy & Arlo memorized the parts of the axial skeleton. He could point & name them on our model: skull, vertebrae, ribs & sternum. Too cute with his little voice! 

We had a team competition to build bridges with "bones" Q-tips, popsicle sticks, and pipe cleaners that had to hold candy pumpkins. Scott showed off some skills with weaving pipe cleaners while Kyle the engineer couldn't help but build something I could have stood on ; ) Robby & Owen worked together & were able to support lots of pumpkins.  Anson didn't like being my teammate so we didn't take a picture of our bridge that fell apart. I have other talents....not creative construction. 

I didn't get any pictures of the swimming that followed for the little party animals. The hot tub was hot & the pool was sooooo cold! Once the fall rolled around & the pool got chilly, the lifeguard (Paw Paw), his wife, and all the kids started calling the dip in the pool a "Polar Bear Swim." There is a white float called "the iceberg" & every now & then someone yells "POLAR BEAR SWIM!" and everyone jumps in. I would hate that & be considered the party pooper but that's okay ; ) 

Bottom line, this Halloween was one of my very favorite! I think we might do it again next year! 

Camping 2020

After a fun celebration of Darling Arlo turning 5, we headed north to Eisenhower State Park. The boys piled into the Jeeper Beeper with Dad & we had a girl party with music and car dancing in Trusty Rusty, our old Expedition. He makes lots of noises like he might not survive another drive but he keeps going! He ate all my cds a couple years ago and sounds like he is continuing to chew & digest one every 6 minutes. He also exhibits a loud click from the back row near the window. We always tell the kids to stop rhythmically banging even though we know it's Rusty doing his death roll. 

That's all beside the point though. We were en route to camp but had to make a stop at Buc-ee's. Since my parents moved to our street in September, we will likely not drive south on 45 & have the pleasure of stopping at Buc-ee's in Madisonville. So, there we were, walking around collecting all the good snacks, trying to be "fun parents," and resisting buying all the cute Texas shirts and home decor. 

It had been almost a year to the day since our last campout. We had made a reservation for March 2020 but we all know what happened that month so, it was postponed until it wasn't like a furnace outside. We did hope for something between a sauna & a freezer. Last time it was in the mid-thirties over night. The kids were dressed in multiple layers, 3 pairs of socks, wrapped in towels & shoved in their sleeping bags. Robby woke up every two hours and ran the gas heater in the tent to warm us up. He decided against risking our lives by leaving it on all night. He also was the midnight driver to the bathroom, bless his soul. He said he didn't mind since the Jeep has heated seats. Why didn't think of sleeping in there?! 

This time God gifted us with a warm first day, hurricane force winds the next day, then too chilly weather for this girl. The kids never seem to mind what the weather is when they have the option to run free & as parents, we are delighted to explore the great outdoors during COVID year. 

Last year they could see this cave from a distance & this time we were able to scramble up some giant rocks & go inside! 

There is a beach area that was mostly ours. Definitely warm enough to be in the water on Day 1.

Our campsite last year was two over from this one. I remembered the number & we were able to book it for this trip. It was big enough to throw the baseball & could have accommodated 7 hammocks between all of those trees! 

Once the cooler air blew in, our Florida babies still wore their flip flops, but I guess the fire kept their tootsies toasty. 

Arlo & I are best buds. He is constantly telling me that he just likes to be with me. He is always up for a snuggle. Of course his chair was permanently planted next to mine : ) 

Speaking of the cold air blowing in....the kids could lean backward and not fall over. The videos we have still make me giggle! The waves were bigger than the ones we played in on the gulf coast of Florida!  We could walk (or accidentally tumble as some did) down a steep hill that backed up to our campsite then climb over lots of rocks & fallen branches to get to the water. When the wind was howling, we could scream & the kids couldn't hear us...that's nice for trying to keep kids safe ; )  

Here is Arlo testing out his powers over the winds & waves & writing his name. 

They were begging to get in the water when it was maybe 55-60 degrees outside. Robby said let them do it...isn't he fun. I was worried we would be visiting with CPS for child endangerment. They were frozen and enjoyed a hot shower. They only liked the hot water, they hated the spiders, the fire hose strength water pressure, the possibility of peeping people & trying to dry off without stepping on the disgusting ground. I might agree with those things but it always feels great to get the campfire smell out of my hair! 

We enjoyed some hiking after the winds died down a bit. 

We couldn't seem to stay away from the rocks. We climbed while chasing the nimble children so much that our old ankles were sore for days. 

I would never deface a rock (or even think it was worth it to carve for that long) but I did like what was in the heart. 

Owen especially liked this rock because it looked like a giant boat. 

Arlo especially liked smores and spooky campfire stories. I am awful at making them up so I usually read one, memorize then re-tell. This campout was probably the least favorite of all the stories. I don't actually remember that much of it but what I do remember is everyone's disappointed looks, ha! Oh well, at least we had hot chocolate! 

The girls have grown so much in the past year. Char wears so many of my shirts now & I just couldn't help but order myself a pair of matching, cozy, camo pants! They did their best to keep me warm at night but I just HATE being cold! My air mattress lost its air both nights and I ended up on the ground. That was nice. At least our kids did a great job sleeping! 

The kids love the trip to the bathroom because they get to go sans seatbelt AND ride in the front seat! 

Robby attempted some fishing one afternoon but it was extremely windy so we gave it another go before heading home. It can be stressful with 5+ poles & hooks flying everywhere, yikes! We did not plan ahead and decided to use some mozzarella cheese sticks (monster-ella as we call it).  It was pretty funny as we arrived at the same time as another family who had night crawlers for bait & we had to report what we were using. Guess who caught the first fish? Yes, it was us! Sadly, Eloise caught one while Robby had to deal with someone's tangled line so by default I had to get it un-hoooked. It's been awhile since I've fished and I can't say that I have ever been all that skilled. Long story short, it was hooked through it's gill, I did my best, we threw him back in & minutes later there was a dead fish floating. Eloise Doolittle was incredibly sad and trying to not be angry with me. She called me a fish killer once we were in the car. So, the trip ended on a sad note for her but we have fished multiple times since then & I have not assisted with that part. Safe way to stay on her good side ; )

Here is our last pic before leaving our rocky playground. 

We will keep our eye on the weather & get out there again!