Congratulations to Julie!

Julie was nominated Student of the Week at her school. She received a certificate and a $5 gift certificate for Dominoes Pizza. Yeah Julie!

Halloween photo taken on Grand Avenue, St. Paul.

Halloween

Halloween has become my favorite holiday. I don’t know if it is because I have kids now or if it because Halloween in the Twin Cities is so great. We had such a great time and I can’t wait until next year to do it all over again.

For Halloween, Helena was a spider witch with a nice black lace and red satin costume, a very nice find for only $5. Julie had a bar saloon dress and hat but decided to dress is up with a multi-color scarf. I think she was trying to make it look like a belly dancing costume or something. Anyway, she enjoyed her costume.

The great thing about Halloween in the Twin Cities is that there is no shortage of things to do and events start a couple of weeks before Halloween. So we’ve been celebrating Halloween since October 21. Next year, I want to start even sooner if possible.

We started the Halloween season by going to the Zoo Boo at Como Park Zoo. http://www.comozooconservatory.org/como_park/index.shtml
It was opening night so there were many people there and it was cold cold cold. Most of the animals are put inside for the night but we saw a few. There were tons of volunteers dressed up as animals and story book characters. The kids got candy, healthy snacks, crayons, stickers, and temporary tatoos. Also Radio Disney was there to play games and give prizes. Julie had fun playing the games but did not win any prizes. Helena had fun playing with Kader my friend Carole’s three year old boy. Carole was a little cranky because it was cold and there were a ton of people. She told me that when she sees my name on caller ID around next Halloween, she isn’t going to answer the phoneJ

The next weekend was jammed packed w/ Halloween events. On Friday night Julie went to her school’s Halloween dance. She came home with fangs. While she was there, Helena and I went looking at some of the Halloween displays in Burnsville.

Saturday we went to Grand Avenue in St. Paul for their annual trick or treating event. Julie had won the costumer constest last year and was eager to go again. Julie did not win this year, neither did Helena. But they still got lots of treats and had a great time. Later that afternoon, we went to Julie’s Girl Scouts Party. We carved pumpkins and sat by the bonfire. It was a really fun day.

Sunday evening we picked up Aunt Stacy and went on the Halloween Ghost Trolley. http://www.trolleyride.org/ Stacy had taken me before about 10 years ago and I had forgotten how fun it was. Of course, it was probably even more fun with kids who scared more easily. Stanley Kowlski, the dead museum volunteer, came into our trolley and lead us to the end of the track where the ghosts attacked. Julie screamed and nearly pulled Aunt Stacy’s arm off. Helena flinched a couple of times but otherwise handled it very well.

Later that night we went to look at Halloween decorations from a website I found. Most of the houses either had decorations that weren’t lit up or had no decorations. We did see a few that were good and there was one house that I saw on the news that was really scary and gory. We loved it.
Tuesday marked our final Halloween outing. Helena went trick and treating with her Dad at the Mall of America. She did not end up getting very much candy, so her dad bought her some.

Julie and I went to Halloween Haunt at Valley Fair. Julie loved the haunted houses. I’m deaf from her screaming in my ear and I gained some muscle because I had to pull her through the houses. I managed to talk Julie into going on the roller coaster and another scary upside down ride. She did not really like the rides and by the end of the night was feeling naucious. She did have a good time and so did I.

Now that Halloween is over, I’m in a bit of a funk. We had so much fun and it is too early to start the Christmas stuff. Well maybe not too soon….