Halloween

Our Halloween festivities began last Thursday night with a little pumpkin painting. Since the tot is still too little (no matter how hard she tries to disprove it), we waited to do this activity until after she was in bed. I painted our names on three little pumpkins and then painted black stripes on a larger pumpkin and covered it in glow-in-the-dark puff paint. I'm sad that I forgot to get a picture of the final product but the glow-in-the-dark paint was awesome! Definitely the coolest pumpkin on the block. ;c ) While I was busy painting my four pumpkins, Jake was consumed making sure every detail of his one pumpkin was perfect. However, after nearly an hour of planning and design, he ended up with a large, black "E" and a white stem. I nearly fell off my bar stool laughing. Time well spent, huh?

The next day was Halloween . Our out-of-town guests arrived just before we set out for trick-or-treating and, although it was absolutely freezing, we threw on extra layers and headed down the street. Mr. "I'm no fun" Eldredge refused to dress up as the tin man leaving Taylor and I to pull off our Wizard of Oz theme by ourselves. Since it was so cold, I traded in my straw hat for something a bit warmer and added a leather jacket over my costume. Taylor had on two layers of clothes under her costume (including gloves, a hat, and house shoes), so I'm certain that she stayed nice and toasty.

As for the actual trick-or-treating, the tot was a little unsure. She didn't understand why we were going up to stranger's houses and not going inside (and, at a few residences, she even invited herself right in), but I'm pretty sure she enjoyed seeing all of the other kids on the street as well as the festive decorations at each house. She was a good sport about the entire thing, regardless.

The tot had a full-on entourage for the big event with her dad and I and our friends from Salt Lake in tow. Our trick-or-treating was short-lived due to the cold and the fact that our street is an extreme hot spot for kids on Halloween. We made sure we were back home in time to hand out candy before the madness began. And honestly, I think Taylor enjoyed seeing the trick-or-treaters at our door more than she did partaking in the experience herself. She was able to stay inside in her jammies where it was warm while everyone else came to her. Smart kid.

The next morning we were up bright and early so that we could hand off the tot to my parents for a kid-free day at Faurot Field watching our Mizzou tigers beat the Kentucky wildcats. Tailgating is, by far, one of our favorite activities, and we were super excited to show our friends the ropes sans baby. We had chilly weather, good company, and a cooler full of fall beers enjoy. After the game, we headed downtown for some greasy bar food and beer hopping. The day did not disappoint, and I'm pretty sure our friends had a stellar time indeed.

I think I'm still recovering from our night of fun (being 30 really is rough...), but it was totally worth it. We made some new memories with the tot and relived some old memories with a couple of great friends. 

So long, October. It's been an amazing, action-packed month, but I'm ready to move on to turkey legs, pumpkin pie, and some quality family time.