Trick or Treat!

Trick-or-treat was postponed until November 4, due to the stormy weather from Hurricane Sandy. But better late than never! 

Grandma Molnar was visiting at Halloween, and she was the official candy-hander-outer so Mommy & Daddy could trick-or-treat with Ainsley. Ainsley did a great job this year. She walked up to each house and said, "Trick or treat!" when someone opened the door. Then she said, "Thank you! Happy Halloween!" after getting a treat in her pumpkin bucket. 

Several people thought she was Minnie Mouse, but Ainsley was quick to correct them - "I'm Mickey Mouse!"  Too funny.

As Ainsley says - Happy Halloween, everyone!

Mickey Mouse is ready!

Spooky Chez Wills East

A ghostly glow

A scary stare

Boo!

Checking out our Halloween decor

Ainsley & Mommy

Ainsley & Daddy

Ainsley & Grandma Molnar

Daddy & Ainsley trick-or-treating. Ainsley carried her special
pumpkin flashlight for most of the night.

Getting some candy from Joy

Ainsley & Mommy trick-or-treating

Ainsley got a full bucket of candy!

Yummy! We can't wait to do it again next year!

Halloween Activities

We filled our October weekends with lots of fun activities to celebrate Halloween. Here are some of the highlights.

Haunted Hayride

The haunted hayride at Lake Farmpark was a little chilly and rainy, but we had a lot of Halloween fun. Ainsley loved the hayride, where we saw some spooky scenes throughout the park. (We have since gone on many "hayrides" around the dining room table.) The cows were out, too, so Ainsley was excited to see some of her favorite farm park animals.

The hayride dropped us off at another Halloween display with haunted tents, carnival snacks, and a dance performance by glow-stick people. Such a great event!

Bundled up on the hayride

Spooky graveyard

Boo at the Zoo

The rain continued for our visit to Boo at the Zoo a few nights later, thanks to the beginning of Hurricane Sandy. But that didn't stop us from seeing everything the zoo had to offer. Ainsley even wore her Mickey Mouse pants and nose among all the layers.

We got some special treatment at the giraffe exhibit, since it wasn't very crowded. The caretaker took us into the employee area with a platform right up by the giraffe's head! He said we could hold out our hands and let the giraffe smell us. Since he was petting the giraffe's face, I asked if I could, too. I reached out and patted the long nose before the guy had a chance to say that I really shouldn't do that because he could bite. Oops!  But I got to pet a giraffe.  :)

Witches and pumpkins in the hay maze

Ainsley's favorite thing at the zoo was the Pachyderm Pumpkin feeding. They ate whole pumpkins - just crushed them right up and ate them!  Ainsley will also tell you that we saw the elephants eating hay.

In the Wolf Den, two cellists were dressed like trees and played kid-friendly music. We recognized music from The Lion King, Star Wars, and many others. It was wonderful to warm up in front of the fire in the cozy lodge and listen to the music.

Trick-or-Treat at Beachwood Place
Beachwood Place Mall has an event where kids can trick-or-treat at the stores. It's a great way for the kids to show off their costumes and do some trick-or-treating without worrying about the dark or the cold. Ainsley had a blast and got some good practice for the real thing!

Mickey Mouse is ready to go!

Let's get started!

Ainsley walked right up to the people at the stores to say "Trick or Treat!" Such a big girl this year!

Trick or treat!

Ainsley wandered into the Coach store.

The Lego store

Taking a break to check out her loot

Dancing with Mommy

Halloween Parade at School
Ainsley's daycare had a Halloween parade, where the kids wore costumes and marched around to the different rooms to trick-or-treat. We couldn't go to the parade, of course, but we took some pictures before we left the house. (No make-up allowed, so Ainsley couldn't wear her Mickey nose.)  She was very excited to celebrate Halloween at school and brought home a big bag of yummy candy.

Cutest Mickey Mouse ever!

Showing off her tail

Pumpkin Carving

After picking out some big pumpkins and some tiny ones, it was time to carve them up! Daddy is the official pumpkin carver in the Wills household (he has two pumpkins carved by the time I even get the lid cut out of mine!). So naturally, he carved the pumpkin that Ainsley designed. 

The eye should go right here.

Yes, that's good

It should have a triangle nose.

A little to the left...

He needs a happy face AND a sad face.

Ta-Da!

Working on a big pumpkin.

Smooth and a little slimy

Ainsley helped scoop the guts out of Mommy's pumpkin.

And a sneak peek at all of our pumpkins, glowing for Trick-or-Treat!

Picking Pumpkins

A week before Halloween, we went to get our pumpkins! Ainsley announced that she wanted a big pumpkin AND a tiny pumpkin. Well, there sure were plenty of pumpkins to pick from at the Mulberry Corners Pumpkin lot. 

We always get our pumpkins from here, because nine years ago, Nathan put my engagement ring in a carved pumpkin we got from this lot. So it has some sentimental value, in addition to a ton of great pumpkins and Fall fun!

Driving a real tractor

So many to choose from

This one looks good

I did it!

And off we go!

These are heavy!

One more tiny pumpkin, and I think we're done!

There was a balloon artist making really cool spiders and other things for kids. Ainsley said she wanted something purple, so we asked the guy to surprise us. We got this really neat ladybug that Ainsley could wear on her wrist! She wore it the whole way home and wanted to take it with her everywhere!