Halloween, Ham House, Captain America, and My Red Marker Head/ Ariel

Last Friday was Halloween, and because my kids didn't have school all week for half term, and it was 70 degrees outside, we went searching for Halloween fun.  The city has plenty going on to choose from, but most of it is spooky and neither of my kids really go for that, so we headed to the Halloween festivities at Ham House.  We've gone there this year and last year for their Easter trails, but this was the first time we got to check it out while the leaves were changing.  Ham house and it's gardens are stunning and this time of year did not disappoint.

There was a Halloween scavenger hunt that led you around the outside of the house and all through the gardens.

The kids were all over it.  They were reading the clues, unscrambling letters, and filling in the answers on their answer sheets which they turned in at the end for a prize.  

I have to say, Jayce as Captain America in his aviator glasses really gave an air of authority. :)
 
We met up with our good friends at Ham House so that the kids could hunt for clues and explore together and the adults could hang out and chat.



The kids all get along great and helped each other with clues and word scrambles.

Hannah obviously didn't really know what she was doing, but that didn't stop her for a second.  She crouched down with them at every clue and drew lines on her paper, the occasional H or two, and I'm sure that in her mind they were all doing exactly the same thing.

I did catch her reaching up to this statue with her pencil and when I asked whether or not she had written on the statue, she responded quickly with "But I don't want to get a spanking!" which I think was my answer.

After the hunt was over we moved inside for homemade pumpkin pie samples and Halloween crafts, then to the cafe for a late lunch.

Since the trail was over and the kids weren't all running away from us, I took that as a chance to get them all together for a picture to two.  Jayce and Hannah were less cooperative, but as soon as their friends joined in they quickly moved into position and gave me some silly smiles.



Hannah had a little costume change just before the "official" Halloween pictures, because she wanted to be Ariel for Halloween, but just before we left the house she had changed into her Coronation Day Dress, as she does a dozen times a day.  I didn't mind, but I did want to make sure to get a picture of her in the daylight in her Princess Ariel dress since I had just whipped it up the day before. :)  It was not my best work, but it was the best I could do given the circumstances, and it worked just fine. :)

We headed back home later in the afternoon, only a few hours before trick or treating.  The kids laid low and Hannah's red hair spray arrived in the mail just in time!

They posed for one final picture before they went out, but as you can see they were certainly over having their picture taken at this point, as I knew they would be, and I silently patted myself on the back for having done it earlier.  Even without Ariel's red hair or Captain America's mask.

A word on red hair spray on a 3 year old.  I said this on Facebook and I'll say it here as well, it's a bit like handing your 3 year old an uncapped marker the size of their head.  Any and everything that came in contact with it was bright red. You should have seen her shoulders by the end of the night, she looked like she was severely sunburned.  

At the end of the night when she noticed that the red had faded/wiped off all over everything, she declared, "Oh nooooo, my hair is turning brown again!!"  I did not touch it up with any more red.

Our friends came over for trick or treating and dinner, but I wasn't feeling well at that point and didn't manage to get a single picture of them all.  I ended up going to the doctor while they all went trick or treating, which was a bummer, but a necessity at that point as well.

As for our pumpkins, there was a little bit of a delay in pulling them together and they were carved on the day after Halloween.  Chris and Jayce were in charge of the pumpkins: Jayce was the design consultant and Chris was the carver/scooper/designer of the pumpkin on the right.  He was very pleased with himself, and understandably so.

And that was our Halloween. :)