Halloween

Sophia had a very full and exciting Halloween this year. Most of that was because her preschool did a bunch of very cool Halloween- and fall-themed activities. About a week before Halloween,, they did a field trip to a pumpkin patch about 15 minutes from the city. We all piled into a yellow schoolbus (including as many parent chaperones as there were kids) and traveled out to the valley. The bus ride was a lot of fun, but more on that later.

The view from the bank of the river


A pumpkin / squash patch, nestled in among the trees. Most of the kids were more interested in the dogs than they were in the process of growing pumpkins.


Big pile o' pumpkins, inhabited by a big pile o' kids. This is where the kids had their snack, and some were brave enough to venture into the haunted house. but not many, and they quickly removed themselves.


Each of the kids received a little kid-sized pumpkin as part of the trip. There was an enormous pile of these little pumpkins, and I figured this would take forever since each kid was given the chance to choose the best pumpkin, but Sophia just walked up and grabbed the first one she could reach. It was, of course, perfect.


until she saw this one...


Back of the bus on the ride home, sitting with a couple of her preschool pals. They giggled and sang all the way home, especially when there was a big bump that launched them a couple inches off of their seat.

On Halloween, they had a Halloween party at the preschool. Due to a school policy, the kids weren't allowed to wear their costumes (one ignorant jerk parent can make a difference) but they did have a little "concert" as well as snacks and Halloween-themed decorations that they had worked on all week. Parents were encouraged to bring treats, and as usual, Tricia went well beyond the call of duty. Here is a tray of her mummy brownie tarts, which were absolutely delicious.





getting ready for the concert.

This is a movie of the first little bit of the concert, with the kids singing a couple of the songs they have been learning in class. Note particularly the several kids frozen solid by stage fright (or apathy. not sure which)



Pumpkin carving is also a big part of Halloween, and a couple days before Halloween itself, we carved the pumpkins we got at the pumpkin patch. Sophia had definite expectations about what the pumpkins would be like, and she was not a big fan of the "goop"




Finally, a close-up shot of the costume that Tricia spent so much time and energy sewing, that Sophia was not allowed to wear to school. Whatever.