The Carlsons: Halloween with the Black Halloween Cat and the Duck, take IV

Now that Ella is in school, there's been even more opportunities to celebrate Halloween and get into the spooky spirit! Her preschool, LANK, hosted an amazing Halloween party for all the families and not only were the decoration completely impressive, but the games, crafts, and activities were all to be applauded. Erika volunteered some time at the face painting/tatoo table and later in the party, Tim was in charge of hooking the fishing line with treats for the children who threw their line into the water (ie: behind a big painted wave board that Tim sat behind and hooked their line with candy and other treats). For the adults, it was nice to meet some of the parents and see Ella interact with some of her classmates.

On Halloween, the neighborhood organized a Costume Parade with three other adjoining neighborhoods for a combined get together of over 50 children, all dressed and ready to celebrate the candy day! Afterwards, we all met at the local playground for a post-parade party complete with candy (of course!), food, drinks, and pinetas. After an hour break to eat some dinner, the neighborhood was back out again for trick-or-treating. We were really proud of Ella this year; she was very assertive and not her typical shy self. In fact, she felt totally comfortable approaching the doors with us from the sidewalk and pronouncing "trick-or-treat" and "thank-you!" Caroline also did great, wearing the duck costume that we never would have thought would have gotten so much use! For it's fourth year in a row, the duck made it's appearance and we were pleasantly surprised to find out that Caroline wore the hat teh entire time. Looking ever so adorable, she got her first tastes of Halloween candy and even though didn't quite make the entire neighborhood rounds, she found it quite rewarding to sit with Tim on our porch to hand out candy to the children!