Halloween 2014

It's not Thanksgiving yet, so these pictures are totally still relevant, right? 

This year for Halloween we tried to go for "classic scary". It took much deliberation and there was a little bit of flip flopping involved to get it all worked out, but in the end I think they made for a fantastic and frightening bunch.

Harlow was, of course, around for last Halloween, but this was her first REAL Halloween. It was so fun to watch her figure out what this crazy holiday is all about. She was the picture of  cuteness in her witch costume that I very proudly threw together at the last minute.

We got plenty of these scowls before we got the smiles. Oh, how I love this little girl's personality. 

This was my secret weapon for getting cooperation from my little witch. A helpful phantom and a roll of smarties seemed to do the trick.

I couldn't get enough of her.

As I was figuring out what I wanted to do to make a "cute which" costume the one things I knew I wanted was a feathery hat. I was thrilled when I found a Halloween boa on clearance (definitely one of the perks of waiting for the last minute!) that was perfect for gluing onto her hat. I loved how it looked but I was unsure of how she would feel about such an imposing hat. To my surprise, not only did she tolerate it, but she insisted on it. The only fussing she did was when it would accidentally fall off. She must have known how adorable she looked in it. 

From cute to creepy. Reed insisted on being something truly scary this year. Some of his suggestions were a little too disturbing for me and I really don't like masks, so this was our compromise. I personally think he nailed it.

I made him smile for at least one picture.

He definitely enjoyed playing the part.

Reed wasn't the only one who enjoy playing the part. Ruby amazes me. She was going to be something else (I can't actually remember what.) but on a whim I suggested that she be the Bride of Frankenstein instead. I showed her some picture online and she was sold. I was actually quite surprised at how willing she was, especially after I showed her the wig she would have to wear.
I'm so glad I did suggest it, because I loved everything about her costume and was pretty proud that I was able to pull it off without making her look like a ghost.

Have a mentioned how much Ruby enjoys having her picture taken?

Max was back and forth on his costume the most. He really wanted to be something like Reed, but decided to be true to the animal-lover that he is. I personally think a bat is plenty scary.  This costume was all Sam. We were last minute getting everything ready this year and I already felt overwhelmed getting the other three together so I was super grateful that Sam took care of this one on his own. Once again I am amazed at Sam's sewing skills, given he only uses the sewing machine at Halloween. He even made button holes on the wings for Max to slip his thumbs through, What!??

Max desperately wanted a "flying" picture, but this was the best we were able to do.

We do a lot of fun things to celebrate Halloween throughout the month but for me, taking pictures of my kids in their Halloween costumes in my favorite. This year, Sam wasn't going to be around to help me wrangle them before trick or treating, so I had to count on Reed instead and boy did he come through. I was so proud of how helpful he was during what can sometimes be a frustrating endevor. Nothing like getting kids to cooperate and pose while you take "just one more" picture before they get to head out for trick of treating. They were all champs actually. (I'm sure that little prayer we said helped too.) 

One might think taking a billion pictures of my kids before trick-or treating would satisfy my need to taken any during the candy collecting festivities, but that would be false. I have more pictures from trick-or-treating, but those will have to wait for another night....hopefully before Christmas.

County Fair

Of all the activities we try to squeeze into the too-few weeks of summer, going to the fair is always one of our favorites. This year things seemed to be extra busy or summer was extra short because we some how missed both of the weeks of the carnival in Mt. Airy. Thankfully the Howard County Fair ( just a few miles down the road) was late in season so we didn't miss out completely. We had never been to this fair so we weren't sure what to expect, but now that we've been I can definitely say it didn't disappoint. 

The fair is one place that I just can't help but take lots of pictures. The colorful backdrops, the adorable and elated children, the perfect summer evening weather and the nostalgia of the event  is too much to not go a little paparazzi on everyone.

The kids were so excited to get there, but less excited when we realized I had forgot to stop at the bank for cash and we had to wait for Sam to meet us.

This was Harlow's first trip to the fair. She may not have known what was in there, but she knew she wanted to find out.

First stop--farm life of course.

Once Sam got there we moved right on to the rides.

First ride of the night. Reed loving it, Max looking like he he might loose his lunch.

They both claimed to love it, but in the picture below they seem to display that love a little diferently.

Ruby was so excited to be one of the "brave big kids" this time. She jumped right on without any hesitation, however if you look in the picture with Sam below there seems to be a terrified little girl hiding under that hat.

..but she survived.

And boy was she proud!

After that she was unstoppable and wanted to go on all the rides that the boys did. She was almost tall enough for all of the rides too. This is her stretching tall before she is measured for the next ride.

I guess her stretching worked because they let her on even though I'm pretty sure she wasn't quite tall enough.

Ruby was thrilled, but someone else was not happy at all about being left out...again.

This used to be one of my most favorite rides as a kid so it was extra fun to see the kids enjoying it so much. Sam would have happily let me take his place, but sadly rides and I don't mix very well anymore. I get super dizzy and sick on just about anything. I wasn't sure if this would have done it but I didn't wait until I was strapped into a swing with no way out to find out.

For the next ride Harlow thought just hopping in line like everyone else would be her ticket on.

No luck for Harlow, but the other kids had a blast on Starship 4000.

Max passed on the dragon swing (I'm with you Max...I've always wanted to pass on that ride.) Watching Reed and Ruby ride together was the cutest thing.

Max looked a little sad, but I don't think he regreted his decision.

Harlow was getting a little impatient, so Sam gave her a ride of her own.

That girl is a thrill seeker for sure.

Seeing them hand in hand is the best.

The girls and I took a quick detour to the "kiddie" rides. I thought I could handle the baby teacups. I thought wrong. 

I was fine until Ruby started spining us, then Harlow and I were both a little concerned.

I love how these kiddos hang together.

I gave up trying to keep Harlow out of the gravel while we were there. It was hard for her to see her siblings hop on ride after ride while she stayed behind so we decided to let her play in the gravel and trade a sad girl for a dirty one.

She always wins the sunglasses battle with me.

And this is why I never buy sunglasses that cost more than $10.

A rare photo of just Sam, Harlow and I. I never turn someone down who offers take a "family photo". Little did they know that we were three short.

Our other three were spinning themselves silly on Starship 4000--again. Despite these photos it was their favorite ride of the night and ended up going on it two more times after this.

Here are the boys trying to punch each other in the stomach to see who actually felt the queasiest after the ride.

I don't know if it was the woozyness or the evening hunger that was getting her, but we had a moment of Ruby like this. Thankfully it didn't last long and we decided it might be time for a little funnel cake and lemonade.

Everyone was happy about that.

It's absolutely ridiculous what they can charge for food when you are trapped inside the fair gates. We opted to share one funnel cake and a lemonade. I think everything was devoured within a few minutes.

This family photo was a little more  like it.

After our very quick snack I insisted that we run over and check out the pig races. It didn't take much convincing to get everyone excited about that plan. Who doesn't love a good pig race?

By the time the races were over it was getting late with time for one more ride. The boys and Sam headed for Starship 4000 (again!!)  and the girls and I headed for the carousel.

It was Harlow's first time, but that didn't make her any more willing to let me hold her on the ride. She's a pretty independent gal.

We still had three tickets left so the girls and I wrapped up our rides on a small dumbo-esq ride that had me feeling like I was going to throw up the whole time. I seriously had to pray my whole way through the ride to avoid panicking.

It was a wonderful evening that unfortunately culminated with my phone dying and Sam losing his phone. We hadn't come up with a meeting strategy that didn't involve phones so it was two frustrating hours later that we were able to leave (thankfully and miraculously with Sam's phone.) In the end the miracle of Sam finding his phone (in one of the crevices of none other than Starship 4000!) along with the miracle of finally finding each other overshadowed the difficulty that preceded it. Even with our later-than-planned departure, I think it turned out to be just right.