Halloween 2011

We had a great Halloween this year, especially because Papa Sedenko was here! During the afternoon of Halloween he attended the book fair at Nicole's school. They had lunch in the cafeteria together and then he took them shopping in the book store. I was depressed to see them come back with stuffed animals. Fortunately, the animals did come with books!

The girls had several Halloween events so they were able to wear a variety of costumes. We attended a mad science party at the library. Nicole was Alice in Wonderland and Allyson was the White Rabbit.

During story time, Allyson chose to practice her hopping.

Making "witches brew"

Making "goo" 

Nicole liked using her apron instead of a bag to collect candy. 

Time to trick-or-treat through the library. 

Cute little bunny tail

The children's area 

Story time room. 

On Sunday the church had a "Prince and Princess" party. Nicole wanted to be Ariel and, since many of Allyson's dress-up clothes are in tatters from wear, I pulled out a dress I was saving for Christmas. I can hardly keep her out of it.

Getting ready for Halloween was fun. Papa helped with the pumpkins. Okay, Nicole helped cut off the top and Papa ended up doing the rest. She wanted Jasmine which was a little involved. 

Nicole was a little more help when it came to clearing the walkway of leaves for the trick-or-treaters. 

For Halloween they went as cowgirls. (I was a cowgirl too but stayed behind the camera.) Our first stop was the big October 31st party at church. We met up with some friends there, but everyone was eager to go trick-or-treating. So, after jumping in some bounce houses and getting a couple of tattoos, we headed back to hit up the neighborhood. Fortunately, our friends, AJ and Hunter, (along with their dad and grandmas) came with us!

 AJ and Hunter were Angry Birds.

Our neighbors and good friends, the Suffelette's. Hope has babysat for us since before Allyson was born!

Our other neighbors and friends, Terry & Marquetta. 

(They always let mom have some candy so this is one of our first stops!)

Allyson was having a blast at one house running back and forth from a couple of dogs. She adores dogs! The other kids were engrossed with the neighbor playing Jaws which was projected onto their garage door. (I made sure we left before any traumatic scenes!)

At some point during the night Nicole felt like dancing. 

Toward the end of the night Allyson was getting pretty tired and her bucket was heavy so Mom was going up to the doors with her. At one house I "felt" something move behind me. I turned around to see what I thought was a decoration come to life... an 8-foot Frankenstein! The guy scared all of us. Then we took pictures.  

 Another neighbor and good friend (and the last stop of the night), Jill.

Things went pretty well tonight. Allyson only ran into one house (fortunately it was Hope's) and attempted one other. Other than that, we all had fun and ended up with a nice supply of cavity-causing treats. (Actually, a friend left us some healthy treats and goodies on our doorstep for Halloween...I just forgot to take a picture...so it wasn't all cavity-causing treats.)

Random deer in the road

I was driving home the other night and this guy was in the road, right in front of our driveway. We just sat there staring at each other for the longest time so I started taking pictures.

Uncle Jeff

When Uncle Jeff called to say he would be in nearby Oklahoma for a couple of days we didn't hesitate to jump in the car and meet him in Tulsa. 

He was ready to shop and the first night we were introduced to the wonders of Steinmart and one of Tulsa's malls.

We enjoyed dinner at the Cheescake Factory. 

She was so excited, not even a seat-belt could keep Allyson contained in her booster seat.  

   (By the time we got to the hotel Allyson was so exhausted she actually asked if she could go to bed!)

The next day we visited the Oklahoma Aquarium. (I know- an aquarium in Oklahoma. Strange but true.) 

 They'd never seen live shrimp before. 

 Eel.... eew

Can you find the fish? It's eyes are on the right side of the picture. Notice its outline. Pretty cool camoflauge. 

I'm sure I caught this guy's relative at Table Rock last year.

 And then there were the sting rays.

This video shows how the girls got to feed the sting rays. There was even a petting area. Unfortunately, we had to wait about 15 minutes for the petting time. The girls were raring to go. And then, after all that waiting, they chickened out. Argh. I admit, petting the thing did freak me out a little. Slimy.  The end of the video shows the cutest, fastest little otter ever, Swim Jim!

Here the girls get to feed turtles.

The girls loved the sharks.  

  Actually, Allyson like the shark cage the most.

 Wrestling alligators

 Time to go...

We had a quick lunch before saying goodbye.

And then Allyson had a quick cigarette. I'm not kidding. Jeff found her with this in her mouth. She picked it up off the ground. And then, as I'm freaking out about it, he puts it back in her hand to take these pictures. What a great uncle...

Guess it's back to the cage for her...