Halloween Weekend

Technically, this wasn't Tessa's FIRST Halloween. However, this was the first Halloween in which we actually did something with her. We weren't originally going to, figuring that she was too young to really know what's going on, but then her godparents bought her this awesome ladybug costume...and we just HAD to go out and show off our cute kid!



The condo division that we live in doesn't have much by the way of young kids in it. (College kids, sure, but no young-un's.) So we were pretty sure that taking her around the neighborhood wouldn't really be worth the effort. Instead, Kate tracked down details for the annual Treatsylvania celebration that takes place at The Farm in Lee Martinez Park. We'd heard about Treatsylvania many times before but, of course, never went there ourselves since we didn't have a kid.

Well, let me tell you...this Treatsylvania event is awesome! You enter the Park in groups and follow a trail lined with decorated "Doors" representing the commercial sponsors of the event:







The kids knock on the Doors and volunteers open up and offer up treats.





Mostly the treats were small bits of candy, but many vendors also dropped in coupons, pencils, and other little tidbits.

Tessa was hesitant at first, but she likes to knock on doors...so she would dash up, rap on the door, and run away back to Kate! But when she started to realize that no one scary was coming out...and that the people would put treats in her (provided) bag...she started to get into it. By the end of the line, she would knock once then try to open the door herself to get inside!! :-D

Altogether, it was a very well-organized and comfortable event. We're definitely visiting again next year!

This took place on Sunday. On Halloween Monday, Kate took Tessa to the Tiny Tot Halloween sponsored by the Downtown Business Association of Old Town Fort Collins. I'd heard about the event in the newspaper and suggested that Kate might try it out while I was stuck at work.

Basically, all the businesses in Old Town (and according to Kate, they do mean ALL of them) have treats for costumed little ones who come in for a visit. Costumed employees are eager and welcoming to all young candy-seekers and their parents.

Apparently the event was PACKED! Kate took some pictures to show how amazingly crowded it was:





...so this is obviously another popular event. Kate says that despite the crowds, it was still well-organized and Tessa had a lot of fun running around getting more loot for her (again, provided) bag.

Both events are obviously very commercial and geared toward advertising a variety of local and regional merchants...but that's okay! Both are still a lot of fun for the kids and a safe way to spend Halloween.

That night, after I got home from work, Kate and I bundled Tessa back into her costume and popped down to visit Tessa godparents - Debbie and Rick - to show off the outfit they had bought for her. While we meant to just do a quick stop, we ended up camping out with Debbie on their front porch and helping hand out candy. Deb insisted on taking me and Tessa around the cul-de-sac to meet her neighbors so she could show off her adorable god-daughter...so Tessa got in a half dozen "real" treat-or-treating stops that night! She also enjoyed helping hand out candy.

Crowning moment was when a gaggle (probably eight or nine) of teenage girls swarmed up the walk for their treats and spotted Tessa the Ladybug. They literally ALL broke into a loud and simultaneous "AWWWWW!" :-)

The drawback of the night is that Kate and I decided to let Tessa have a few pieces of her loot, including a couple Kit-Kat, Smarties, Three Musketeers, and chocolate-covered raisins. I know this will come as a shock, but she's now hooked on sweets. ;-)

But it was a seriously good weekend.

Anyway, thanks for reading...and I hope you're having a great day!

Visit Last Weekend

Okay, a little slow on the updates again. I'm going to try out the scheduled posting thing and go ahead and write up a couple of updates today. We'll see how it works out. :-)

This post I wanted to share some pictures of my Mom, my sister, and my nephew's visit with me and Kate last weekend. They weren't able to stay really long but it was great to see them anyway. They came up on Friday night - which unfortunately was when we'd planned to have our monthly Library Game Night. It turned out not to be a problem, though. Dianna joined us for the gathering while Mom watched over Everest back at the hotel. We managed to get in two (count 'em, TWO) games during the evening, namely Apples to Apples and Wise and Otherwise. A couple of our guests had to leave a little early but a couple of us nonetheless managed to stay up later than we should have. Stil, a good time appeared to have been had by all.

The next day (Saturday) Dianna and Mom brought Everest over to our place. We chatted and let Everest play with some toys we keep upstairs. Everest seemed to enjoy himself quite bit.





My Dad gave us a call that morning to chat for a bit so Everest got to talk to his grandpa a little too.



Afterwards, we headed out to Old Town Fort Collins for lunch. On Dianna's suggestion, we went to Hu Hot, a popular Mongolian grill style restaurant there in Old Town. It's one of my favorites and I'm glad that Mom and Dianna enjoyed themselves too.






After lunch, we wandered around Old Town for a little while. There was a jazz music event going on as well as a big sidewalk sale for most of the downtown stores so we definitely wandered and browsed for a bit. Then we stopped for some dessert at Gelazzi, the gelato shop in Old Town.








After Gelazzi, Mom and Dianna decided to head back home so that they wouldn't be getting in too late. Kate and I kicked back for the rest of the night with a game of Lego Indiana Jones. :-)

It was a lot of fun! Thank to Mom and Dianna for making time for the visit!

And as always, thanks for reading! Hope you're having a great day!