Arachnophobia

I feel a little guilty about admitting this, but I had this post ready yesterday and I didn't post it. You want to know why? Because if I had posted it on November 1st, I was afraid I'd feel compelled to join my friend Nicole in a November Blog-a-day marathon and that would've stressed me out, kept me up late, probably gotten me sick, tired, resentful, annoyed, etc. So I purposely held off on publishing it until today when, on November 2, it's now too late to sign up for the 'Blog-a-day' challenge. 

Is that clever of me or what? 

I'll do my best to post at least once every 3 days instead....

Now, before you continue to read, I must caution you. If you dislike creepy crawlies, are spooked by cute bugs, or have any form of arachnophobia, you ought to stop reading now because this post is full of spiders. Itsy, bitsy spiders.  

Halloween 2009: 3 peas in a pod.

Halloween 2010: The 3 little pigs. 

Halloween 2011: The Itsy Bitsy Spiders

I think I've said it before, but I actually dislike Halloween. Aside from the part where you get to see  helpless little kids dressed up like everything from bananas to dinosaurs, I really just don't like it. But I go with it because it's not about me. It's about my kids. 

So this year, we went as spiders. 

My biggest challenge turned out to be the triple wagon and how to incorporate it into our spider theme. So I decided to cover it in web....and spiders. It worked out okay...not great. Just okay.  Whad'ya gonna do? Jag the cat said it turned out great.

So here are five billion photos from Halloween....

HALLOWEEN PART ONE

Who: Me, Brian, the Trio, My Sister and Brinley, My mom and Al

Where: Reid Park Zoo's Howl-o-ween. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

We had a great time and only had to wait about 15 minutes before we were in the actual zoo! (A major improvement from last year's wait of more than an hour!)

 Brinley and Aunt Mary arrived at the same moment we did :)

Oh my goodness, how my kids adore her. 

And people, have you ever seen a cuter flower than a Brinley Flower??

Cutest Damn Flower I've ever seen!

My Hunter Spider

Ethan Spider

Colton Spider

Mom and Al

Grammy and Brinley

Mom and Al 

I told them that this is what happens to bad little triplets....

Havin' some candy

 The last stop before you reach the exit was a little barn, with a little Hoe-down" for the kids. ADORABLE! They loved getting out of their wagon to dance!

Ethan and Brian

Happy HOWL=O-WEEN everyone! 

HALLOWEEN PART TWO

WHO: Me, Brian, the Trio, my Dad, Genise, Auntie Valerie and Uncle Jim

WHERE: Church Harvest Festival

Auntie Valerie and Uncle Jim 

My little family

Last year, he surprised them with a Big Bad Wolf Mask...this year,my dad jumps in front of the wagon from outa nowhere, wearing some freaky, creepy mask. Surprisingly, no one cried. 

Taking off the mask to reveal that it's really just "Ponka"

My Dad, Colton and Genise

"Lead the way Auntie!"

Gotta love this hairdo!

I loved that this year the kids could actually be involved in some of the games. This one was ring the coke can. If your ring lands on one of the coke cans, you win a free can of soda! Let's just say, they were more or less 'giving' them away, as my little ones needed several tries before they "won". 

Here's Colton, picking out his prize.

Then there was dinner. My dad treated everyone to dinner...And boy, did he go all out! $9 for 9 hot dogs, 9 bags of chips and 9 bottles of water! Can't beat that!  :) 

Trying on Uncle's Hair! 

Trying on Ponka's Mask

Trying on Genise's hat!

Perhaps my favorite part of the night came at the very end when Brian pilfered some balloons for our kids. They walked all the way out to the car with them. Once we got to the car, my dad 'let his ballon go' as all three kids stared into the black sky and watched as that balloon floated higher and higher until  it was outa sight. Then it happened. 

Colton did the same. He let his balloon go! And didn't cry. 

Then Hunter released hers. And she didn't cry. 

Then Ethan let go of his. And he too did not cry. 

Instead, there was a chorus of  "Buh-Bye Ba-yoons!" , "See you later Bayoons!" "Have a good day!" "Night night bayoons!" 

They were so cute!! And I was shocked that no one freaked out once they realized what they had done cuz when I say these kids love balloons, that is an understatement. They were so darn cute! 

And that, my friends, is how we do Halloween! 

See you next year!