Hey There, Little Red Riding Hood…

We had a storybook character in our midst for Halloween this year! Lucy really didn’t know the story, but once I get an idea in my head there's no turning back.  I found a decent version of the story on YouTube, and once we got over the initial shock of the wolf eating the grandma, she was on board. I made the cape out of fleece using this tutorial, we got a basket at Goodwill, put on a dress we already had, and voila! Little Red Riding Hood.

We had lots of great Halloween activities this year. Last Saturday, we went to the Great Pumpkin Festival at The West End, a local shopping area. Lucy wore her costume and we "trick-or-treated" at the exhibitor booths, danced with the Radio Disney team, and decorated a trick-or-treat bag.

On Sunday, Auntie Brenda and Uncle Bob invited Lucy and our niece Miss H to a Halloween party at their neighbor's house. Husband and I got to go see a movie (Argo - fantastic!) and our girl had a good time. Miss H was a raccoon, but without the mask she could be the Big Bad Wolf, right?

Wednesday was the big day! Lucy got to take her costume to school for a party. That evening, although got a little bit of a late start, we walked the neighborhood for about 45 minutes and got a basket full of candy. Lucy did great at saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" and walked the whole time with no complaints! It was a really fun time and everyone loved her costume. One guy made the mistake of saying, "are you a good witch, or a bad witch?" Lucy said rather firmly, "I'm not a WITCH!" which got him laughing. I'll have a little sass with that candy, thank you very much!

Happy Halloween to all of you!  

Corn Maze

This morning Lucy and I played hooky from church and Sunday School and went to the corn maze in Maple Grove. We are not likely to see temperatures in the 70s again until next spring, so we took advantage of the gorgeous day. I had also purchased a deal for tickets through LivingSocial, so it was also a pretty cheap outing, which is always a bonus.

It was fun! We’ve been to an apple orchard but hadn’t really done the corn festival thing. There is an amazing corn maze, of course, although we traversed only a part of it. Something about being alone with a 3-year-old and not being able to see but 3 feet either side didn’t sound appealing. But, there were plenty of other things to do. There was live music, a smaller hay bale maze, some farm animals to pet, and the biggest hit of all…a corn pit! We spent a great deal of our time walking, sitting, and burying ourselves in kernels.

There were also a number of other activities (for a small fee of course), and I let Lucy choose one. Amidst a giant slide and a bouncy house, she chose a pony ride. Her pony was named Flower. I know this because she chatted the lady’s ear off while she was riding, and afterwards had to ask all the names of the other ponies, too.

On our way out we chose a nice carving pumpkin and got a free “pink” pumpkin, which was part of our ticket deal. It was a great time with my little lady, and a fantastic way to spend a few hours on a beautiful fall day.

Little Fish

Lucy loves her swimming class! Daddy takes her on Thursday nights. I go every couple of weeks, but otherwise use the time to work late or just go home and watch TV. By myself.

On those occasions I am still at work, it's nice to get a photo like this on my phone:

She is a hoot to watch and she gets SO excited to go. She's making great progress and it's a lot of fun to watch her learn and love the water. I hope she keeps it up!