Practicing trick or treating….and our pumpkins

the downtown area was well decorated…

there were loads of trick or treaters…and luckily the forecasted rain never showed!

Auntie met us there for the trick-o-treating, and a spot of lunch.

Afterwards Minnie Mouse tried her hands at the crafts. She made a bear magnet and a pipe-cleaner spider (which was her favorite).

Two streets had been blocked off to allow for stress-free kid roaming. There was even a parade!

Someone still isn’t that interested in candy…her favorite items were a cat finger puppet and the cat stickers auntie gave her. Happy Halloween!

“Daddy, I like jewelery. It’s very sparkly!”
— Lucy at the store

Los Altos Spooktacular from Mike C on Vimeo.

Yesterday, Lucy went trick-or-treating at the Los Altos “Spooktacular” with her mommy and Auntie Laura. Many of the downtown shops participated, dispensing assorted sugary treats to any trick-or-treater that darkened their door.

In addition to the tooth decay-fest, the Spooktacular also featured a parade. The above video shows it off a bit of it. Lucy’s wearing a Minnie Mouse outfit she made with help from her mom.

Music used:

• “The Sleeper Car” from Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi by Thievery Corporation

“Wheeee! Speed Bundle!”
— Lucy while riding her bike

We had a family get together on Sunday with Auntie, Uncle, Grandma and Grandpa. We all went to the beach to see the rockpools, then on to the pumpkin patch. Here are some photos from our wonderful day out.

I added the Lomo filter to some of the pics, I think the saturation and framing add a nice nostalgic touch…I had a cheap Lomo once upon a time, think I gave it to my sis.

We had a picnic on the beach, found this lovely orange starfish (sea star for you sticklers) and played in the sand and water. Lucy had a ball! Grandpa said he hadn’t been to the beach in years.

After our beach excursion we moved inland to the pumpkin patch with ponies and baby animals and bouncy houses…more to follow in the next post!

Halloween, 2009 Video from Mike C on Vimeo.

Here’s a video I shot on Halloween. Most of it takes place at the Stanford Shopping Center, where we were joined in a round of trick or treating by John and Laura. For more info (and pics!) please click here.

Music:

• “Long Beach Nightmare” from NICE. by Puffy AmiYumi
• “I’ll Be You” from Don’t Tell a Soul by The Replacements

Click on the above collage to see some pics Jill took of our Halloween. This year marked the first time the kid actually got to go out and trick or treat; she fell asleep last year! This time around the kid was wide awake and full of pep (as her Mom and Auntie Laura can attest—they were tasked with keeping up with the little blur of motion.)

Though Lucy enjoyed getting candy, she got a much bigger kick later in the day when she got to dole out sugary prizes to the any kid who wandered near our door. It was pretty neat to watch, the little black kitty cat, very serious, with the big white bowl full of candy.

In addition to Jill’s pics, I shot a bit of video, so I’ll try to post a Halloween video before the end of the week. Also, below are a couple of pics showing how the kid has grown over the last year. You can read our Halloween post from last year here.

Jill collected for UNICEF on Halloween last year. She wanted to do it again this year, so she ordered a UNICEF collection box in advance. The kid loves the look of the orange box, in particular the illustration of a little girl dressed as a black cat. Whenever she sees the girl on the box she says, “That’s me!”

Though Lucy had a lot of fun last Halloween, I think she actually fell asleep when she went out trick-or-treating with her mom and Auntie Laura. This year she’s a little more understanding of the overall concept and is really looking forward to getting dressed up and participating.

For more information on Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF click here.

The kid had fun on Halloween. From her mom:

“Her Auntie Laura came down and helped out with the carving of pumpkins. Following that, we all went to the mall to trick or treat…which madame (Lucy) completely slept through!

Back at home, Lucy perked up to her costume and screamed every time someone knocked at the door, and got a big kick out of giving out candy. She would wait in the open door, lollypop in hand, just waiting for any kid to walk by.

She particularly enjoyed handing out candy. She didn’t care about getting any, she just really wanted to give it to kids. She would carefully put it in each kid’s bucket (some of them were even smaller than her) and squeal at every knock on the door. She is really going to love it next year!”

Jill here–just wanted to add links to all the pictures we took on Halloween:

Auntie’s pics here

Mommy’s pics here.

and to add to Mike’s post, Grandmommy would have loved to see how much fun Miss Lucy had in her costume! We miss you, Gma!

Halloween is tomorrow! Auntie is coming down to help carve pumpkins, and we are thinking of taking Lucy out (to a mall) for her first trick or treat.

Since she is a little young for candy, i thought of collecting for UNICEF–something we did as kids, and which was a cause dear to Grandmommy (she volunteered at the UN when we lived in NYC.)

So I looked up the little cardboard boxes, and things have changed a bit since I was a kid! Now you can collect online–they even whip up a webpage for you–so in addition to her little collection box, Lucy now has a UNICEF webpage, which you can see here.

Now all I have to do is dig up her costume! She has a great dragon/dinosaur costume which Grandmommy got her last year (see above)…this year it should actually fit her!