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| "Flighty" is the perfect description for this boy. I'm constantly chasing after him. |
Happy Halloween everyone! More like, happy that it's over!
The girls have been looking forward to Halloween literally for weeks.
It's mostly my fault since I gave them their Halloween pajamas back in September. Big mistake. Since then Halloween is all they've been thinking about.
Of course, there was little discussion as to who they would be.
I admit I'm a bit weary of the whole princess bit… hopefully next year we can branch out.
But, Elsa and Anna it was. I thought it would be super cute for James to be Olaf… but by the time I went to order a costume online, Amazon could not deliver on time. I checked the German Amazon site and we're talking 130+ euro for an Olaf costume.
I despaired as feelings of woeful inadequacy swept over me.
Isn't every good mother supposed to be able to MAKE their children's Halloween costumes?
Isn't' that what Halloween is all about… mothers making homemade costumes for their kids?
I was lamenting these thoughts to my visiting teachers to which one of them enthusiastically/sarcastically agreed. "Oh yes! That's what Halloween is ALL about." "Yes, I would feel inadequate if I were you too." My friend Shannon was a bit more helpful. She said she would "advise" me on my Olaf project. She's a whiz at sewing and all things crafty.
So, to the craft store I went. I purchased felt, batting, elastic, pipe cleaners, etc. I envisioned my project going something like this:
I just love this scene in Sleeping Beauty…Flora and I have about the same skill level when it comes to sewing.
Luckily my friend Shannon more than "advised" me.
After the kids were down for the night she brought her sewing machine over and went to work. I did lots of importance stuff like cut out the felt. And glue on the buttons.
She even let me use her machine!!
So, now that I have made my child's Halloween costume I feel complete as a mother ;)
All that work and worry for this:
Yeah, James wasn't too thrilled. But let's cut him a break… the poor guy has a double ear infection.
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| Caroline looking very regal |
We had a potluck with the neighbors from our building… it was so much fun! The kids were WIRED and they chased each other around all night. (Don't mind the unidentified grim reaper about to slice off Caroline's ear.)
The next day was our ward trunk-or-treat, but that's when I said, "It's time to pull the plug on Halloween." No more partying for me. The last thing my kids needed was more candy and the last thing I wanted to do was make one more dish for some festivity.
Instead we took the high road… literally! haha. We drove the Schwarzwaldhochstrasse! Yes, that's one word. It means the Black Forest high road. It's the B500 that goes from Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt in the northern Black Forest. The weather couldn't have been better and the drive offered amazing views... it reminded us of the Smokey Mountains.
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| What's going on with my hair? I don't know. |
We stopped at the Mummelsee… supposedly a lake. Actually, it was more like a pond. And it was VERY crowded.
Here's a fun fact. Germany is roughly the size of Montana. Montana's population is just over 1 million yet Germany's population is over 80 million. Sooo… it seems like whenever we want to "get away" we never really can. There are crowds everywhere. I don't see why people are so worried about the population declining. Trust me, it's not a problem.
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| Very classy, I know. |
Legend has it that the lake is inhabited by nixes, or water spirits that take the form of mermaids/mermen.
Daddy and James had a bonding moment when he taught him to throw rocks in the lake… James got a real kick out of that!
We had a picnic, which mostly consisted of Halloween candy. Caroline was in heaven with her treat of choice, Nerds.
There was a statue of a mermaid out on the lake. The girls had fun climbing out there...
I got to eat some genuine Black Forest cake, so I was happy!
Then we stopped at the Allerheiligen ruins/waterfall. This was a beautiful little place.
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| The girls were all about the stairs… if only every hike had stairs we'd be set! |
