Our 8 Hour Halloween Marathon...

Yes, you heard me, 8 hours! The girls had a blast and didn't really slow down until the last hour!

We were invited to join the Chapmans' in traveling here and there throughout the day; so, we all packed into my car and headed off! We followed Charli's sister Jayci and her niece Terrin to Stephanie's (Charli's sister, Terrin's Mom) work in Ephrata where they were hosting a chili feed that is a fundraiser for their Christmas family that they sponsor each year, then we trick-or-treated all her co-workers. We parted ways with Jayci and Terrin and as we were leaving, I removed a bag of M&M's from Camyrn as the drive is about 20 minutes from Ephrata to Moses Lake, a lot of time for an almost two year old to get chocolate everywhere; I broke her heart and boy did I make her mad! She cried ALL THE WAY BACK to Moses. Charli informed me that she's never protested that long. Thanks, makes me feel good. Poor Cam!

Next, we headed to see Justin (Charli's hubby) at his work get more goodies there. Camyrn had fallen asleep by the time we got there, poor thing. After Jusitn's work we were off to Charli's office to trick-or-treat. I stayed in the car with Cam so that she could continue to sleep from all the stress I put her through, it was the least I could do; then to BK for dinner. The whole reason we chose BK was for the iDog toy and guess what? No iDog toys, sold out, but the sign was still up that they were available, oops. After we picked up the food we headed to the much anticipated spot, the High School.

I love that this is an option! Indoor, safe, and fun; all that a parent could ask for. They even offer hot cocoa, cookies, and pictures for a small fee and have a haunted house at the end of the trick-or-treating! Justin and Charli are HUGE Halloween fans! I just love the candy. I used to like Halloween but I think that with the busy schedule of birthdays right around this time and that I'm still gearing up for more birthdays next week it can just be too much. This year the girls didn't even know what they wanted to be until the 25th, the day after Ali's birthday. CRAZY!

Anyway, Justin was itching to go throught the haunted house with the kids! My kids are not huge "I like to get scared" kinda kids; they're more, "I'm gonna have nightmares over this" kinda kids. But, I thought Riley and Cayli want to go (they're younger than my kids), it's only at the High School, how scary could it really be, really. Well, apparently it was scary enough that Cayli and Jillian were crying and Riley and Alissa were pretty spooked. They hadn't even made it half way and Justin got them all out of there. Hmmm....

Next stop, the Alliance Church. We have never gone here as part of our Hallooween fun but my girls and the Riley and Cayli go to VBS there in the summer; this church does NOTHING small. Why would I expect anything less?!? The time, effort, and heart that goes into their events shows and it's nice. Admission was 1 canned food per family as well as 1 bag of candy, we misunderstood and brought 1 can per child and 1 bag per adult, oh well. Local food bank gets food and it's Halloween! EVERYONE needs more candy, right?

There were games galore, tons of food and not just junk food. There were hot dogs, chips, banana smoothies, apple juice, and of course cookies! The kids had a blast! We were there well over an hour. Truly, I lost track of time once we entered the High School at 5pm until I was dragging at 7:15pm at the Alliance Church ready to go, but I was the only one ready to go. So, I sucked it up for a little longer until we headed out and headed to Steph's house where Chari's van was.

Laine, Steph's daughter, had some girlfriends over and they were all dresses as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; they were cute! They're all Jr. High kids who were having a lot of fun and geting ready to head to the scary haunted house in town. So, guess what gets back in my kids heads, yep the hounted house from earlier. Great.

After about a half an hour of laying low and enjoying the company, my girls and I head home. Guess what the topic of conversation is; yep, the haunted house. How scared they were, how freaky some stuff was and I'm cringing thinking I'm not gonna get any sleep tonight! They are going to be up telling me that they're having bad dreams. Fab. So, I tell them that they can watch a movie, which is SO against my rules I can't believe I offered it, but if it can get them to change their thoughts I'm all for it. Charli and I had already gone over the fact that it's not real, it's just the High School kids dressed up, and it's all make believe. Didn't work.

So, as I'm typing, they're watching HSM 1. Hopefully we'll all get a good night sleep.

Here are some of my fav pics from the night. 

Note to self: next year, more saturated colors! They really help bring the Halloween vibe.

Jillian, an angel & Alissa, an animal talent fairy named Fawn from the movie Tinkerbell (all that info is huge because Fawn can talk to the animals, sometimes I think Alissa can too!), waiting outside the High School. This actually makes me a little nervous for Jr. High....

Riley, a ninja, waiting to enter the High School with a canned good (admission).

You can see his ear to ear grin right through that mask! Cutie!

Cayli, a good witch, looking through her spy glass! This is one of my fav pics of the night! 

Charli took this pic and she had PERFECT timing!

Camyrn, a cute little flower. 

How adorable is she! Seriously!

Overall, it was a wonderful whirlwind of a day. The kids did great, we all enjoyed each others company, and it was fun! Thank you Charli for inviting us. 

Happy Halloween!

Everyone at Stephanie's work. What a cute setup at the entry of the building!!

Anther great pic by Charli.