And in keeping with this premature spookiness, Hayley decided to make a halloween lantern a full week before the big day. I warned sceptically that it would be soggy before the thirty-first arrived, but nonetheless it was great fun to make.
Here are a few shots of the carving out, plus Lucy and I washing up afterwards, which included rinsing the pumpkin seeds. (Still not sure what I can make with them though.)
By the time Halloween arrived our lantern had indeed become a little sad and soggy looking. Nonetheless it was an impressive piece of carving by Hayley. (We other three just did the enjoyable digging out at the start.) And we put it outside on display to show that trick-or-treaters were welcome. In the event we only had two lots, but very impressively scary they were too.
We, on the other hand, already having been to a few Halloween parties, opted for a "sticky picnic" that one of the local churches had organised. This involved the kids first getting a bit sticky with crafts such as making a decorated candle and a tray to hold their hot-dogs. Later they got sticky decorating doughnuts and biscuits with icing ready for consumption later.
Being a church event, there were a couple of prayers thrown in amongst the stories and games. It was a fun couple of hours and culminated in a game for all the kids. Thay had to sit in a circle and steal something from the child in the middle who had their eyes closed. They then his it behind their back and the person in the middle had to guess who stole it. Oliver played the role of thief successfully and then the guesser. It was great fun.
The weekend's final celebration was the Christening of a friend's third child. (The only one from the 2005 gang to have a third so far!) There was great entertainment for the kids and Lucy loved it, joining in without inhibition. She danced, played the games... all with kids mostly much older than her.
My favourite part was when she tried the hoola-hoop. Not bad for a 2 year old I can tell you.
I got to enjoy a few pints of Guinness and consequently danced around in a silly fashion, not to mention swinging Oliver around in the air and also through my legs rock-n-roll style, plus dancing with Lucy in my arms. Exhausting but fun!
I have to say that the kids are at ages now where they can not only have fun together but can go to the same parties and both enjoy them. In fact we all had a great time at the Christening. There are times when we'll wonder about a third child. But the four of us can do so much together now that to give that up might be a selfish and foolhardy thing to do. Who knows. Whaetever happens on that score, today I'm loving our little family unit, just as it is.
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