Halloween

It's Matt entering the halloween post. This is the first year that our kids are aware of October 31st. I don't think Eli would really have noticed it by himself but he watches Emme's every move and therefore he at least acts like he knows it's halloween. Anyways, the occasion isn't celebrated in the same way in Austria, or Europe for that matter, so this was the first year Emme grasped it. She saw the stores that pop up in the mall to sell costumes and props and the decorations on houses around the valley. One of our favorite things to hear Elias say was, "scary skeleton" whenever he saw this one skeleton hanging on a neighbor's door. He doesn't pronounce the "s" so it comes out, "cary keleton". Really cute.
We had a great time carving pumpkins with grandma and grandpa the night before halloween. Then, we met with a bunch of friends on halloween to have a crazy group dinner at Red Robin (hence no pictures of the group because we were chasing 40 kids around the restaurant!). After dinner, we went to Table Rock Fellowship for the second year for a really great Harvest Festival put on by the church. Cotton candy, inflatable castle structure, bean bag toss, cake walk, etc. This year they had paint balling for older kids and mixed martial arts cages. The one thing I escaped last year and didn't escape this year was the goldfish in a bag. The game was really difficult to win a fish so I was bummed when the guy gave a fish to Emme just for trying even after she failed the game! I was telling the guy, "those are the rules, she doesn't get a fish. You gotta follow the rules." Nope. Anyways, Emme asked where we were going to keep the fish at home and I said, "oh, we have a bowl for him (her?). It's porcelain with plenty of water for him to swim around in." Nonetheless, it was a fun evening with friends and our little family. Emme was Cinderella, Elias was Ironman and Finn was a Bear. Here are some pictures.