HALLOWEEN
To gear up for Halloween, we made our annual pilgrimage to Fairbank Family Farm to pick out our pumpkins and say "howdy" to the various farm animals. Just like in years past, the piglets and goats were our favorite critters to see.... followed closely by the newly-hatched chicks and baby rabbits. We timed our trip to the pumpkin patch perfectly and escaped being rained on. (Insert a collective cheer and sign of relief here!)
A couple of days before Halloween, we pulled out our carving tools (aka knife and whatever pointy things we can get our hands on), covered the kitchen table with paper bags, and went to work creating our pumpkin masterpieces. Eric, once again, took on the role of artistic director (thank goodness that doesn't fall on my shoulders... it would be all sorts of "unfortunate pumpkins" if it did!) and coached the kids through the process of designing their pumpkins and making their ideas a reality. This was the first year Annika carved her pumpkin solo, which was a HUGE deal for her. One more "getting grown up" item checked off in her list! The kids were thrilled with their final results ... I was especially thrilled that everyone had all of their fingers at the end of the project and no one required a trip to the ER!
On Halloween, the kids were beyond excited to go to school because they got to wear their costumes instead of their uniforms. This was one of the rare mornings that they were up and ready to go WELL before our usual departure time. (I love Halloween because of this phenomenon, I have to admit!) Both kid had classroom parties to mark the day, so I offered to make cookies for them to take as our family's contribution. (I treated myself to the candy corn cookie cutter this year and am so happy I did!)
Annika dressed up as a vampire princess this year (complete with fancy new fangs!) and Conor was Spiderman. Both kids loved their costumes and I loved that they were super easy this year! We went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with a couple of our neighbors and another CKS family (Annika's pal Maddy and her family). We expected to get drenched with the predicted rain, but lucked out and stayed dry the whole time. I can't even guess how much distance we covered, but it was enough that all of the kids had overflowing candy bags by the end of the night! The kids thought the houses that gave out the full-size candy bars were THE BEST and excitedly shouted "FULL SIZE HOUSE" after discovering a new one!
THANKSGIVING
We made our annual trek up to Whidbey for Thanksgiving, but this year, we had a few spins on the traditional visit. First of all, instead of going up Thursday morning, the kids and I went up Tuesday morning because they didn't have school which meant I needed to work remotely, so why not work remotely from the island?? (Duh!) Eric joined us Wednesday evening after work; he took a Lyft car from work and was able to walk on the ferry, avoiding the insane "rush hour the night before a holiday" ferry line. The second twist on our usual approach to Thanksgiving is we had my brother's dog Kirby with us. Kirby spent 10 days with us while the floors were refinished at my brother's house, so Kirby spent quite a bit of time on the island with us, too. Saying that he loved playing with my in-law's dogs would be the understatement of the year!
In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, I worked during the days while the kids played outside (exhausting themselves and the dogs). We also worked on puzzles with Bestemor, went on a nice walk up to the meadow, and played lots of card/dice games. Conor's big accomplishment this year was helping Bestefar smoke the turkey ... and being the one who picked out the type of wood to use in the smoker (spoiler: he chose cherry).
In an effort to encourage the kids to make better use of the great room, I bought a 1/2-size ping pong table (thanks, pre-Black Friday sales) and got my hands on a free tabletop-size air hockey game. We also had some fun making the animal heads on the wall a bit less "I'm staring at you" for the kids (thanks, dollar store!). The games were a huge hit with everyone and did the trick of getting us to use more of the house. WIN!!
Troy and his family joined us on Thanksgiving after their week in Whistler, BC and spent the night on the island with us. I know they were happy to see us, but the Nelsons were over the moon to be reunited with Kirby for a night. That is one loved pup, let me tell you!
CHRISTMAS PREP
Each year as we drive away from Eric's parents house after Thanksgiving, we signal the start of the Christmas season by tuning the car radio to the local station that plays Christmas music 100% of the time during the holidays. Since then, we've put up the tree and gotten it decorated (complete with our annual Starbucks cup tree topper ... this year, with lights as an added bonus!), gone to Swanson's Nursery to see the reindeer (with our friend Valeria), gotten the cards mailed, visited Santa, and started on our holiday baking to-do list -- Annika and I made pizelles this past weekend (YUM)!
We still have a lot to do to get ready for Christmas, but we're getting there. The kids will start their break from school soon and they couldn't be more excited. Eric and I will take time off from work to celebrate the holidays, too... some staggered to accommodate the kids' school break days, but most at the same time. It'll be nice to be home for an extended time without the rush of regular life keeping us on our toes. Sleeping in? Yes please!!!!
