All that Halloween

We went to Main St trick-or-treat in our lovely little town last week and it came complete with a fire truck, trunk or treat, and a party at our favorite bar and grill. We even got ice cream on the final day of the season at the local ice cream house. My daughter is teetering between loving stuff and being too old for it. She went as an 80's girl complete with fanny pack, side pony, and leg warmers. She immediately got asked if she was JoJo. Mind you, we don't have cable and when she does watch Netflix, it is cooking shows or mermaid shows. She got all salty that people didn't immediately get the costume. I fear my little lady is growing up and I do NOT like it. The following is a list of why I fear this may be the last year of all this Halloween cuteness at my house...

1. We bought a pumpkin because she loved it, but she doesn't want to carve it. She wanted to paint it instead. NOW, she likes it plain just like it is. We are going to let her throw it off the deck and destroy it this weekend. She is much more excited about that!

2. We watched Hocus Pocus, but we won't watch anything else because, "those shows are too little for me now." (Can you hear the sound of my heart right now?!)

3. We can go trick or treating, but she really wants to go with a friend. And only half the time. She wants to come home, bundle up, and pass out candy the second hour (which is fine by me because they're predicting SNOW).

4. She went to a Halloween themed birthday party but didn't feel like dressing up because she wasn't in the mood. Then all the other kids dressed up and she felt a little guilty. But then she got over it!

5. She wants no part in Charlie Brown, Halloween music, or anything else related to Halloween that doesn't involve candy or mildly dressing up.

Look at this cute little 80's diva! You can't even see her fanny pack, but it's there. Oh, yes. It is there!

Tent camping in October

We used to have this awesome pull behind camper that had heat, air, a TV, a shower, you name it. Then, after three years, it started to break down and we decided to sell it and take a year off. There was only ONE camping trip left that we had booked way back in April and since it was only one town over, we decided to tent camp it. Well... anyone who knows the midwest knows our weather is highly unpredictable. We had high 60's and low 70's ALL WEEK. Until Friday, day 1 of our camping extravaganza. It was rainy, cold, and windy until about 2:30pm. We left for camping at 4pm. We arrived to find our campsite was flooded in parts. Fortunately, we packed the extra big tarp which went down before the tent did. An extra bonus was that our friends were coming to camp with us in their even bigger, even more amazing camper that had heat! So, we set our 2 room tent up complete with a cot, a queen sized air mattress, a cooler, a bin of supplies, and a dog. Then we lit a bonfire that lasted most of the 48 hours. If you haven't camped while trick or treating, you are missing out. Sugar River Forest Preserve has an excellent camping area and their regulars do Halloween right! People were making haunted houses and had scary, interactive stuff to see and do. The whole campground is one big loop, so the kids were able to ride and walk around with a walkie talkie while the adults enjoyed the fire. There were games, a magician, a costume contest, a campsite decorating contest, hot chocolate each morning, and lots of night time fun for the adults. I cannot believe I have lived down the road from Shirland most of my life and was unaware of the coolness that is the Sugar River campground Halloween extravaganza. It got down to 35 degrees each night, but the small space heater we put in the tent, plus the queen sized comforters kept us comfortable. We will most definitely be going back for the festivities, regardless of whether we are in a tent or not!
                          The girls enjoying some old fashioned potato sack racing.

         It was GORGEOUS weather until the sun went down, then it was bonfire time!

         We managed to get a child sized hike in and let Charlie boy run off his energy.