Time has been moving *so* fast lately. With Ben being in school our days are tied to his routine. We had so much fun celebrating Halloween this last week. The weather was really nice most of the week and we enjoyed a lot of extra outdoor time in the city.
Our weekday routine is pretty set, these days. Ben is in school from 8:15-2:15 Monday through Friday and Hannah has her two morning co-op preschool sessions. I run most Tuesdays and Thursdays. Otherwise, we’re playing blocks, reading books or riding scooters it feels like.
It feels harder to play outside with the kids at our house in Seattle. I’m not wild about playing in our front yard, given the proximity to the street, as well as passersby during the pandemic. Ben has shown he can stay in his boundaries really well, so his are a little bigger than his sisters. Hannah, on the other hand, needs some city living practice. The “freeze” game is in our future this week.
We did quite a few nature walks and our first ride through the neighborhood with both kids on their scooters last week. It was SO fun and went so well… until just after we turned around and then Hannah was done scootering. And then so was Ben.
We had to call in the reinforcements to help us get home. Should have brought the stroller.
At the end of the week, Ben had the day off for conferences, so I took the kids down to Seward Park. The park is a peninsula that juts out into Lake Washington and has a really nice, wide paved loop trail around 2.5 miles long. I figured it would be the perfect length for Ben to ride his bike around while I ran and pushed Hannah in the running stroller.
Before we hit the loop trail, both kids rode their scooters on a different trail for a bit. Of course I had to give Hannah a chance to have some fun, too.
We made it halfway around the loop trail and Ben was doing amazing. And then he fell. This fall was pretty intense, actually. The trail was extremely narrow and dropped off down a very steep hill covered in bramble. Poor Ben was super scratched up from the bramble patch he fell into and very shaken up from the scare.
He opted to take a break from his bike and requested to ride in the stroller instead. He bounced back the next day and went for a really nice bike ride with Alex.
Hannah had costume day at co-op on Wednesday and was so excited to spend the day in her baby deer costume. She was adorable. Hannah loves baby deer – we saw a family of deer quite often in our neighborhood in the mountains and Hannah was enamored with the beautiful fawn.
Ben had his costume day at school on Thursday and was equally excited to dress up as a kitty cat. Ben’s favorite animal vacillates between a cat and a caterpillar. His costume was pretty simple and comfy.
I had quite a bit of fun making the kids and my costumes. I don’t normally dress up with the kids, but after this year, I think I will keep it up.
With the pandemic, our plans for Halloween looked a little different than they would have otherwise. We had a party at home instead of going trick-or-treating.
A kitty cat and a witch were the images carved into the kids’ pumpkins. Thankfully Alex is a master pumpkin carver and freehanded their pumpkins. The kids had the most fun turning on the candles {we have flameless candles} – go figure.
The kids helped make trick-or-treat bags that we set out on our porch with treats for any passersby. We invited a few of our friends to come stop by our porch for a treat bag, so it was fun to see their costumes from afar.
We cut out and decorated Halloween sugar cookies. I’m not sure who ate more, me or the kids.
After we put on our costumes we dug into a delicious Halloween snack board, then headed out for an afternoon walk in the neighborhood. We didn’t pass by too many people – it was a bit early for trick-or-treating – but we did see some incredible candy chutes and a few costumes.
Despite all the fun we had, at the end of the day I was lamenting about Halloweens of the recent past. We love doing the big neighborhood trick-or-treat and seeing all of the kids and families in their costumes. In the end, though, I loved seeing the photos you all shared on Instagram, instead.
Daylight savings time threw us for a loop on Sunday. Longest. Day. Ever.
It really was a good day. I took the kids to Madison Park to the beach and for a scooter ride while Alex was riding his mountain bike.
It’s hard to believe it’s November, and Election Day is this week. There is so much happening. Here’s to a safe, healthy and calm week….
