Whew! Since when was Halloween a week long event?

Here it is, 10PM on Halloween night. The costumes have been worn, the candy has been gathered and I am exhausted. We have definitely had a VERY eventful week. It started on Tuesday with a Halloween Carnival at the YMCA. On Wednesday, it was the "Fall Festival" at Tate's pre-school. Then on to Scare on the Square on Friday - a very cool trick-or-treating event put on by our city. It is in the historic district of downtown McKinney. The city blocks off traffic to the historic "square", and the restaurant and show owners line the sidewalks to hand out candy to the kids. We were amazed at how many people showed up (we tried to capture the crowd in the photo below). It was very cool. The grand finale was, of course, tonight. We started this afternoon with pumpkin carving (I know, a little bit late). Then on to dinner with friends, and then out for the gathering of the candy. The kids had a great time. Through all the events, Coy was perfectly happy as long as there was a lollipop in his mouth at all times. And tell me this, have you every seen a cuter Monkey?
For the record, if you ask Tate, he is a "bonehead pirate" and Coy is his "monkey friend". For those of you unfamiliar with this particular "Tater-ism", a bonehead is a skeleton.

Remember the Halloween scene from ET?

This is what our neighborhood looked like on Halloween. There were kids everywhere! Crowds to get to the doors, cars lining the streets, it was crazy. Apparently, our neighborhood is the "good" neighborhood for trick-or-treating and parents from other parts of the city drive their kids over here to do get in on it. Our neighborhood does have a certain ambiance about it -- I think it has to do with the huge trees everywhere - the leaves are starting to change colors and fall from the trees, sidewalks and gutters are filled with orange, yellow and red leaves. . . It was the perfect setting for Halloween.
Oh yeah, and Tate had a blast. We started off the evening at a friends house. Then on to trick or treating as a group. This is Tate and his new friend Layton. They loved riding in the wagon and getting lots of treats!

Going Bananas!

This weekend we took our "obligatory trip to the pumpkin patch" - as Brandon so lovingly calls it. No matter what you call it, Tate had a great time in the bounce houses and looking for the perfect pumpkin. Coy enjoyed kicking back in the stroller being oogled by everyone who passed (Ahh, look at the cute skeleton), and the weather was perfect for a family outing (79 degrees with a very slight breeze). And, even the $20 we paid for 2 pumpkins and the 20 minutes we waited in line to GET IN THE PARKING LOT were justified when we put Tate in his costume and captured this moment. It makes me giggle just to think about it, and I can't wait for the day I get to pull it out and share it with the girlfriend he is trying to impress.
And, Coy is quite possibly the cutest little skeleton ever. And, as you will notice, he is infringing on the monopoly Tate has on the "bluest eyes".

Happy Halloween !