Weekend Festivities

This was the big race weekend for Dan and Chris. Dan left early on Friday morning to meet up with Chris and some of Chris' friends, all of whom were staying in a motel in Bastrop for the three-day Formula 1 event. You may remember that it was Dan's goal to have his "new knees" strong enough to handle the rigors of this strenuous event.

While it was race weekend for the guys, it was Halloween weekend for Kelsey, the grandkids, and me! I drove over on Friday morning and returned this afternoon.

Pumpkin carving took place on Friday, after Clara got home from school. The kids couldn't agree on whether the eyes should be circles or triangles, so we chose to do one of each. The same for the mouth . . . Clara wanted the teeth to match her own nearly-toothless grin, but Robert wanted "pointy teeth." So Jack got Clara-teeth on top and pointy-teeth on the bottom. Robert had no desire to touch the slimy insides of the pumpkin, but Clara dug right in. She also did much of the actual carving this year, with Kelsey taking over only at the end, when Clara's wrists were getting tired.

Matching top teeth.

Kelsey has been the Queen of Halloween Costumes for as long as I've known her. Even before the kids came along, she made wild and wonderful themed costumes for Chris and herself. And ever since Robert started trick-or-treating, the kids have worn coordinated costumes (Clara as Princess Leia and Robert as Yoda; Robert as a fireman and Clara as a dalmatian; Clara as Alice and Robert as the Cheshire Cat; etc.). But this year she reluctantly let the kids pick their own store-bought costumes. It was a difficult thing for her to do, and she has already started trying to talk them into the old tradition of coordinated costumes for next year. 

Robert went trick-or-treating as a Power Ranger this year. He recently discovered that TV program on Netflix and thinks the Rangers are the coolest super-heroes ever (only rivaled by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). He is taking Tae Kwon Do lessons this year, so he had some awesome Power Ranger moves to try out.

Clara chose a monster costume, but it was a pretty cute monster.

We started our trick-or-treating at dusk. The first house we went to was their next door neighbors, a sweet couple who dotes on the kids almost as much as grandparents! 

As it got darker, some of the houses were a bit spookier. A lot of the home-owners were sitting on their porches or in their driveways to hand out treats.

Clara thought I should have a costume, too, so loaned me her Minnie Mouse ears (from her summer Disneyland trip) to wear for the evening. Here's a strange selfie of me, showing my cute ears. As you see, I'm carrying Robert's pumpkin ("Grandma, please carry it for me. It's too heavy!").

At one house there were two people sitting outside and a couple of what looked like mannequins dressed up like Grim Reapers. When Clara went up to get her treat, one of them came to life and jumped out at her. She screamed and ran, and, from that point on, both kids were leery about going up to many of the doors. 

But all-in-all it was a fun and successful Halloween night. When we got home Robert put on his pajamas and started sorting out his candy. Clara came to help him with the daunting job. Quite a haul, which explains why his pumpkin was too heavy for him to carry.

The next day - Saturday - was a relaxing day. Robert played most of the day with his Disney cars. He spent a couple hours, at least, running a race, which started with the lineup: 

He even set four of the cars up on the couch, and they were the race announcers. His method for racing the cars is somewhat complex. He races them around the corner of the couch, toward a finish line, keeping track of which cars have lapped the others. The race itself kept him occupied for a couple hours.

In the afternoon Kelsey and I sat outside and watched as the kids rode their bikes, scooters, and Robert's Jeep. 

We had a few quiet times on Saturday, as well. Clara spent a half-hour on my iPad, learning to play Farkle. And Robert let me read to him for awhile. That evening we had popcorn and watched The Nightmare Before Christmas on TV - a great ending to the Halloween festivities.

And as long we're speaking of the grandchildren, let me do a little grandma-bragging on them. Clara is now in third grade and recently brought home her first report card of the year - all "A"s! She's also participating in the school choir. Robert is in pre-school and is a member of the "100 Club." That means he can count to 100!

I got home late in the afternoon on Sunday. Dan didn't get home until after dark. Here's his good news . . . his new knees stayed strong and pain-free for all three days at the races.