We kicked off our Halloween with a Dunkin Donuts treat, kindly retrieved by Eric and Ellie, who was dressed to the Halloween nines in skeleton pajamas and jack-o-lantern headband.
That girl does not mess around when it comes to holiday apparel.
This year, we can't talk Halloween without mentioning the Florida v. Georgia game. The Gators always play the Bulldogs on neutral ground in Jacksonville the last weekend in October, so this big game is usually linked to Halloween. This year, however, the game actually fell on Halloween, which I know left many Jacksonville parents with a dilemma: go to the (entire) game, or take the kids trick-or-treating? We didn't make plans to actually go to the game, so we were not faced with such a predicament, but we did want to include the festivities in our plan for the day.
Shockingly, in the five years Eric and/or I were in Gainesville for college, and in the two years we've been living in Jacksonville, we have never made it to a FL/GA game. This game includes an epic tailgating event primarily based at the Landing, known as the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. We weren't able to go to the game itself, and weren't exactly on board to partake of any drunken craziness with two small kids in tow, but we wanted to somehow be a part of the FL/GA atmosphere. So, for our morning outing, we walked over to the Landing just to check out the scene.
It was a beautiful day for a nice walk across the Main Street Bridge, and the Landing was already starting to look a bit orange/blue and red/black. Most places were still setting up but it was fun to be a part of the early moments of what must have been a rather fun day out there!
Family on the Main Street Bridge, with the Landing behind us!
E.J. was looking festive!
Eric and Ellie on the bridge
Now we can all say we were at the Landing for FL/GA 2015. We just won't mention the part about being so early that not much was happening yet!
After walking around the Landing we went over to Hemming Park where the kids played with the big blocks for a while. Then we took the Skyway back home, fed everyone lunch and got the kids down for naps.
Ellie and me, just a couple of astronauts sitting in our spaceship
E.J. loved rolling the circular blocks all around!
As the kids napped, we watched the first half of the game and were thrilled to see the Gators take a 20-3 lead. They ultimately won 27-3, so Happy FL-GA weekend, indeed! Go Gators!
When the kids got up from naps we fed them dinner then all got outfitted in our costumes. We snapped a few more pictures and then set out to trick-or-treat!
Let's do this!
Our trick-or-treat plan was about the same as last year: we walked to the neighborhood surrounding our favorite "seahorse" park and trick-or-treated there. Let me tell you, Ellie loved it. She happily hopped out of the stroller and/or walked between houses, eagerly running up to every door and singing out, "TRICK OR TREAT!" She did get a little nervous about the "spooky" houses but for the most part, she was just totally game. As for E.J., he was a bit bewildered but put forth a good effort for several houses before happily excusing himself to the comfort of the stroller and the joy of a snack cup full of animal crackers.
Time to trick-or-treat!
The cutest!
Ellie was a big hit at this house!
E.J. and Eric
Family trick-or-treat pic!
Poor, hot little E.J. That costume was not really Florida-appropriate. I hoped and prayed for cool weather, but naturally we had record high temperatures for Halloween. Bless his sweaty little heart.
Walking with my Rapunzel and Pascal!
Ellie and Eric doing their thing
One house was handing out popsicles (which seemed like a very odd choice, until we ate them, and then it seemed like a GENIUS idea). E.J. found the popsicle quite hilarious!
The annual "Ellie looking like a crazy person as she runs back from a house" picture! She had so much fun!
We stayed out for about an hour, just going up one side of the street and back the other. We had a great time and the kids came home with a pretty nice little haul! Lucky
Candy!
Eric and I had big plans for wine and Halloween candy and a movie, but alas, we were spent. By the time we had dinner and washed all the black hair color out of my hair, we were pretty much ready to pack it in. Gone are the days of all-night Halloween partying, my friends.
Even still, it was a perfect day and the kids had a great time. I'm so excited for the rest of the holiday season to come—they're just going to love the next two months!
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