Ava dressed up as a fairy princess, complete with crown, jewelry, pink sparkly shoes and magic wand:
Dane dressed up as monkey. He was obviously not happy about wearing the hood.
Then we gave him his pumpkin bucket and a couple of gourds, and he was happy, sort of:
A spin on Ava's tricycle made him really happy:
Just because I think it's cute, here's pictures of the kids in their costumes buckled into their car seats:
Our first (and only) stop was at my mom's house. She made up HUGE buckets of treats for each of the kids. Of course, they had to sample the goodies:
To distract the kids from eating too much candy, we headed upstairs. Last winter, my mom cleaned all our old toys out of the attic and turned my old bedroom into a playroom. The kids were in heaven! Ava loves this old spring horse. Somewhere, I think there are multiple pictures of me riding it. Must be genetic:
Then she found a pair of "noc-wee-urs". She used them to shrink whatever she was looking at:
Dane practiced for his first day of school:
My brother Charlie, sister-in-law Karen, and little nephew Kyle came by a little later. Kyle was an adorable little skeleton. He loved all the toys, too!
Uncle Charlie and Dane built . . . something . . . out of Popoids:
And that was the extent of our Halloween activities. I had a cold and didn't feel up to taking the kids anywhere else, but the kids had a great time just the same.
Me and the kiddos after the 5K race:
A group of kids from our church who also participated in the races. Matthew (second from left) ran the 5K and beat me and the kids!
Before the race, Ava was excited about running the 200 m dash. When I asked her if she wanted to run in a race, she said "Yes, just like Mommy. And Dane, too!" But after the 5K, she was so cold that all she wanted to do was go home. After a little coaxing (primarily, the promise of a donut at the end), she ran a great race! Go Ava!
Dane, despite all the excess energy he usually has, decided that on this particular day, he'd rather just go for a stroll in the park. 
Taking his sweet time!
Each race participant received a hardcover book. After the race, Ava said "I ran for a book! And a donut!"
Dane didn't care so much about the books, but he thought the little orange cones were cool!
"How 'bout them apples?" (Sorry, couldn't help myself)
Ava's preschool class posing for a picture on the hayride wagon:
Don't let the funny look fool you, Ava really had a great time!
Watching the apple-sorting machine in action:*
Me and my kiddos (please excuse the funny look on my face. I didn't know I was being photographed):*
After learning how apples are sorted, the kids went into the walk-in cooler where apples are stored, picked two Gala apples out of a big box, and learned about beekeeping. The kids got to see a real working beehive:*
After a snack of apple butter on Ritz crackers, we headed home, but not before Dane made a new friend: 
Dane's favorite part was the candy!
When Dane bent over to pick up candy off the ground, he kept dumping out the candy in his bucket. Poor guy!
Our church's float entry:
The "hare" balloon was shaped like a Pepsi can -- fitting since the balloon race was sponsored by Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company in New Haven.
Dane slept through the balloon race, but Ava and Sammy came outside to watch.
Ava borrowed Daddy's "noc-wee-urs" to get a closer look:
Testing out the digital zoom on my camera -- my uncles Rick, Kim, and Keith, and cousin Jill at the farm watching the balloons go by:
This balloon drifted low through the valley behind our house:
More posts to come -- as you can tell, I've got a ways to go before I catch up!
