Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween! 

Our first Halloween in Saudi and our first Halloween with this adorable and cuddly bear....

That was Graham's original Halloween costume but it is a little tight so I was only able to squeeze him into it for about ten minutes before he started complaining. I bought while I was in Abu Dhabi (9-12 month size) thinking it would fit but in six weeks it was way too small. He is so cuddly though!


Since I can't find a pumpkin to do pumpkin carving...well, I found one but it was $50 for something that looked like it came from the pumpkin family but not really....I tried to think of a fun thing to do with Peyton. We tried making paper bag jack-o-laterns and well...they turned out kind of scary and weird. But it was fun and Peyton didn't know the difference!

I managed to convince Peyton to wear a new Halloween costume since she has worn her mermaid to every other event and it worked and so she was a pirate tonight! She kept telling me she was Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates on Disney. 

We then loaded up the other pirate and set out for Trick or Treating! I wish I planned better and made the wagon into a boat with a sail but I didn't think of it until we had already started! I need to plan better  next year especially since everyone here goes all out and even decorates their golf carts (what a lot of people use as their primary transportation around camp).

Peyton went house to house and did great with saying "Trick or Treat" and "thank you" and "Happy Halloween." She loved it and was full of energy and all about "getting more candy." She was so independent and went to every house "by myself."

This little pirate stayed in the ship and took in the sights. He lasted about 30 minutes or so and then headed back with Daddy to get his treat...some milk! They handed out candy at our house while Peyton and I stayed with a group of her friends and went to some more houses. 

We ended up with tons of candy and had a great time with friends. I loved seeing how much our community got into Halloween and was so impressed with how many people were out handing out candy. It was nice to see that community feel. 

And...this is a picture I found in Peyton's backpack that she did at school. I was so impressed with how well she did staying in lines, coloring things the appropriate colors...it is my new favorite picture!

Halloween Party

We headed to a Halloween party tonight and had so much fun! 

Since everyone has kids around the same age it was a kid friendly party but we still decided to get a sitter for Graham so he could stick to his routine and mostly so John and I could just have fun and not worry about him since Peyton would be playing with her friends!

Peyton wore her mermaid costume...

John pulled together some stuff and was a farmer.....

I made a dark fairy costume from stuff I found at a craft store.....including a tutu that took much longer than anticipated!

We had a blast hanging out with friends, meeting people's spouses and just relaxing! I have been hanging out with a bunch of ladies for awhile and we never end up meeting each others spouses so it is nice to get together, meet everyone and hang out. We laughed that we were one of the few American/Canadian couples and were largely out numbered by our Scottish and British friends! Funny how it has ended up that those are the friends that I spend a large amount of my time with! It was also strange that being here, I am primarily responsible for picking friends/people to be around as opposed to back in Texas where we would meet people as couples and then hang out individually. I have so much time during the day and meet people more easily due to convenience than John so I tend to be the one to make social plans for us. So, when he hasn't gotten to meet everyone and this is the first time...I get kind of nervous and hope he likes my friends! He did and had tons of fun but for sure a new dynamic!

I also had to laugh at how silly I felt in my costume! It is one thing to be an adult walking around in a costume in the states but in Saudi I am sure it looks even more strange! When the babysitter came to the door I quickly explained why we were all dressed up. She laughed and told us to have a good time but I am sure she thought we were crazy.

The host made amazing food....she had eye ball rice crispy treats, finger shortbread cookies, dips in the shape of brains and she went all out! So crafty and well done! And tons of scary decorations! A fun way to kick off Halloween!