covid halloween and fort ebey state park

 i forgot to mention in my last post that seattle public schools announced last week that distance learning will be extended through at least january 28th (the halfway point of the school year). not surprising, not ideal, but at least we know what to expect. distance learning is going way better than i ever imagined it would at our house, but i do feel bad that the kids are not getting to be in person with their teachers and classmates. and let's be honest - mama could use a break too ;) but we will press on. 

the weekend before halloween my friend kay hosted an outside halloween party for my kids and one other family from school. she had eight games/activities and lots of treats for the kids and they had so much fun. 

on thursday after school we started carving our pumpkins. we cleaned them out in the driveway. the kids did a pretty good job, but i did my fair share of cleaning the goop out ;) 

 

 

after dinner we did the carving and thatcher got in on the fun. the kids chose their own designs and did most of the carving themselves. 

 

 

i roasted the pumpkin seeds. yum! 

 

 

then we admired our hard work out on the deck. 

on friday the kids were allowed to wear their costumes for distance learning, so they were thrilled. leading up to halloween every one was trying to figure what halloween would be like this year. we decided to let the kids do some trick or treating for candy that was already out, but no door knocking. we also went just the four of us and wore masks. 

here they are modeling their costumes...

azalea went as an L.O.L. surprise doll and ashford went as spiderman.

i let azalea wear some make up and she was soooo excited.

i've gone in costume the last few years, but i decided to keep it simple this year and just got a halloween mask and headband. 

we put candy out on a table in zip loc bags to be limited contact. 

we ventured out in the neighborhood and i was blown away by people's creativity in handing out candy to all the kids. every one we passed wore masks. some people decided not to put candy out and left a note, others did a bowl on their steps, and the most impressive was people who used chutes, clothes lines, etc to deliver the candy from a far. it was one of my favorite halloweens ever - and one that we'll always remember. 

 

 

we were home by 7:30 and the kids got so much candy! they dumped it all out and sorted it. then we let them stay up late and watch a movie because it was daylight savings time. 

sunday morning i had a candy hangover, but we had planned to do a day trip to fort ebey state park on whidbey island, so off we went. it was a beautiful sunny day in the 50s. we grilled hotdogs and sausages and enjoyed the spectacular views. 

after lunch we explored a couple fort buildings. the kids loved it!

 

then we did a short hike down to the beach to throw rocks. we headed to the ferry to come back to seattle and ended up being the last car to catch the ferry. woo hoo! 

 

now we're onto november! i put away the halloween stuff (but left out "fall" decorations). i've already been listening to christmas music and getting psyched to put the tree up, but i gotta wait a few weeks for that ;)