Halloween Activities

Halloween is so much fun now that Mark is a bit older. The weekend before Halloween we headed up to Baugher's, a pick-your-own farm not far from us, to pick pumpkins. Mark found one that was perfect for him---that he could barely carry.

There was a huge stack of hay bails on the farm that Mark loved. He found a little hole just his size and HAD to climb down in it. He could have stayed there all day.

The wagon ride was fun too. I think Mark just enjoyed riding in a moving vehicle without being strapped down by a 5-point harness.

Some of our friends out here are quite the pumpkin carvers. I'd like to say that we are too, but we barely got our one big one carved on Halloween night. At least it was still Halloween. Mark thought it was kind of cool.

And, for all of you waiting to find out what Mark was for Halloween: none else but Harry Potter in his Quidditch robes! We don't think he really understood what he was wearing, but he did look pretty cute, right?!?

"My scar; it keeps burning!" (For those of you that don't watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at least once a day, that's a quote from the movie.)

Mark's friend, Reese, hosted a little Halloween party. Mark had a blast with all of his little buddies. They took pictures, gathered leaves to throw, hunted for paper skeleton parts, and of course, had snacks. Thanks Lori. It was a great party. Notice the ball in his left hand? Of course. He also got to take home a little ghost sucker that Sheryl had made. I decided to let him try it that night when he was a little cranky and Bryce wasn't back from school yet. When I handed it to him he said "Wow!". Then he tasted it and said "Wow! Wow!". And, when he bit off the last chunk, one final "Wow!" Had I only known he was that easy to please...

The Maryland Zoo holds ZooBoo every year around Halloween. Mark's friend Mallory (and Rebecca and baby Landon) invited us to tag along. Mallory loves giving hugs. They're looking down at the elephants. We had lots of people pointing and saying "Look! It's Harry Potter!" I'm just glad the costume was recognizable, or maybe it was just the scar. On a sad note, Mark lost his ball somewhere in the Zoo. Needless to say, I have no idea where he lost it or where it rolled off too. Thankfully, Bryce was home so I called him and had him run to Target to get us a pack of a dozen identical balls that I had seen there. And surprise! When we got home, Daddy had his ball. No harm, no foul, although he is much less attached to it lately. Maybe subconsciously he knows it's not the same.

As an excuse to wear his costume for the third day in a row, we also went to the Trunk or Treat at the church. Bryce took Mark around while I passed out candy. Mark quickly caught on that he was supposed to grab candy from people and stick it in his cauldron. He browses his candy daily.

Picking candy.

Regular Occurences Sept-Oct 2010

We never have a dull moment with Mark on the loose. He's a bundle of energy and his laugh is infectious. Here's a few things from the past months that I want to remember about him.



Mark found one of his church ties and a pair of sunglasses in his drawer. He HAD to wear them. I love the model face.

For some unknown reason every once in a while Mark decides he doesn't need a nap. This of course, is not true and he's cranky for the rest of the day. Sometimes though, for a brief moment, he'll stop and cuddle and watch a bit of TV. I think he knows that's the way to help calm us amidst his whining.

Thankfully he does sleep most days. We're growing his hair out for his Halloween costume (stay tuned), so he's been getting some pretty awesome bedhead lately.

When Mark knows something is wrong he says "No, No, No", and then does it anyway. A couple of days ago I heard a faint knocking from his bathroom. He had shut himself in there in the dark. When I opened the door and turned on the light I found him with the entire roll of toilet paper unwound. His response? "No, no, no". Yes, that's right. NO!!

We try to go for a walk almost everyday, especially now that it's much cooler. There's a sidewalk near the trees as you go down the hill from our apartment and Mark always stops to pick up one, two, three, more if we'd let him, acorns, aka "Ball!!". He knows to look in every crack and generally finds one that hasn't been opened yet by the squirrels.

So proud of himself. You might notice the ball in his left hand that you can barely see? He discovered it in his Easter basket (he found it when we moved) and it's become his constant companion for about three weeks running. When I say constant I mean constant: it goes to the store, on walks, around the house, in the bath, and yes, he even sleeps with it. We trick him to get it before we go to church (can you imagine the fights in Nursery?). Last week he cried all the way there. Anyone know if that's a sign of a psychological problem? Now he's toting the Sam's Club card too. It's not quite as severe (doesn't bathe with it), but he is sleeping with it right now.

Half Off at the Zoo

To continue with our deal excursions, every Tuesday of August was half off at the Zoo. Since Mark is still free, that meant just paying $7 for me, and we got a free 'frozen treat' (aka popsicle.) And, since friends always make the trip more fun, Amy and Caleb, and Lori and Reese came too.


The cheetah was putting on a nice little show for us. He'd do loops right up next to the glass. I did a paper (?can you call it that in 5th grade?) on cheetahs once back in the day and have always loved them. Probably because I like cats too, except for the hair issue.


We had to stop by to see the elephants for Caleb. Mark thought they were okay too, but wasn't quite as into them and didn't feel the need to get out of his stroller.

This monkey was great. She was right up at the window and made faces at the kids. From left to right, Caleb, Mark, Reese (held by Lori). Mark is more and more interested in animals every day. We're going back to the Zoo this Friday and it'll be fun to see what else he's picked up.