Halloween and Early Voting

I took off work this year for Halloween because it was going to be the first time that I could take Ethan out for trick-or-treating. We had already taken him to Boo at the Zoo as practice. This year we found a local high school that was doing "trunk-or-treat". Instead of going door to door for candy, we could stay in the lit high school parking lot and go car to car. There were also police and firemen there not only to keep everyone safe, but to give out candy as well. The high school kids decorated their cars and dressed up in costume to give out candy. They also had a DJ for music. We donated some food to the local food bank which was the trade off they requested for hosting the event.

First things first, since I had the day off, we decided to vote early so we would not have to stress about making it to the polls on time or wait in long lines election day. There was still a (short) line and Ethan made sure that he was fussy the entire time. I guess voting is a pretty boring chore for a toddler.

Many of the students dressed up and enjoyed giving out the candy.

We got to visit a lot of cars to get candy since everything was in the same parking lot. 

 As usual, he has a short attention span and trick-or-treating only lasted about 45 minutes before he ventured off to play in the grass. 

Boo at the Zoo

This year was the first year Ethan got to dress up for Halloween and go out for trick-or-treating.

Since Halloween fell on a Wednesday this year, most of the fun stuff for little kids was held the Saturday before Halloween. In a way, he got two Halloweens this year. The first was on Saturday evening and was held at the zoo. Stations were set up all around the zoo where kids could get candy.

Ethan was a natural and knew, instinctively it seems, to take the candy from the bowl and put it in his bucket.

No training necessary :)

Checking out the fox exhibit. The foxes were the same size as sparky.

He even got a free tote bag. 

Picture time. He wasn't interested in posing. 

He enjoys putting fingerprints on sunglasses. 

It was a chore to keep him out of the fountains. You can see some of the tents set up to give out candy. There was also a DJ playing music for the kids to dance to.

Rocktoberfest

The local fall/Halloween festival was called "Rocktoberfest". I posted last year's fall festival photos and talked about it being cold the first night and rained out the second day. This year Hurricane Michael affected the weather so it was pretty warm and humid on Saturday and Sunday. We were able to go both days. We went at night on Saturday and during the day on Sunday.

There was a petting zoo but we just looked. 

 The "Rock" in "Rocktoberfest" on Saturday night was the Kiss tribute band. Ethan was dancing to the music. He seems to like everything. 

 Here we are watching the concert.

 I'm giving Ethan a better view.

Day two, we're walking to the park.

Ethan picked his own pumpkin for Halloween this year. Of course he chose one he could pick up and throw. 

We decorated the pumpkin with stickers.

It was hot so he ran around in bare feet during the concert.

Lots of bounce houses to play in but Ethan needs to learn how to jump before he'll enjoy them.

Ethan had a great time and really wore us out. He slept well after this weekend.