Multiple Festivities

Charis' school held a Fall Fest event on Oct. 24. Mark's parents took Charis since we had left that afternoon for Haiti. The event included trunk-or-treating, hot dog dinner and games.


Charis (as Sleeping Beauty) with her teacher.


Charis and her friend Alex.


One of the very creative trunks.

Another of the very creative trunks.

Then Friday after Mark and I returned, Charis' gymnastics held a Fall Fest party with goodies, crafts and gymnastics. Lots of people. Lots of fun!

I love her hair in this shot as she was bouncing up onto the block!

Yes, she's in a Tinkerbell costume this night.

The kids could make a jack-o-lantern with an orange plate or make bookmarks. Charis chose to make a bookmark.

That's my monkey.

When we got home, Charis wanted to decorate her jack-o-lantern. I gutted most of it, but Charis did the rest, including gutting, drawing and cutting.

That's my reaction, too.

Beware of a 5-year-old with a pumpkin carver.

Charis' masterpiece.

For trick-or-treating, Charis decided to dress as Alice from "Alice in Wonderland." She even drew a timepiece for her white rabbit.

(No, I did not buy anything for her for dress-up this year. "Sleeping Beauty" and "Tinkerbell" are a few years old, and "Alice" was a Christmas present last year.)

We were going to go to a Harvest Fest at a church, but Charis fell asleep in the car (she's had a bit of a cold). After about an hour, she didn't want to go to the festival, but decided she wanted to trick-or-treat at a few neighbors' houses. So we did that, popped popcorn and watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." We hadn't planned to be home and I had not bought candy. So we just kept the lights off this year and enjoyed Charis' jack-o-lantern indoors. :)