Trick or Treat Party

Lots of friends came over for a SUPER-fun Trick or Treat party.

I was a little bit worried that it would be a struggle to get Madelyn to wear her costume--she had fluctuated between excitement, indifference, and refusal to wear it throughout the week, but thankfully she enthusiastically morphed into Supergirl before the party. I think knowing it was finally time for the party and trick or treating that we'd been talking about all month really helped.

Madelyn and Natalia helped make a giant spiderweb to climb in.

When we finally went trick or treating, Madelyn felt so comfortable she walked right inside the neighbor's house.

She'd discarded the awesome super boots by this time, and added a pink Care Bear to the getup.

When Madelyn announced earlier in October that she wanted to be a Superhero, she also instructed Gary and me that we were to be Superheroes as well. It just so happens that I dressed up as Wonder Woman two years ago, so I had that covered.  Gary isn't much of a costume-wearer, but he was such a good sport and donned a suit (with tennies for trick or treating, I see), allowed me to slick down his hair and add the Clark Kent glasses and Superman cape (which is what I went to Goodwill specifically looking for and miraculously found).

So here is our little Action Hero family.

Hope you had a SUPER Halloween too!

Halloween Cupcakes

We had Moms Club friends over for a Halloween lunch.

Madelyn and Nico (a friend from school) enjoyed the chocolate cupcakes.

Actually Madelyn only enjoys the frosting. Not much one for the actual cake.

Happy Halloween!

First School Program

Tonight we attended the very first of what will surely be many school programs/events.  First we finished carving our pumpkin, then watched Madelyn stand silently while most of her classmates sang a couple of songs and recited a poem.  Madelyn is one of the youngest in her class, most of the others are age 3-5.

I recognized the song as one that Madelyn has been singing often in the car, so I know she knew it, but was a little overwhelmed with all the parents watching.

Since she fell asleep on the floor before we came here, I just brought her costume along with us, but she didn't want to wear it. Between her being one of the only kids without an adorable (or extremely frightening, as above) costume, and looking dazed and confused throughout their performance, our first school program was slightly disappointing.  But there will be plenty of others.

Daddy and Madelyn, with the same uneasy expression she wore most of the night.

Tired Out

School. No nap. Fire station tour. Pumpkin Scooping.

Then Madelyn fell asleep next to my chair in the office while waiting until it was time to go to the pumpkin carving party.  Big day, not enough rest.

Scooping Pumpkin Guts

We were asked to bring our pumpkin pre-scooped to Madelyn's school pumpkin-carving party. Gary was still at work, so Madelyn and I did the dirty work. I decided an outdoor blanket on our dining room floor would be more comfortable than newspapers in the garage (oh also, we don't have any newspapers since we don't subscribe to any).

Cheese!

Loki and Kezia liked the pumpkin guts

Carefully scooping out those seeds

Finger-lickin' good!

Being goofy

Eww!

In a Fire Truck

We took a tour of our local fire station with friends. After a few minutes being unusually shy, Madelyn finally bounded into the truck with the other kids and had a great time.

Madelyn goes to school with Alex and his sister Samantha.

Did you know that Madelyn's left eye is mostly blue but partly hazel? It's really beautiful--double-click the photo to zoom in and see.

Bowling

Family Bowling Night:

Grandpa's Breakfast

After Disney on Ice, Madelyn got to sleep over at Grandma and Grandpa's house so I could run a race early the next morning. My mom told me that when Madelyn saw the bed Grandpa had ready for her beside their bed when they arrived, she said, "No." Then Madelyn walked into the hall outside their room where she had a sleepover with her cousins in the summer and wanted her bed out there. So cute.

Here's Madelyn helping Grandpa make breakfast in the morning.

She looks like such a big girl!

Disney on Ice

Gary made arrangements for us to see Disney on Ice: Worlds of Fantasy on Saturday.

Madelyn's all ready to go in Grandma Winkel's car!

Her favorite parts were the bubbles floating down,

and any time Mickey and friends appeared on the ice between the main attractions.

Doing some polite clapping

Watching the Zamboni during intermission was pretty cool too. After the show Madelyn got to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa Winkel! (The next morning was my half marathon.)
You can see some pictures I took of the skating and read more about our experience here.

Supergirl!

Madelyn told me earlier this month that she wants to be a superhero for Halloween. Enter craigslist, and...

Ta-da! Supergirl.

Actually when I first showed her the costume she whined and said she didn't want to wear it. I'm not too surprised. As she's never seen Supergirl before, she probably had a different image of "superhero" in her mind. And also, she's just weird like that about costumes. Anyway, she loves watching videos on the computer, so now enter YouTube, and soon she donned the costume and ran around the house with one fist in the air.

Supergiiiiirl!

Downtown

Some old friends from high schoool visited Portland from out of town, so we headed downtown to Saturday Market.
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The highlight for Madelyn was playing in the fountain (with her new pink "purse").

Enjoying a delicious corn dog with my good friend Nalea who now lives in Las Vegas.

Shirley was our old youth leader at church, and Anna lived with her for a school year as a German exchange student.  She came to the US to visit all these old friends like Nalea, me, and Sarah (and lots of others of course).

Demitri and Madelyn checking out the paddleboat on the Willamette River.

A gorgeous fall day at the Waterfront!

We met up with more friends at another former youth leader's home for a light lunch. It was really fun to see these friends.  I was very pleased that Anna and Nalea even stayed the night in our guest bedroom.