Happy Halloween!
This years Halloween adventures had us going into new territory…specifically…new kindergarten territory. Yes we are now navigating the waters of public education. A strange and happy place where the goal is to educate the children in a safe sometimes paranoid environment where everything is fair and equitable for the masses. Our school has “high parent involvement” which translates into – every parent attends everything possible and the PTO is always looking for “volunteers” . It is good of course but also a bit difficult if you are a parent who has to, I don’t know…work to support your family or something.
So…on to the Halloween adventure.
It began a couple of months ago when I was tapped to be a room mom. Thrown into the world of Oriental Trading Co, goodie bags and healthy snacks I quickly learned that a “party” for kindergarten kids involves more than a few cupcakes. One of the biggest lessons involved learning that the menu must be balanced. This is not about candy and sugar. It is about limiting the sugary snack with a good dose of healthy snacks. So our party involved a cheese tray, fruit tray and, oh ya, a cookie. Poor kids… But they did get to dress up, do the monster mash, and do a fun and easy craft.
The day before the party we went on an adventure to the Pumpkin Patch. There were possibly 4 kids in the class who did not have parents there. The poor teacher trying to keep track of the kids when basically everyones parent was there taking them one direction or the other. Very difficult to keep kids all together anyway let alone with these renegade parents 
But all in all it was a great Halloween! We opted out of the traditional trick or treating for the new “safer” go to the mall style of trick or treating. It was actually great fun and much easier than worrying about traffic but I suppose a bit sad to get away from how trick or treating used to be…when we were kids.
Hope everyone had a safe and “healthy” Halloween!
Road Trip to FL or Bust
Well we made our 3rd trip to the Walt Disney World Resort this year this Fall. This is what I have learned. You can overdo Disney and I think we have. It is time to take a break – oh nothing major – maybe just waiting until next summer or fall. I don’t think we could go a whole year without a Disney fix, but doing Disney every 3 months seems to take away a bit of the magic.
However if you are going to Disney every 3 months taking advantage of the different resort options is key. This time we stayed at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. This resort is an adventure in itself. Being able to look out the window first thing in the morning and see the animals roaming the savanna is just an amazing experience for kids and adults alike. And the resort also has great opportunities for the kids to earn beads by participating in various activities including playing authentic African instruments and doing different crafts. Of course these are the activities we never had enough time to participate in but always wish we had more time to do.
One surprising aspect of the trip was the level of crowds. Columbus Day weekend seems to be a new busy time as many schools have fall breaks or long weekends and the crowd level definitely showed it. Still an enjoyable trip, but something to be considered when making next years fall plans.
Want to share your favorite Disney adventures! Send me a message to post it here.
