Halloween

It should have been an epic Halloween -- a Saturday night with a full moon, and a surprisingly warm and clear night -- but instead there was Covid. 

Liesl and I decided to walk around our neighborhood, with masks on, in costume. I warned her to keep her expectations low, because I was not sure there would be any candy available, since we were not going to knock on any doors. We met up with her friend Maya and family at 6:45, intending to enjoy the company of friends and the over-the-top house decorations around here, and hoping (hoping!) for some trick-or-treating. As it turned out, everyone had as if by magic landed on the same basic idea -- put the candy outside on a table, and let kids help themselves. Liesl was THRILLED. There were obviously many fewer kids out, and fewer houses participating, but we had set expectations low enough that all of the kids felt so much joy.

 

Liesl and Maya, with full bags and big grins under the masks. 

We came home and Liesl sorted her candy, and then we put the whole bag in quarantine -- I don't really think Covid is transmitted through wrappers, but no harm in letting it sit for 48 hours. If she needs to eat candy, we still have scads left from our own birthday party/giveaway stash.

 

This was our setup, on our front steps -- a small table that we kept restocking with candy -- the purple lights were quite bright and alerted kids that there was candy here! 

Sebastian was invited to a house party, but given the recent case numbers in Oregon, we were uncomfortable with the number of kids who might be there, and asked him not to go. He was incredibly mature about it and agreed, but it was still an enormous bummer. He supervised the candy table, played some Fortnite, and posed for this sad photo. It might not reflect the actual amount of candy he got (Liesl and I gathered a stash for him), but it does encapsulate his mood quite accurately.

Liesl turns 10!

It was Liesl's 10th birthday on Tuesday - double digits!! Amazing! We had a lot of small celebrations in between work and school and her activities (Tuesday is busy, with dog-walking the neighbor's pup, ballet, and soccer). It was a pretty sweet day, with all of her favorite foods, time with friends, presents, and cake!

We went all out on her favorite foods, taking advantage of being at home together to have special meals all day long. For breakfast, we had challah French toast with whipped cream, berries, and bacon. For lunch, mac and cheese with peas and ham. And for dinner, stromboli (in the shape of an L), with sides of broccoli, olives, and a strawberry-pistachio salad. To top it all off, a birthday apple spice cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert.

 

We also spread out the present-opening joy over the course of the day - some at breakfast, some in the afternoon, some after dinner. She got some Babysitters Club graphic novels; a box set of her favorite series, The Land of Stories; a mini-speaker (in the shape of baby Yoda); hair chalk; a giant chalk set (64 colors); Twister; and the grand prize: a chinup bar! We set it up on her bedroom door, and she's a chinup-performing monster.

Both sets of grandparents called to wish Liesl a happy birthday, which was very sweet. Arianna came over and joined us for singing and dessert, and then an inaugural game of Twister. 

New bedtime routines: chinups! Happy 10th birthday to our sweet, joyful girl.

Liesl's 10th bday party!

We celebrated Liesl's 10th birthday with a party on Sunday - Maya, Zara, and Arianna came for the fun and games. Since Halloween is coming up soon, we invited all the girls to come in costume -- a Gryffindor witch, a police officer, a secret agent, and a zombie bride.

Our first game was a variation on pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey; this time, pin the facial features on the monster! Steve drew a very cute monster which we hung up on the wall. Each girl took turns being blindfolded and spinning the victim.

Next up: a candy taste test! From our H'ween candy stash, I selected ten different candies and cut them up into tiny bites. Each girl got a piece and then had to write down what it was on her piece of paper. We compared notes at the end. They all got all the candy ones right - sour patch, candy corn, Swedish fish, Skittles - but they had a lot more trouble distinguishing between different chocolate bars - Twix, Crunch, Reese's PB cups, Butterfingers, Whoppers.

And then we headed outside for an obstacle course, created and set up by Sebastian on our street. There was kicking a soccer ball kick, throwing a tennis ball, stilts, a scooter, riding on a skateboard, dancing, strutting, running in circles, and a hopscotch for candy prizes.

And then we had everyone's favorite, the annual birthday scavenger hunt. Ten clues, all hidden around the school grounds -- in the garden, the art on the portables, in the playground. As always, Steve did an amazing job and the girls had so much fun searching for clues and figuring things out together.

 

 

 

 

We were trying to have as much of the party outside as possible, but by 4 pm it was chilly and we were happy to head back inside for presents and cupcake decorating.

Someone enjoys being the center of attention as happy birthday is sung....

Whipped cream, icing, and sprinkles, oh my!

And for a grand finale, to sugar them up before we sent them home, we had the world's biggest pinata, filled with SO MUCH candy.

They divided everything up evenly, and then there was some trading in and swapping for favorites, and then finally everyone went home, tired but happy. I'm so pleased that we could have a proper birthday party for Liesl, despite the restrictions of Covid.