Fish Out of Water for Halloween!

So, we did ALL the Halloween things we could this year! 

Just like the outdoor fall activities in the last couple of months, Leavenworth worked hard to provide us options to participate in many Halloween festivities, and we worked hard to go to as many as possible. 

We did a Halloween fun run (in 30°F weather!) Baby A. was not pleased towards the end of the run and screamed until I had given him no less than two whole bananas and a diaper change. However, the muff for his stroller kept him extra warm and I was very happy about the rotation on our stroller, because the wind was spookily harsh:

We went to the whole family's first trunk or treat at the Army medical center on post (trunk or treats seem to be a new thing? Hubs and I never did those growing up):

We did story time at the Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library (where hubs studies for CGSC), and participated in some trick or treating with our dear neighbors there:

 We went to the neighborhood's Halloweenie Roast, during which Kansas showed its ass and it started to snow, quite seriously, until after we got home:

And of course, we handed out candy and trick or treated in our neighborhood:

 Baby A. may not have fully understood what was happening most of the time, but he clearly enjoyed his costume, especially his shoes that squeaked when he walked. He also learned about how he could use his toddler skill of taking things from one place and putting them in another to fill buckets with candy. I think something I'm grateful he doesn't understand yet is that there is delicious candy inside all of the wrapped stuff he touched. He also denied eating some Milky Way because of its appearance... so that buys me a little more time before he'll learn to request candy! 

For anyone heading to Leavenworth next year, there are a few activities we missed, like Boo at the Zoo, which was at the Kansas City Zoo and was apparently awesome, as well as a small parade and activities at a local farm called Salt Valley Creek Farm. We also missed the Leavenworth Public Library's Halloween celebration, which I'm sure was fun, as we generally attend the Wiggle Workshop there and it's great. Also for younger kids, the Nettie Hartnett Education Center, where we go for Parents as Teachers playgroup, hosted their own haunted house. Lastly, due to bed time, we missed the on-post Haunted base tour, which is apparently very detailed and has lots of information about the Old Disciplinary Barracks here.

Also, for those of you who are still confused, Baby A. and hubs were Narwhals for Halloween. They are real animals that exist primarily in the Arctic waters near Canada, Greenland, and Russia. We chose this costume because we are one of the only Navy families on base and we wanted to do something related to our beloved sea, but a pirate felt a little played out. A narwhal is a beautiful and mystical creature that is rarely seen, kind of like a Navy family on an Army base :-) Also, it's been adopted by the millennial generation in a way, and that's also totally us. Please enjoy this educational video to wrap it up.

- Big A⚓