Happy Halloween!

Vince & I shared a relaxing & quiet Halloween this year. It was the first time as a married couple that we were home to celebrate the holiday. Last year we were in Cosby, TN, attending my cousin's wedding. It was a gorgeous day this year! The leaves were turning colors & falling & the temperature was warm with a cool breeze. The weather just screamed for us to be outside. It was a perfect day to go somewhere like the Biltmore, but we also wanted to be back in time to pass out "candy" (a.k.a. pretzels) to trick-or-treaters.

I got online & looked for parks around the local area that we had never been to. We decided to venture to Croft State Park. The website boasted of 2 lakes, trails, horseback riding, camping, and more. Upon arrival, you have to put $2 per adult in an envelope & place it in the collection box. You take the stub and put it in your car. The drive in the park is really long. We didn't see hardly any signs except one for horse crossing & one for bike crossing. We passed a large shelter where a group was having trunk-or-treat for kids. We drove all around & found no signs showing us anything. We saw the lake & the camping area & even the place where the horse trailers parked. But we had no idea where any trails were.

We ended up just kind of looking lost in this big park & decided to just sit in our chairs, watch some horses & have a snack. It was kind of boring, but I was determined to be one with nature on this pretty day. I opened a Kinder Egg (yes, they were from our wedding in April 2009), and I got a witch as my toy. I have never ever gotten a Halloween themed toy from a Kinder Egg. What are the odds that I finally open one on Halloween & get a witch? Freaky (but cute). Vince got some unknown looking critter.

After a few minutes, we packed up to leave. And lo & behold....we found the perfect thing for Halloween! A grave yard from the 1800s. We must have missed it on the way in, but we parked & got out to look at all the Revolutionary War tombstones. Some were so old you couldn't read the writing. And some had trees growing right up through the tombstone. It was so cool to see that kind of history on Halloween.

After we got home, I washed the slugs out of the pumpkin & put some salt in it to get ready for the trick-or-treaters. My new neighbor and her 2 little girls were also outside. The 4 year old asked me if I was was going to come trick-or-treat at their house. I told her no because I didn't have a costume (total lie, but I wasn't going digging in my attic any time soon). She gave me a Tootsie Roll. Sweet.

We had about 15 trick-or-treaters. All of them were cute & quite little. I think the average age was about 5. Only one child who looked about 11 or 12 came by in a t-shirt & jeans carrying a Wal-mart bag. All the rest were dressed up with princess being the number one costume choice this year. Luckily, we aren't stuck with loads of candy this year. I think the pretzels were a great choice since we have to eat the left overs.