Tuesday night I went with two friends and their children to the Story Book Forest Trail at one of our local lakes. The idea was actually very cute, the kids went down the forest trail and each stop was a scene from a children's tale, The Three Little Pigs, Little Miss Muffet, Sleeping Beauty, ect. Obviously it was aimed at the young set :), but after that was an area with games, a hayride and then we finished up with roasting marshmallows and/or hotdogs over a fire. We really enjoyed it. This was the third hayride of the season :) We took the kids a couple of weeks ago to the local Pumpkin Patch, which is actually more of a carnival on a horse farm, complete with a petting zoo, kettle corn, horse rides, bumper cars, a hayride and an actual pumpkin patch! Our second hayride was at a friend's house. The family puts together a hayride/hot dog roast for the 3rd -6th graders at our church, and the rest of us tag along and pretend we are that age. :) When I was growing up we lived out in the country. The houses were too far apart for our parents to let us walk from house to house, so our local dairy farmer would put together a hayride and take us from house to house. Unfortunately in Colorado, Halloween seems to be a perfect day for snow, so I don't remember actually getting to go very many times :) But I DO remember the matching clown outfits my mother made for my sister and I when I was a little tot. They were very cute, and I wore them for a long time since my sister was five years older! :) Lisa

we had one very cute little boy and that has been it so far and now we turned off the lights. We did however have a big fat possum at the back door eating the food I put out for the kittens I saw out in the yard last night.

Trick or Treat hours are 4:30 to 8 p.m. in our town. We stay dark now, after sitting and waiting and getting only a maximum of ten kids the last year we participated. (Houses on 1 - 10 acres.) Seems to me Halloween is *always* windy and rainy; it was here, but is to be in the 70's later this week. Our DIL's parents live in a Chicago neighborhood where there are plenty of kids plus those bused in from poor neighborhoods. They spend $500 a year on candy!

I really like the coco mix idea! Our lights are out on Halloween, but I put together a bag for my sprites every year. I always include non candy items like temporary tattoos, glitter gel pens, spider rings, hand painted Halo tangerines and baby pumpkins. They both love "hot" things, so I make a mix of spicy pretzels, hot nuts, hot and spicy cheez-it crackers in which I add an extra dusting of wasabi powder. Candy corn and Halloween M&Ms added to my mix make it hot and sweet! Those girls love it! (And so do the adults.) As for the sweet stuff, anything goes. They will love the hot coco mixes.