Monster (Mish) Mash

Things have been very busy around our house as October is spinning to a halt in just a week. Of course our celebrations won't stop next week. Thankfully we have a few Feast Days to take the sting out of the Halloween letdown: All Saint's Day, All Soul's Day, Mommy Steals Candy All Day.

Don't want to get ahead of myself. So, a recap of things we did this month, and the thoughts that went along with them.

We headed to Knott's Spooky Farm for the kiddos early in the month. There was ToT'ing among other fun things for them during the nice and non-scary day time hours. I snapped a pic of this guy. Knott's does a really great job of adding really special details during October. Like this pumpkin scarecrow. Love the bit of gingham sticking out from his chest area. Gotta keep with the Western theme!

To my shock and horror, about two weeks ago I went into Big Lots ready to spend some bucks on a few choice items I had my eyes on from September. They were all gone! In fact, almost all of Halloween was picked over and put away or on clearance. I liked this marque-esque sign above but not enough to buy it. I was really disappointed and kind of panicked that Halloween was getting the boot before it's time!

Fall tradition. At the first sign of these Bad Boys, my husband snatches one up and brings me one after work. He's awesome that way. Fortunately for me, he hates change so I plan on receiving one of these every October until I die. Or until Panera closes it's doors. It's a frosted sugar cookie and if you have never tried them, please do. They are delectable.

October rules for many reasons, but I'm extra fond of it because it's my Birthday Month! A friend and I left the kiddos behind and traveled via Hogwarts Express (ok, ok, it was the 101 Freeway) to Universal Studios this past weekend. Sigh. Dreamy. I adore the books and movies and I'm a big fan. This is Hogwart's Castle above. They did such a phenomenal job with all of the details. We actually spent more than 8 hours there and had a blast. We took the Studio Tram Tour and I haven't done that in ages. I snapped the bottom picture while we toured the backlot.

Krampus House made for the Universal Horror Nights. The Snowmen Pumpkinrot help design (for the movie, not the maze itself) are covered up unfortunately but the thing was pretty impressive in person. I bet it'd be a fun maze!

We visited Amity Island!

Jaws. 

The whole tram JUMPED as Jaws came up close and lunged for us. My friend and I got pictures....but they were blurry. LOL.

Hitchcock Bust. We saw his old office,too.

Michael Bust.

These were on display in the most random of random places: The Jurassic Ride Gift Shop. Go fig. The ones below were,too.

And finally, my kiddo's contributions to our porch this October. My son carved his very first pumpkin all by himself. It boggles the mind how quickly time flies. His is the top. The bottom one is my daughter's. We tweaked it a bit to add a pumpkin bow. At her insistence. Other than that, it's a face only a mother can love! Speaking of moms, my mom is visiting and after my daughter's pumpkin losing a few teeth due to shaky carving, she suggested we stick them on with toothpicks. When she said that, childhood memories came flooding back of her helping us in the same way,too. Full circle, baby.

Above right is the coolest decoration from the 80's. Unfortunately it's head is cut off in the picture. It's a witch. She has a motion-sensor and makes a "spooky" wobbling noise when you get near her. My husband owns her and it's his favorite from childhood. It gets displayed every October. 

So three days til Halloween. Wow, that went quick. We are planning on picking up some pumpkins tonight , carving them, and offering them to The Great Pumpkin tomorrow some time. I had a zillion ideas in my head. Hollywood sign, the Beach, Walk of Fame, but in the end I'm keeping it real I think. Excited to show it off before Halloween day. I'll be helped by my brother,of course, and it'll be an awesome way to start the last weekend in October.