Old Town bakery tour.

While Oliver was at his weekly play date, Ben and I enjoyed a fun morning date in Old Town. Simon was there too but that's about as close to a date as we get these days. We hit up a few bakeries and sampled lots of delicious baked goods and hot chocolate. We have loved living just a few minutes from Old Town and will miss those beautiful historic buildings and quaint streets. It started to rain while we were walking around but the weather was warm and the fall colors were saturated by the rain.

Halloween

Amelia decided very early on that she wanted to be a vampire/witch/black cat/bat. (She's really into the combination costumes. Last year she was a mermaid fairy.) On the actual day of Halloween, she didn't end up wearing her cat ears, tail or witch hat so she was pretty much just a vampire. Elsa was indecisive until a few days before Halloween. She finally decided on a vampire and luckily Target had one last vampire costume in stock. I pulled out the gnome costume and sock monkey costume from the costume box for Oliver and Simon. I was shocked that Oliver wore the hat and beard long enough for me to get some photos.

 

Simon refused to stop smiling so I refused to stop taking pictures.

The kids had a costume parade at school the day before (which Ben and I missed because we were closing on our house at the same time). We had a trunk-or-treat at the church the night before so we were already pretty well stocked for candy. We went trick-or-treating in Old Town with the Davis family on Halloween and it was super fun. I'm glad we experienced an Old Town Halloween before moving. They block off an entire street and everyone decorates their homes and they all sit out on their porches to hand out candy. It was fun to see so many different costumes and fun decorations.  (And I loved the chance to peak into some of the gorgeous homes in Old Town.) We made it home in time to hand out candy to lots of trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood.

Oliver gets really freaked out by new situations and people so it took him awhile to warm up to the crowds.

Senator Mark Warner goes all out decorating his courtyard. We took the kids back there and completely freaked them out. They had some pretty intense costumes (creepy clown) and a fog machine. I don't think my kids even made it to the candy. Amelia thought it was awesome. Oliver and Elsa cried.