Happy Halloween... and Happy Birthday Papa!

This weekend was really busy for us as we squeezed in Halloween festivities and my dad's birthday! His birthday is actually on the 30th... which is the day our home town designated for Halloween, so we sort of had to switch things around. We went to "Trunk or Treat" at our church on the 30th, and celebrated Papa's birthday on the 31st.

This is my little man last year on Halloween in front of the hay, pumpkins, and mums at Granna and Papa's house.

My little monkey, ready for Trunk or Treat.

We got into town around 10:00 Saturday morning and took Garrison to get his hair cut. It wasn't such a pleasant experience this time. He knew exactly where we were and he was not happy about having to sit and let Emily use scissors on his hair. He calmed down every time she used the clippers and cried his little eyes out every time she used the comb and scissors. Go figure. Somehow we've got to be better prepared next time and create a positive association with having his hair cut. One of my fears is that when he's 8 he'll still cry over having his hair cut, and then everybody will talk about how I don't have control over my child. =( Hopefully, it will never come to that.... although you do hear those stories occasionally.

After the haircut, we went to my parents house and let Garrison play until lunch. He enjoyed being outside while Papa grilled hamburgers for lunch and especially enjoyed riding around outside on his new car that Granna found at a neighbor's yard sale. He doesn't have an outside riding toy at our house, so he was loving the chance to ride outside. We actually couldn't walk outside without him getting on his car. He also liked Granna and Papa's new waterfall and fish pond. The pictures below are a little foggy because of the smoke from the grill blowing over, but they still turned out good.

After lunch, Garrison took a nap and we had a chance to relax and talk and watch TV. After about a 2 hour nap, he woke up and we started getting ready for Trunk or Treat. To make a long story short, we had to make a last minute change to his costume. Originally he was going to be a skeleton but Friday I realized it was too small and exchanged it for a lion (the only choice). Okay, SO thankful that worked out just fine. Now, on to our preparations for Trunk or Treat. I bought face paint so that Garrison's face could at least look a little lion-like, just in case he refused to wear the head piece. He did GREAT having his face painted. I couldn't believe how still and patient he was. AnAn did an amazing job and I'm extra thankful she took on the daunting task!

First look at himself in the mirror... "what have they done to me?"

Just a few more touch-ups before leaving the house.

My precious, cuddly lion!

Our family =)

You can see us a little better in this one since it's zoomed.

Just arrived at church. The little paws were off and on all night.

Fascinated with the dancing skeleton. (I think fascinated pretty much sums up the whole experience for him. He was dazed and amazed by everything going on around him the entire time we were there.)

Waiting for candy

Garrison completely adored baby Elijah Meadows. He couldn't take his eyes off of him and specifically asked for hugs and kisses from the baby. We actually had a hard time getting him away from Elijah. I think he's going to be a great big brother whenever the time comes.

After we left the church, we went to El Durango for supper. All the excitement had made the little man extra hungry, because he chowed down while we were there. Supper was delicious and I loved that both of our families could share in Garrison's 2nd Halloween. I don't know what we'll do next year when it falls on a Monday. I don't want to think that far ahead but it clearly creates a dilemma for us. Pooh.

Sunday morning we went to church and loved being back at home/FBC. We hadn't been there in about 2 months and boy had we missed it! The music was amazing and the entire service was great. After church we went to J. Henry's for lunch to celebrate my dad's birthday. Garrison did pretty good... he didn't have a meltdown or let out a crazy scream or anything, but he was a bit of a handful. I don't want to complain too much though, because we pretty much take him out to eat whenever we want and have never had to avoid going out or a particular restaurant because of his behavior.

After lunch, we attempted a nap at my parent's house but Garrison Cade had other ideas. He flat out would not go to sleep. He should have been exhausted but somehow he was wide awake and played and talked in the crib the whole time. Finally we gave up and let him join in the fun of Papa's birthday celebration.

Helping Papa open gifts

In this picture, we're all singing happy birthday to Papa, but somehow everyone is looking at Garrison. He helped blow out the candles too and loved Papa's cookie cake.

After enjoying cake and ice cream, we went over to Terrell's parents to spend the rest of the afternoon and eat supper before going home. Garrison played outside and loved swinging in the swing with Nana and Pops and playing with and chasing hula hoops. He also played inside with Nana while we talked to Terrell's dad about Garrison's big boy bed (that his dad is building).

Garrison definitely had a super fun filled weekend and loved having time with his grandparents and AnAn. We discovered he actually preferred them over us the whole weekend. That will definitely take some getting used to. Terrell actually noticed it Saturday when he didn't want to get in the car with us unless AnAn or my parents were riding with us. I guess we'll just have to start getting used it. =)

Garrison with Nana and Pops on the "swing"

Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday Papa! Now the countdown begins to Thanksgiving!