Halloween and Bonfire Night

Things have been getting away from us but here I am about to try and catch up.

October ended with Halloween and for the first time ever the boys were prepped with costumes and the house with decorations and we were ready to rock and roll. The aim was to attend the museum’s special Fright Night event which was a first this year and was great. There were spooky exhibits and a shocking trail to follow, prizes to be collected as well as a free hot choccie and cake from the newly opened café.

Our house and horrors

Free cake

Feely boxes

The museum

After that we did go for a mini trick or treat around town on our walk home as there is a community board (a virtual one on Facebook) here that includes a section where people can sign up for whether they are happy to receive trick or treaters or not and until what time. It is very civilised! So we attended houses who were prepared to accept people and marvelled at the decorations and at the fact that you can leave you house unlocked and with a sign welcoming people to come in without a threat or a worry. We also loved the inventive ways of having pumpkins as with the price of veg here no one carves one!

Helping ourselves to a sweet

Decorations

The sort of notes we found

Inventive pumpkins!

The boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we just about finished the treats before the advent calendars began. Having a long, late, light night on Halloween did feel rather strange it has to be said and a lot less spooky. It also seemed to keep the teenagers at bay or that might just have been our perception from our walk home and in our area of town.

Bonfire Night falling on a Saturday was a real treat and we had built up to it for a while before hand with posters up around town advertising a Family Fun Day at a nearby farm Port Harriet followed by bonfire and fireworks. So Saturday 5th November arrived and in the late afternoon off we set to Port Harriet, it is about 15minutes away, not far at all. It was our intention to go along to the later half of the Fun Day and then stay out that way for the fireworks. We learnt our lesson to take the timings of things here with a pinch of salt and always turn up at the start as things slow down and run out quite quickly. We missed the BBQ completely and the raffle and I am sure a good many other things. However, we caught our first sheep shearing demonstration, which the boys were not interested in but Chris and I enjoyed. The boys loved the fire engine and trying on firefighters helmets and it was no surprise that Sam managed to set of the alarm that highlights when a firefighters oxygen is disconnected.

In the Fire engine

Up high

Sam the Fireman

They also enjoyed a ride in the fire services off road all terrain vehicle – The BV, Chris included.

All in the trailer

Heading off

Off they go

After a ride in the cab (less dust!)

After a ride in the cab (less dust)!

Further than that there was some excellent ways to entertain the children, including allowing them to whack each other and a ‘sweetie throw out’, this one included “chase the sheepies (adults dressed as sheep) and once you get them we’ll throw the sweeties”. A ton of sweets get thrown and a ton of children chase after them to grab as many as possible. It was a particularly windy day here and so the bouncy castle was not in action and after a short while we decided we would need to skirt back to town for food and then head back for the fireworks and so we did.

It was well worth returning for the bonfire and fireworks, again the lighter nights meant that proceedings had to be later on but the bonfire was health and safety free, with a guy and enormous and very hot. There was a second fire in an old drum with free marshmallows to toast and plenty of space for children to roam around. The fireworks were great later on too.

FIRE!

Sunset and a marshmallow

oooohhhhh!

ahhhhhhh!