A Lovely, Lovely Halloween

After Iris and Bertie's glorious Halloween Sleepover Weekend I think Lu (my daughter) and I are ...... how shall I say ..... were quite tired....... and perhaps in need of a quiet spell in a darkened room.

....... but hope we made the sort of happy memories that they will both fondly remember and hold dear to their hearts for many years to come, hopefully even when they get to my age! Nutty Nanny by The River!!!

The Towers looked lovely for around five minutes after they both burst through the door, straight from a few days in bracing Devon ..........

......... where, although they had witnessed huge waves crashing over the sea wall which had obviously made quite an impression .............

...... Bertie left saying that he had had a lovely time, but he needed to get back for Nanny's Sleepover, something he has been looking forward to for weeks now.

The help yourself spooky Pick 'n' Mix"" and "cocktail bar" was an instant success because sweets really are a HUGE treat for them, certainly not a daily event, if even weekly, but this was a special night.

Bertie was also keen to get stuck into carving one of the pumpkins they had bought with them ....... but no, I wasn't going to make punkin pie from it's contents!

The Halloween crackers filled with Ty Mini Boo's (presents from Uncle Marc from Poundland) went down very well, with no duplicates found, as did the Fortune Cookies which needed careful listening to when read out, followed by an often complicated translation!

My Gok Wan recipe Chow Mein, (a huge favourite), looked just like worms especially when served in a witch's cauldron, but tasted wonderful and went down a treat, if in disgusting fashion!

Tea was followed by a "Midnight Walk" ...... everyone well wrapped up and armed with glow sticks, torches and a monkey ...... to look for moles ....... a memory from last year when Iris was well into nocturnal animals!  

Because of the wet weather my PVA covered, bottle lanterns were a bit of a damp squib (see above) and could have done with stronger lights, but from the lounge window Iris and Bertie were still suitably spookily impressed.  Next year I might just light up the garden with outdoor fairy lights.

However the (Christmas) star lights in the windows at the front of my flat looked great and left my  neighbours in no doubt that I never leave my festive preparations to the last minute......  that  being said, they definitely won't be going on again until 1st December!

Despite the rain, there were still several fairly large firework parties going on, so plenty of fizz, bang and sparkle for us to stop and watch on our walk along the edge of the estate, looking down on the river.  Unfortunately there were no moles on the meadow, probably scared off  by said fizz, bang and sparkle, but with spirits undampened we headed back to The Towers for a magical, light dimmed, bath time featuring more glow sticks, play foam and colour changing bath light ..... supervised by  yet another monkey!

Then it was finally time to snuggle up on the settee, under a huge blanket to watch Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets ...... both children wearing their Poundland Harry Potter glasses which must have been the biggest success of the weekend ......

...... with Bertie even taking his to bed with him.

The morning, having been woken at 6.37 (!!) was very chilled affair with Bertie wanting to draw with Lulu, something he doesn't naturally chose to do .......  

...... and Iris turning the spare bed into the Hogwarts Express, boarding for a fantastical journey!  

Then, with the sun beginning to break up the clouds we went to the meadow for a good run, to leave our pumpkin in amongst the trees to give the animals something to eat ....... and to find that the moles had been very busy in the night!!!!  This was followed by lunch and another play before heading back home to mum and dad.  The flat is so quiet and empty now .......... I am too tired to even attempt a tidy up until the morning ...... but when it's done .... it will be time to start planning for our New Years Eve sleepover .................. Happy Happy Days!