Countdown to Halloween - Celebrating Halloween! - Day 7

Halloween was on a Monday this year, and on Tuesday the girls go to a homeschool co-op. We leave the house by 7:50 a.m., so that means that we don't stay up late on Monday nights.

This - combined with blustery/rainy weather - made it a relatively easy decision for them not to go trick-or-treating. This is the first year that they have not gone trick-or-treating since they were little.

What they still wanted to do, however, was participate in the costume parade at the nursing home.

They have been doing this now for a few years and enjoy it. The staff and some of the volunteers dress up; and then walk around and talk with residents. The residents vote on their favorite costumes.

Many of the residents were wearing hats so they could feel like they were dressed up and participating as well which was fun.

The parade takes place in the dining room and quite a few residents - and sometimes their families - enjoy seeing the variety of costumes.

It's fun for the girls to talk with the seniors and hear them share memories or receive compliments on their costumes.

At the end of the parade, those in costumes gather for the annual picture. The costumes this year were impressive - especially the trio from the Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins & the Chimney Sweep. All of them showed a lot of creativity and Halloween spirit!

Since we weren't trick-or-treating, the girls suggested we start a new tradition. They asked for pizza from the local pizza place.

For dessert, we had Lemon Chess Pie (basically a lemon meringue pie without the meringue) that Olivia made.

The recipe came from her Five in a Row cookbook that she is finishing this year.