2010 Grand Ave. Boo Bash

Yesterday was the annual Boo Bash on Grand Ave. I was excited to participate in it this year and start a yearly tradition with Leif. Leif is still too young for most of the activities, like trick-or-treating, crafts and pony rides. So we stuck to the more baby friendly happenings.

We chose to enter Leif in the costume contest. (Jeff and I don't want to put too much of an emphasis on competition. But this contest had many winners and every kid got a festive bead necklace.) There were 10 winners in the 0-4 catagory (out of about 50 kids.) And one of them was this cute little garden gnome!!

Here we are waiting to hear how we did. The Mardi Gras beads were to identify the contestants. Leif enjoyed sucking on them.


The judges included mascots like the Timberwolves' wolf and the weird pink guy from the Saint Paul Saints.


There were some amazing costumes in the crowd, so I was surprised when we heard them say "The Gnome."


Leif's prize was a little monkey set including a monkey blanket, rattle and onesie. All of the prizes were donated by businesses along Grand Ave.


Leif wasted no time chewing on the monkey's tail.


We saw this hilarious costume in the older kids category. It's a kid dressed up as the Michael Jackson Thriller doll in its original packaging! I had to take a picture because I had that doll as a kid.


After the contest, Grace joined up with us and we meandered down the street to the hardware store where there was a petting zoo. Leif loved it!!



The animals included goats, alpacas, a baby yak and something called a zebu.


There was an amazing spice store that we went to next. Jeff bought a bunch of Indian spices, which I am looking forward to enjoying. We then ate some great wood fire pizza with Grace. Leif proceeded to spit up on his beard, which signaled that it was time to take the costume off. (Luckily, I made the beard out of washable fabric, so it will be ready for the real Halloween next week.) Leif then played with a balloon. Click to see the video: http://qik.com/video/16682782/leif-v-balloon

Leif was pretty worn out after his first Halloween festivities, so we went home for a nap. We are looking forward to more Halloween fun next weekend with Grandma and Grandad!!

Happy Halloween!!

Neighborhood Holiday Cookie Exchange

Our living room ready for our holiday party.

When Jeff and I were looking for neighborhoods to buy a house, we had a vision of what type of community we wanted. We wanted a place where neighbors knew each other, kids were free to play outside, we could walk to stores and cafes, the trees were old, and the houses had some architectural character. Sometimes we thought it was too Norman Rockwell of a dream, but we think we actually found it in Highland Park in Saint Paul.

Our first summer here, our next door neighbors organized a block party. We met a lot of neighbors there and continued to meet more while they walked their dogs past our house while we worked on outside projects. But once the weather got cold, we realized how isolated we all became. So we came up with an idea to get the block together during the winter. And so was born the Neighborhood Holiday Cookie Exchange! Last year's party was so successful that we did it again this year!

Our "cookie" contribution this year. (I was a little short on time, so I couldn't make actual cookies this time around.)

Here's how it works:

• Each guest makes a batch of cookies to bring to the party.
  
• At the party, all of the cookies are put on a table. People can sample them along with other hors d'oeuvres during the party.
• Before guests leave, they fill a platter/plate/tin/ziploc bag with a variety of cookies from the table.
• The idea is that they leave with as many cookies as they came with, just more of a variety.
  
• Then they will have lots of cookies for the holiday season without having to spend tons of time baking.

Hors d'oeuvres for the party guests. There was also a drink table in the kitchen.

I also made candy cane reindeer for the kids that came to the party. They were a hit!

I set up this small craft table to keep kids busy. They made silly glasses.

Both years that we have done this, we ended up with two extra platters of cookies. (I guess that is one of the perks of hosting the party.) We have brought them to work and to family gatherings, so that we don't end up eating all of them ourselves.

The Holiday Cookie Exchange is quickly becoming a tradition in our neighborhood! Many neighbors have thanked us for starting this. It is a great excuse to get out of the house in the cold winter and get to know the people around us. Several families have also offered to host the party in the future. I think next year we will begin to pass the torch and have other people host. I'm glad that we contributed to making our neighborhood more of a community!