Ghosts in the Oaks (last week)

Not far back, I purchased some tickets to Ghosts in the Oaks, a fund-raising event at City Park in New Orleans. It fell on the same weekend as the church's Trunk-or-Treat shindig, but in my experience with my own past of Trunk-or-Treating, this was a must. Zac got off work early on Friday, so we arrived at Sean's (and Kyle's, I guess, since they live together now) before the kids' bedtimes. Sean's friend, Lauren, was visiting so we played the Werewolf game a few times before she went home.

I forgot to bring my tea, so I struggled through a cup of coffee Saturday morning. It's crazy how much I loved coffee until I switched to tea. Now, I can barely drink it without making a face. We hung out with the guys and watched Daddy's Home. Zac and I live under a big rock in the woods, so we're unaware of any and all current movies that aren't animated or child-friendly.

We headed across the lake around 6ish, dressed in our costumes, getting a few strange looks from other drivers. I promised the kids they could color their hair, so Zac picked up some spray dye. Leah picked blue, Jac picked green, and I brought them outside for a spray-fest.

We made it to the Oaks and were greeted by a witchy cackle and a fog machine. There were carnival rides, so the big kids wanted to get started on riding things before Trick-or-Treating. Leah was more excited to try the "scary" rides than Jac was. They were both on the Rockin' Tug, but you can't see the very apprehensive Jac hiding in the shadows next to Leah. We picked out some mini pumpkins from the pumpkin patch, then went Trick-or-Treating through a storybook forest. Jac wasn't wanting to ride much, but I convinced him that trying new things was a good idea, so he, along with Zac and Leah, went on the Drop Tower (and he LOVED it!), but freaked out on the Music Express and I had to wave an attendant down to help him get off midway. Poor thing. Leah was in tears for what I thought was fear, but she was upset that the ride stopped. We ended with a carousel ride since Elias was too small to do much, and headed back to Sean's.

We went to Slidell on Sunday to meet up with Ashton, and I traded some gifts with him. I hadn't seen him since 2010 at the kiddos' birthday party. Jeez. We walked around Michael's and I found some cute pumpkin things, then we parted ways and went back to Sean's. We stayed an extra night, instead of coming back to Mississippi Sunday night, we came back early Monday morning. The kids did their lesson, Zac went to work, and I unpacked all our things. Back to the grind.