Halloween Archives - 2 Cats and Chloe

Camping + Halloween 2016

When I was scrolling through my facebook feed a couple of months ago, Carters was running an ad with a pink flamingo costume for babies. Go ahead Carters, take all my money please.

For Halloween this year, we “celebrated” a couple of weekends early with our festive, annual camping trip to a family-run campground outside of Richmond, VA. Other than a hospital visit to Philly, this was the furthest from home we have taken Lorelei. (Read: Kinda a big deal!) My mom, Lorelei and I decided to take on the world, and throw my kid outdoors for the first time ever. Except for the occasional screen-less screen porch sittings and the many runs from house to car, car to hospital and then again in reverse.

But we are campers. We have the coolest camper in the world. It was time to get this girl outside. Complex health condition and all. We need her to experience mother nature. We need to stop letting the machines and meds win, and start living life while checking things off her bucket list. Flamingo costume and all.

We all survived, without skipping a beat. The adults enjoyed wine tasting in the afternoons. Lorelei enjoyed napping in the afternoons. I would say it was quite the success.

We spent tonight (actual Halloween) wearing her flamingo gear around the house, waiting for a trick-or-treater to come ring the door bell. We had a whopping four golf carts, toting approximately 8 kids around our neighborhood. I guess when you’re over an acre away from your neighbor, kids either work really hard hiking for that candy or they get smart with the golf cart parade.

Happy Halloween, all you ghosts and goblins. Don’t eat too much sugar. (I’m back to paleo again this week! How about you??)

Halloween Camping!

by Susan

Can you believe it is November First?! Where in the world has this year gone folks? (Don’t get me wrong, my current situation is not ideal, so I’m okay with time flying by right now - but a good friend, who is about 60 years older than me, once told me to not wish time away because you will never get it back… That being said, SLOW DOWN TIME! JUST HURRY UP THE HOUSE BUILDING PROCESS!)

For the last three-ish weeks we had one of my cousins in town from Switzerland. I’m pretty positive we did more local touristy things in the last three weeks than we have done in the last three years. It was great. But exhausting. I feel like I have so much catch-up to do, yet I am lost at where to start.

So here I am, blogging. Because what better way is there to avoid real life chores, other than the obvious, netflix or cheesy christmas Hallmark movie binging??

Last week my husband and I packed up Jellybean, our Shasta camper, and hit the road. We planned on taking the pups along, but unfortunately, we had to attend my grandmother-in-law’s funeral. And I am pretty positive the dogs would not have been welcomed. Chloe went to stay with our old neighbors in Newport News and Olivia went to play with her Gran-daddy in Chesapeake. (Truth be told, Chloe needs breaks from Olivia from time to time!)

Friday morning we rolled out of the camper, put on our funeral clothes and hit the road before the sun was up. Thankfully we did not run into any fellow campers because we were extremely overdressed for camping. Fun fact, traveling through the state of Virginia in the fall is one of the prettiest times to see our state. However, being pregnant while traveling through rolling hills laying in the midst of freshly manured farms is enough to make a girl vomit. I spent a portion of our ride inhaling scents from our chipotle lunch.

Did I mention we saw the sunrise and the sunset while on the road? While it was an emotional day for everyone, seeing God’s artwork all around us was a great reminder of the joy that surrounds us daily.

We arrived at the campground after dark, only to find our friends and family already there, with dinner and a campfire waiting for us. While our dinner was good, the dinner that really smelled great was wafting from the site across the way from us… I think my mom was so tired of her pregnant daughter craving whatever it was that they were cooking that she went across the way (at 10pm) and offered them breakfast bacon for a bowl of their stew. #ThanksMom

Saturday started with breakfast over the fire… a paleo brekkie of bacon, bacon and some more bacon. Oh, and eggs with gluten-free pancakes for everyone else.

We all hit the road and did our own things for the day. The boys went go-carting. I dropped the ladies off at a wine festival and then went on my merry little way to look for maternity clothes. (I finally decided I should not walk around with unbuttoned pants anymore…)

Believe it or not, the picture above was their sobber-selfie.

When shopping, drinking and carting wrapped up - we worked on the fire, the paleo dinner, the halloween decor and the football streaming.

Have you ever made tin-foil dinners? These are the absolute best dinners for camping. Easy to pack ahead of time - simply bring tin foil, olive oil, meats, veggies and spices, then let everyone make their own dinner foil ball of food! Toss the ball over the coals for about 20 minutes and then enjoy! We had steak, chicken, peppers, potatoes (pre-poached in the microwave since they take a long time), onions, garlic and tomatoes. This dinner is always a hit! I promise you and your family will love it too!

The coolest part of this festive Halloween camping trip was when all of the kids and adults dressed up in costumes and went from camper to camper, trick-or-treating. I kept my costume simple and was a “Pumpkin Smuggler” with #BabyMagotes.

All in all, it was a great weekend with the family and friends. Three campsites, tons of candy and lots of laughs. Such a fun way to spend the holiday. I cannot wait until Magotes arrives and we can continue camping traditions with the next generation!

What did you do for Halloween? Did you dress up or go to a party? Better yet, did you enjoy the smell of a campfire and roasted marshmallows?

Houses, Terrors, Guns and Pumpkins!

by Susan

It was such a crazy, busy, festive weekend. While my to-do list is about four and a half miles long and has hundreds of things on it… we spent most of the weekend doing everything else. It wasn’t the most productive weekend, but it was nice. Rather than writing all about it, let’s just do a good ole photo dump.

Friday

Michael doesn’t work on Fridays. I work Fridays but I usually mix it up between my contracting jobs and my wedding gigs. I didn’t have any weddings this weekend, so I spent the morning working for one client, and the afternoon helping my mom visit builders and agents at the Hampton Roads Homearama. Since Michael wasn’t working, he tagged along, so we could ooooo and ahhhhh over these homes together.

Our plans include wrapping up our current home projects, selling our house, and then building a custom home in Suffolk, VA next year. Going to Homearama was a great way to gather ideas and take our Christmas Card picture:

Nuts of Suffolk! Moving to Suffolk

So basically we were nerds and took pictures of things we loved in these fancy shmancy houses. Things like $20,000 closets, um, yes please. Things like classy trim and crown molding that we both agreed on, because who knew I would be so picky about trim… And things like flooring, ceilings, and kitchens.

After Homearama, we rushed home to change and get ready to pee our pants. I don’t know why I thought going to Busch Gardens’ Halloscream would be a good idea… I mean, I despise horror movies, I hate clowns, and I am constantly feeling like someone is lurking around every single corner, with or without the presence of a haunted maze.

If you like said terrors, I highly recommend you check out Halloscream next year. Busch Gardens really knows how to do Halloween. {But I much more prefer the way the celebrate Christmas…}

There were seven haunted mazes/houses/events and many halloween related shows in addition to all of their regular theme park rides. But even when we were not in a scare house, we had people chasing us with chainsaws and things of that sort. Personally, I hated it. I don’t like the feeling of knowing someone is going to jump out at me. I did, however, REALLY enjoy sitting on a bench and watching other people get scared. That being said, I would NEVER bring a child to Halloscream. While most of the kiddos there were handling it better than me… there were some that were simply terrified.

I snapped the picture below because I was beyond impressed by the Busch Gardens Scarers. This girl was TERRIFIED. She was sobbing and hysterical, and her family was surrounding her while trying to get her through this village. One of the Vampires realized what was happening, walked up to her, took his costume teeth out, made her look into his eyes and reassured her that everything was fake. He told her that by making an X with her arms she was telling all Scarers to not scare her. {I secretly made a mental note of this, and casually crossed my arms whenever I’d go around a corner.}

Snaps for this guy. Way to go Busch Gardens. I was extremely impressed by this vampire’s compassion. It is reassuring to know that behind the scary masks, face paint, and costumes, the terrors hiding throughout the park really were putting guests first.

Saturday

Saturday was a wash. I popped a muscle relaxer before I went to bed the night before, so this girl slept in for the first time in a while! We did a few chores around the house: I worked in my office while my husband worked on organizing the Man Room. We spent the evening at a cookout with some friends. It was a great day.

Sunday

Sunday was a full day of errands… mixed with a bit more festive fun. We left home in hopes of finding lunch, in addition to tools and pumpkins, and a stop into the gym. While I didn’t make it to the gym, we did find ourselves at the gun range. {I needed to go shoot my new gun before my Monday night gun class in Norfolk.} And yes, of course we used the hot pink target.

We wrapped the weekend with a pumpkin carving party! Two good friends came over, with many pumpkins in tow. My husband used the carving books, while the rest of us free-handed our designs. I love the way theses pumpkins turned out!

I decided, as a blogger and marketing junkie - a Hashtag Jackolantern was fitting and fun. Michael used really cool eyeballs t make his pumpkin pop!

Oh, and did I mention, that in the midst of all this festiveness, I managed to cook a Paleo Apple Crisp? Join me tomorrow for the Celebrate Southern Linkup and this delicious clean, paleo recipe!

I wish I had just one more day left in this weekend, but alas, it’s Monday. I’ve got work, blogging, and my gun safety class on today’s agenda. I hope you all had a lovely weekend! See you tomorrow for the Celebrate Southern Linkup! xxoo

Say What, Saturday? What is your Favorite Halloween Candy?

by Susan

WOW! Where have I been all your life? Or at least for this past week! Since I was out of town all of last week, I spent most of this week buried under piles and piles of paperwork and chores. I apologize for my absence. I had real intentions of posting, but every time I sat down and looked at my blog, I noticed tweaks and edits that needed to be made to the new template. I doubt you will notice the changes, as I still feel like there is plenty to do with this new wordpress template that Northern Belle Diaries of High Note Designs hooked me up with… but it’s a work in progress, so please bear with me! {Oh, and check out my new clean eats page that will be filled up very soon!}

I absolutely love Saturdays just because of the Say What, Saturday? Post! I know I am a bit biased considering it was my idea and all… but I really think this is the most fun way to showcase my sponsors and fellow bloggers! Every Saturday my gals answer one fun question and I share it with you… magazine style. This week, I went with a festive holiday Q. Here are their A’s:

You can learn more about these gals here: Lindsay from Bourbon, Lipstick and Stilletos, Samantha from It’s All In The Details, J from A Hot Southern Mess, Erica and Brooke from Pumps and Pushups.

Now despite the fact that I am 100% pro clean eating and passionately hate processed sugars… every now and then a girl needs her fix. I try to live my life by the 80/20 Paleo Rule. For the month of October, I’ve blown my 20% on Candy Corns shaped like pumpkins.

Join the fun! Become a 2 cats sponsor with a discount of 30% off all spots! Use this Promo Code: SAYWHATSATURDAY

In the comment section below, tell me, what is YOUR favorite Halloween Candy?

Super Exciting Awesomely Terrific November Blog Series

by Susan

A quick-ish recap of last night for you before I release the details of my super exciting awesomely terrific November Series! As you saw yesterday I was flying solo in the Halloween Costume department AND I did my first “fashion” post.

As the day went on, and it got closer to trick-or-treat go time, I decided it was time to put chloe in her JMU Duke Dog costume. (Yes, you saw her in my left over 80s stuff, but what’s Halloween without a costume change?!)

As a graduate of James Madison University, I have and always will bleed purple. And so will my dog. And my future children. As will their children.

Our mascot is the Duke Dog. He is amazeballs and looks like this…

{source}

But MY Duke Dog looked like this!

Since Michael works late and I never see him during the week, I decided to dress up with Chloe. Yes, that’s right, my dog was the second half of my ‘halloween couple costume.’ Pathetic right? Eh, I’m cool with it. She was the Duke Dog, and I was a JMU fan with my fun jersey.

We’re cute right?! I think she was trying to lick all the 80s makeup off my face…

We also gave out legit candy this year. No kidding around from this household, Snickers and Reese’s all the way. (Unfortunately, I have a ton leftover… Must use self control and not eat all of it… starting tomorrow!)

Chloe, unfortunately did not behave well. Shocker, small humans with scary masks terrified her. When she went into protective mode and had the urge to take down a 4 foot, 6 year old Captain America, it was time for her to go inside.

All in all, it was a good Halloween evening. My roommate and her boyfriend stood outside with me to greet the 40ish kiddos that came by the house. We ate pizza in the driveway and chatted with my favorite neighbor for about an hour. It was a nice evening. I hope you all had a great Halloween as well and accomplished a handful of quality tricks and delicious treats.

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Now that October is behind us, and I am officially back to blogging, I am bouncing off the walls with excitement, not because of all the snickers, but because I am going to have a November Series here on the blog! Are you ready for this?!

I have decided that my November posts will all have a theme… a theme of Thanks. The posts may all still be a little random, since I guess you could call me a “lifestyle blogger” and let’s be real, my life if pretty random. But they will all have one point or one sentence or one word that represents what I am thankful for that day!

Shall we get this party started then?

November 1. I am so super thankful and happy about silly little holidays like Halloween.

No, it’s not my favorite holiday, but I just absolutely love how spiders, witches, and candy corn can bring people together. What other night of the year would you find a bunch of strangers giving candy to each other, standing in the cold, making sure kids of all ages have a great time in a fun costume?

Simple as that guys. Future “ya gotta give thanks” posts will be a tad bit more specific than this one, but I had to ease into it! Do you want to know my most favorite part about this new series?! I would LOVE LOVE LOVE IT if other bloggers would like to link up with me on this once a week.

Please let me know if you would be interested in linking up every Thursday this month to share what YOU ARE THANKFUL FOR! You can share something serious like “I’m thankful for my significant other” or “I’m thankful for my kids.” Or you can share why you are thankful for Wint-o-Green Lifesavers or super shiny pennies. Whatever floats your boat!

Leave me a comment below if you would like to join in. Then grab a button and stick in on the side of your blog. In an economy like this, after crazy storms have crashed into the east coast, and as we prepare for the holiday season - we can never count our blessings enough. I’m sooo looking forward to blogging in November.

Camping + Halloween 2016

Halloween Camping!

Houses, Terrors, Guns and Pumpkins!

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Say What, Saturday? What is your Favorite Halloween Candy?

Super Exciting Awesomely Terrific November Blog Series

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