Playdate and Hoot & Howl

 After one of our soccer games in October, a teammate, Avery, came home with us for a playdate. The girls were thrilled! I had baked some Halloween-shaped sugar cookies the night before so the girls could decorate them. Our kitchen table was COVERED with frosting and sprinkles, but the joy on their faces was completely worth it! Once the cookies were frosted (and several were eaten), the girl moved on to dress-up...the wackier the costumes, the better for them! 

After we dropped Avery off at her house, we picked up Gramma and headed out to Northwest Trek for its Hoot and Howl event. This was a first for us. I didn't realize how well-attended it would be. Finding parking was a little challenging, but we were patient and eventually found a spot directly under a parking light, which is a lifesaver in the dark, wooded PNW landscape. NW Trek had Halloween lights marking the paths, games and activities to play, crafts and color pages, up close animal encounters and educational talks, and a once-a-year exclusive tram ride at night! The tram takes visitors out into a free-roam area for NW native animals. The Hoot and Howl event is the only time that the tram runs at night. It was such a different experience to search for animals in the dark. Surprisingly, we saw a LOT of animals!