Trick or Treat

I decorated last night when Arlo was asleep so he was beside himself with excitement when he opened the front door to walk to school this morning and kept yelling 'I've got Halloween at my house'



he was even more excited when after school his cousins and the lovely Ruby came over to get ready for Trick or Treating


Kahi was our treat dispenser



the small peoples costumes were the same as Friday night with a little scarier face paint


his first lolly from Kahi







the gang getting ready to meet up with our neighbors and head off




across the rd



I love our street and this year most houses were decorated and had treats for the kids
(for my American readers not everyone here is into Halloween, we even had friends come over specially as their neighbourhoods were no good for Trick or Treating)



Arlo was so cute, he totally got what it was all about this year, wanted to go up to doors all on his own and said thank you every time which generally got him a big smile and another lolly




the loot


after the trick or treating we had a street Bar- b -q so it was a late night with a little bit of a bedtime sugar high but the small people declared it the 'best Halloween ever'

last photo by Aunty Sarah - the undead cousins

Halloween Party

Friday was our playgroup Halloween party so we had an early wear of our costumes.
This year we had

One Little Knight

His Costume
Hat - made from Grey Felt and Silver braid using this tutorial
Vest - brought at grey Lynn festival last year from here
worn with leggings and biker boots


One Frankenstein



Costume
Jacket- retro polyester
Pants- upcycled from men's thrifted pants
Bolt and fingers from $2 shop
Amazing face paint by Mama

Two Vampiresses


Harriet and her BFF wanted matching costumes this year
Wings- made using this tutorial and attached at the neck to $4 tees
Skirts - two circle skirts joined at the waist to black elastic....the black ones got a bat wing hem finished with red cotton on the over locker
Teeth and ears - $2 shop




They are all looking forward to Monday nights Trick or Treating

Taking the Waters in Te Aroha

Ang and I have just returned from a lovely 4 days away (thanks muchly to Gran, with help from Barb and Marie, who looked after our small people) in Te Aroha which from the 1880's was an Edwardian Spa resort where people literally came to both drink and bathe in the mineral waters to cure all sorts of ailments


Te Aroha still has a bit of an old school vibe about it, more 60s/70s than 2011...which of course was something we very much liked

We stayed at the Mountain View B&B where our lovely host Shirley made us some delicious breakfasts

The first day we explored 5 of the 6 oppys in town and found 8 great vintage dresses as well as other treasures, went for a hot spa, and found ourselves sitting on the deck reading and sipping G & Ts when we would usually be rushing round doing dinner, baths and bed

a little sample of our $3 dresses

and some of the fabulous linens

Wed we headed to Te Aroha Domain which still has all it's Edwardian buildings from the Spa days and had a morning of massage and soaking in the waters

checked out the Museum

before heading over to Paeroa in the afternoon to look at some Antique shops and check out this great art installation


and of course the iconic big L&P bottle

Thursday we ventured further afield to find more oppy's

I can't resist vintage baby clothes when I find them for 50c, so added some to the stash


as well as Falconware for the picnic set and buttons for my collection


our last morning was spent in Te Aroha again with a swim in the public mineral pools



before heading home to see the small people with a little set of treasures for each of them

Retro TV tray, vintage horse scarf, vintage searsucker overalls and some sweet treats for Arlo

This was the first time in 7 years we have been away on our own for more than a night so was very lovely to be on our own schedule---or lack thereof---and get to sit around and relax---although we were missing the small people by Friday afternoon----thanks again to the lovely Grandmothers for making this possible xx