Hallowe'en: Parties, Pirates, Puppies, Candy and Cookies

Hey everyone! Can you believe it is November 4th? Did you set your clocks back last night? It sure is nice to get an extra hour of sleep, especially with how busy we've been at Kate's house. So, do you like how my pumpkin turned out? I decided to carve a heart to represent how much I LOVE being in Canada.

Today we woke up to snow, so I'm a little sad because we were hoping to go to the mountains. Instead, we will watch the fresh new November flakes come down and dream about sledding and skating and turkey, and CHRISTMAS at home.

Sigh. Kate and I have to pack up my things today as I'm heading home tomorrow. I've been so busy, I've hardly had time to look at my journal, so its a good think I've been blogging and sending pictures out. Did you see the pictures of the Hallowe'en dog party? Here is the link.

I went to a dog meet up--there were pugs and French Bull dogs and Boston Terriers. I totally fell in love with "Lola", a cream coloured girl who kept busy trying to keep the other puppies in line. She'd go up to a group of misbehavors and scold them (arf arf!) and then run right back to me for reassuring pats. And of course, the sheriff dog was so funny.

Then yesterday, we volunteered at a Christmas Craft Sale and sold some neat quilts and primitive dolls and a nativity scene, and the proceeds all go to the Boston Terrier Rescue Society. Sometimes people choose a pet and then for many reasons, it doesn't work out and the pups have no place to turn. Its so sad :( So, I was glad to help. I've also been selling Girl Guide cookies with Kate, and I was invited to attend all her Unit meetings while I've been in Calgary. Everyone was so awesome - we had a costume party, and they made me an honourary guide! I even got a "Cookie Crazy" crest for selling cookies at a senior's residence. I'm supposed to sew it on my camp blanket. We sold so many boxes and it was nice to visit with all the grammas and grampas and they love those chocolate mint cookies.

I am a little full of chocolate myself. We got SO MUCH trick-or-treat loot, you wouldn't believe it. Kate and I decided to dress as matching angels. Did you see those pictures? It was fun to have a hallowe'en ball in the dining room with everyone. We put up spooky spider webbing everywhere. The Hallowe'en Night event at Heritage Park was very cool. Both in atmosphere AND temperature. It was a clear and cold night, and there was even a full moon! Thank goodness for the hot chocolate because it was all set up outdoors. We saw a very scary play that was in an unheated tent and the air was so cold we could see our breath. It made the play seem even more real because it was set in a spooky graveyard. Then we went to the "Pirate Cove" tent and it was fun to check out all the sea-dogs and walk the plank for a gold doubloon.

On Hallowe'en day, Kate and I went around the City to check out the yards of the neighbours who had really gone all out making their homes look haunted. It was so neat. And then just as we got home, we got a call from the library that Kate had won first prize for a book review she wrote for the Teen Zone's mystery novel contest. You should see all the neat spooky stuff she won! It was very exciting.

Oh, and I forgot to say we went to a play at the Vertigo Theatre called "Number 14" by a theatre group from Vancouver. It was SO FUNNY - about all the folks you might meet by travelling about on the bus. There was lots of acrobatics and slap stick comedy and jokes. They used masks and changed from one character into another right in front of us. And guess what - we went to the play on the bus, so I got to see more of the City and ring the bell at our stop. That was fun.

And then we went windowshopping and I saw the Famous Five monument. In 1927, five women from Alberta challenged a law that excluded women from public office. They were: Emily Murphy (who later became the British Empire's first female judge);
Irene Marryat Parlby (a farm women's leader, who later became the first female Cabinet minister in Alberta); Nellie Mooney McClung (a famous suffragist and member of the Alberta legislature); Louise Crummy McKinney (who became the first women elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta) and
Henrietta Muir Edwards (a founding member of the Victorian Order of Nurses). I felt so honoured to stand among their statues. They are very inspiring.

And then I tried ONION RINGS at A & W. Oh, man are they good! Crunchy on the outside and gooey oniony on the inside. If I wasn't still so full of chocolate....

Well, I think I'll go see if Kate is awake yet. She's just got to get up and see these snowflakes falling. Its so beautiful!!!

Love to all, and home soon!

Violet