Halloween and a Karate tournament

The kids had an exciting Halloween this year- they are both at perfect ages for being enchanted by dressing up, getting to run around outside at night, and especially collecting mass amounts of candy.  Both had Halloween parades at school to kick off the holiday... At Windy Hill the kids all made their own capes and masks (Super Haley!) and paraded around campus, while the KRES kids donned their Halloween costumes and walked around the block downtown.  Aiden went as a Minecraft creeper, which really just involved a large cardboard box over his head.  It was fine during the day, but later in the evening it became treacherous since Aiden could barely see out of it to step over stone walls or street curbing.  He ended up with quite a few tumbles and bruised shins before he abandoned the box altogether.

For trick or treating, Haley was "sky" from Paw Patrol (or the closest we could come to it, which was a pink poodle costume). Andy took Haley around and met up with her friend Sam to walk the haunted trail and go door to door, while I took Aiden and his friend Sam to do the same. I think Aiden and Sam saw almost every kid in their 3rd grade class wandering around New London.  We ended up at Arctic Dreams for free ice cream and a photo for their wall, then headed back to the Kennedy's house (aka our second house) for a Halloween party.  It was a fun night for everyone.

On Sunday, Aiden had his first karate tournament in Methuen, MA.  He's been doing karate on and off for 2 years now but we have held back buying all the sparring gear and going to tournaments.  Aiden finally said he wanted to try going to one, so he signed up to compete in katas only (not sparring).  Katas are like a series of moves (punches, kicks, blocks) they have to do in fluid succession (that my non-karateka description,  mind you)...I'm not at all sure how the scoring works but it definitely seems like doing all the movements crisply and making loud hi-ya! noises at appropriate places earn you higher points.  In any case, Aiden did well, competing against just one other boy and winning first place in his small group.  He was pleased to get a medal, and also pleased that he got to go first and get it over with, since he was pretty nervous.  I don't blame him since it seemed like there were hundreds of people competing and spectating.  We celebrated his win with a trip to a huge Asian grocery store and a delicious lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Manchester.  It's important to hit some different cuisines when we're outside of New London- where all you can find are burgers and pizza and beer!