Halloween 2012

Egypt wanted to go as a "pumpkin patch" and Kellisa went along with the idea:

Halloween 2004

The 2004 Jaguars were 5-2 on Halloween. Kellisa went to her first Jaguars game a few weeks earlier on September 19th, a 7-6 victory over the Denver Broncos. 

Halloween 2003

Halloween 2003

A smiling witch on wheels:

Notice the broom

Kellisa's hair is almost blond because it required regular cleaning with hydrogen peroxide following her two shunt surgeries in April 2003.

The story behind the leg surgery can be found here.

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A Wiggly Halloween 2011

Halloween 2000 and 2010

Halloween 2010

Life was extremely crazy considering Egypt was placed with us on October 13th. With little time for planning, we used Kellisa's Minnie Mouse costume for Egypt. Now that Kellisa is in middle school, she could not wear a costume, so she wore a bat t-shirt.

Pictures before school in the front yard:

This was cute for the few seconds it lasted:

After school, Kellisa wore her baseball uniform. Trick or treating at the Avenues Mall:

Riding the train at the mall:

Halloween 2008

Kellisa wanted to be Hannah Montana for Halloween 2008. After attempting to have her hair straightened and temporarily dyed blond, Kellisa looked more like a Hannah Zombie:

Halloween 2000

Kellisa's 1st Halloween in Florida:

Halloween 1999 (Kellisa's 1st)

Barely home after spending 16+ weeks in the NICU and still on oxygen, Kellisa is a doctor for her 1st Halloween:

Halloween 2007

A couple of weeks before Halloween 2007, Kellisa and I visited Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Lisa (with a recently broken ankle) stayed home. Our trip coincided with National Wildlife Refuge Week, which included many activities geared towards kids. One activity was face painting. It was a very long line and I asked Kellisa if she wanted her face painted. I was hoping and crossing my fingers for a "no", but she said "YES"! We waited almost two hours for her turn. We watched countless little kids, mostly girls, getting their faces painted like princesses, cats, tigers, butterflies and super heroes. When it was Kellisa's turn, she started looking at the patterns that were offered. She immediately pointed to a vampire bat. The face painting lady asked if Kellisa wanted fangs and dripping blood and Kellisa answered "YES". I could not have been more proud/happy with her decision. The end result was well worth the long wait in line:

With the face painting fresh in her memory, Kellisa decided to be a bat for Halloween. Again, Lisa gets all the credit for the costume and face painting:

Kellisa and her classmates:

Halloween 2006

Kellisa wanted to be a "scary spider" for Halloween. Earlier in the year, Kellisa picked a spider t-shirt as a souvenir from the Grand Canyon and enjoys the way people act scared when looking at the shirt. Kellisa is not wearing glasses due to the fact that she fell on her face (crushing the glasses), landing on concrete while chasing Scottie at school. All was good when 5 male paramedics/firemen arrived at the school to attend to Kellisa and transport her to the emergency room. Initial fears of a concussion and broken nose were in reality just really good scrapes.

Lisa gets 100% of the credit for the costume design and making all the props. The large web w/spider hangs above Kellisa's bedroom door.

Scottie and Kellisa at school:

Halloween 2009

"Oh It's Halloween"

The last few years saw Kellisa dress up as a Hannah Montana Zombie, a bat and a spider. Naturally, Kellisa wanted to continue her "scary" costume tradition. We took Kellisa to one of those Halloween stores that pop up every October and she immediately wheeled to a skeleton.

Halloween in Jacksonville started on Friday, October 30th. Kellisa's class at school had a Halloween party in the morning, which included a trick or treating trip to the middle school.

The evening of the 30th was spent at The Avenues Mall for trick or treating. The mall hosts a scheduled event where kids wheel (walk) from store to store for two hours. This was our 4th or 5th year at the mall and it works out very well for us. Kids don't trick or treat in our area because it's a small, dark, forested neighborhood.

Family portrait at the mall.

Right: Kellisa hits the jackpot of Hannah Montana stickers.
Below: Kellisa is happy with her candy haul.

Halloween morning was spent getting trained on an RV we purchased two weeks ago. We had outgrown our previous camper which was fine until Kellisa decided to hit a huge growth spurt. It took over two hours to learn the ins and outs of a self contained camper and how to tow a vehicle on a trailer. I drove the camper home while towing the Sienna van. All measured, we were over 45ft. I can't believe you don't need to have a CDL.

We arrived home uneventful and proceeded to look online for a campsite for the night. We secured a site at Huguenot Memorial Park. We had one hour to throw some clothes and food into the camper before we had to take Kellisa to dance class. We returned home after dance to finish loading the RV and headed to Huguenot.

Below, Kellisa enjoying Huguenot Memorial Park, which is an oceanfront park in Jacksonville, about 35 miles from our home. Huguenot Park is designated as a Great Florida Birding Trail site by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission because of its abundance of various kinds of birds, as well as its marvelous habitat. We only had time for one hike, but it included a nice stroll along the ocean. Across the St. Johns River from Huguenot is Naval Station Mayport, the third largest naval fleet concentration area in the United States. It's kinda cool to look in one direction and see hundreds of birds flying over an undisturbed natural area in Florida's largest city and see navy ships in the other direction.