October was a big month for the boys. 
Longtime friends Eric and Gail came to stay with us for a few weeks while their house was under construction. As they always are with visitors, the boys were thrilled with the change of pace.
Gail shows the boys how to take selfies:
... letting Jack "paint" her hair with hair chalk...
... and playing a ton of board games, which the boys love, but their grouchy mom doesn't usually have the energy to indulge.
The boys show off the creepy dollar store styrofoam pumpkin monsters we made:
Henry:
Our silly skeleton set-up, in which a spider has stolen one of the skeleton's arms (which was broken off in a previous year):
Orange and ghost lights on our second house:
Milk carton ghosts in our tree and lots of lights on our porch, while Henry races excitedly about:
I love my ridiculous inflatable shark with witch hat.
The boys try on the creepy teeth and make "monster faces" for Eric.
Jack:
Gail and the boys work on decorating the porch:
Eric and Gail trekked up the coast with us to a local farm's pumpkin patch.
Gail draws on her pumpkin, Henry separates seeds with me, and Jack punches guide holes in his pumpkin for the design he chose:
Steve helps Jack carve his pumpkin:
The boys show off their completed jack o' lanterns. Henry's is the cute little one on the left, Jack's is the big scary one on the right:
Jack showed me his proposed design for next year's lantern:
Cool gourds I picked up:
Gourds on the move:
Jack's mask, in progress:
Jack's mask, complete:
Spooky.
Two days before Halloween, the boys selected some costumes and we headed over to the local community center's mask-making and haunted house event.
Ninja Jack and Pirate Henry:
Next we had a quick costume switch for Henry before heading to the local children's museum.
Ninja Jack with butterflies Mom and Henry:
At the museum, Butterfly Henry plays the toy piano:
Making their way up the climbing wall:
Ninja Jack at the top!
One of the most fun displays at the museum is an air-blower-driven pipe system.
Henry feeds the scarves in:
Jack catches the scarves as they fling out of the open top:
Henry is delighted by the wind-up teeth as they hop across the table:
Jack endeavors to blow up a jack o' lantern balloon:
Squirrel Henry working on crafts:
He loves it when I take pictures of him:
Henry shows off some of the crafts Kasey sent (along with his fantastic hair and nails):
Helpful brother blasts his piano horn in the background:
Jack uses dried pumpkin seeds for a craft:
The day before Halloween, we went to a trick or treat event at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
They entertained themselves for at least half an hour with that display.
On the day before Halloween, the boys got to open a box full of goodies from former nanny Kasey.
Henry taking a spin on the carousel, arm outstretched to try to grab a brass ring:
Coming around the bend:
Reaching out:
It was a chilly day and the boys changed into warmer costumes upon the return home and sorted their candy haul:
Giraffe Jack is apparently pleased:
Chicken Henry and Giraffe Jack, wildest animals I've ever met:
Jack, Henry and friend Avery in the kindergarten Halloween "parade:"
While Spiderman Bascom and Squirrel Henry discuss what they got, Woody Jack races off to the next house:
For reasons that are unclear, Henry decided to collect only Reese's. At home with his very orange haul:
Jack examining his loot:
The boys can actually both reach the rings, which I find shocking. They're getting so tall.
The trick or treat event itself wasn't that interesting, but it was a fun day for us since we were able to use the boys' season passes to go on some rides while we were there.
Halloween Day finally arrived!
Dread Pirate Henry and Ninja Jack pose before heading off to school:
Clearly, one would be foolish to cross the Dread Pirate Henry and his trusty sidekick Ninja Jack.
Halloween evening, the boys' friend Bascom (along with Bascom's parents and older sister) came by our house and we all headed out for some trick or treating.
Our neighborhood has some amazing houses:
Neither boy has much of a sweet tooth, and they have barely eaten any of their candy, but they did love the process of collecting it. Despite fighting multiple colds (we're currently on disease #6 of just this school year), we managed to have a very fun Halloween season.
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