Happy Halloween 2011

By K.J. Cardinal

Happy Halloween from the Cardinals.



[WATCH VIDEO]

No dragons were hurt in the filming of this video.

Halloween 2010

By K.J. Cardinal

I know Halloween was almost two weeks ago, but I still had to get this post up.

Well, the loyal followers of The Cardinal Blog had their voices heard as Leo donned his Candy Corn costume for his first Halloween, much to the dismay of his father.

Spiderman made a valiant late run in the online poll, but Candy Corn edged him out 33-31... Rudolph garnered a measly seven votes. Thanks to everyone who voted.

While this was Leo's first Halloween, the holiday ended up being all about Anna. She experienced Halloween festivities at Intel, downtown Hudson, daycare and of course Gerry Drive on Halloween night.

At Curious Kids, all the kiddos strutted their stuff in their Halloween costumes with Anna being "Tinkerbell." I finally got to snap a pic of Anna with her buddy Noah (AKA Woody), so it was a momentous occasion.

After the gathering at day care, we headed downtown for trick-or-treating at the local businesses in Hudson. With very long lines at every stop, Anna was able to eat the piece of candy she just received before we were even able to get to the next store. Thankfully she was tired and didn't mind us heading home a little sooner than anticipated.

Halloween night was once again a blast. As was the case two years ago, the highlight of the night for me came prior to trick-or-treating when we handed out candy at our house. Every time the trick-or-treaters would ring the doorbell, no matter where Anna was in the house, she'd scream and come running to see the kids.

This year I let Anna hand out the candy too, which was pretty comical. I would hold a big basket up for her and she would reach in and dish it out to the kids. Some kids would get one or two pieces, while someone would get seven or eight. There didn't seem to be a rhyme or reason, but I'm sure our "generosity" got mixed results from trick-or-treaters throughout town.

We had over 100 trick-or-treaters, which was awesome. We nearly ran out of candy and toward the end of the night, Anna was getting somewhat stingy with the candy and wouldn't even consider giving any kids the remaining few boxes of Nerds, as those were definitely her favorite candy of Halloween 2010.

All-in-all it was a very successful holiday. It took Anna a few days to come down from her sugar high, but there is still some Halloween candy in the house, which is always a parent's best friend as a bargaining chip.

Every year Halloween seems to get a little more exciting for us and I'm sure next year will be the best yet when Leo's walking around...

2010 Halloween polls are open!

By Angie Cardinal

The past three years, The Cardinal Blog has featured a voting poll so followers could determine which adorable Halloween costume Anna sported on Halloween. Last year your voices were heard as Anna was monkey-ing around Hudson. In 2008, she had a yabba dabba doo time as Pebbles Flintstone, while in 2007, a three-week-old Anna rocked a chili pepper costume at the request of the Cardinal Blog majority.

This year Anna has decided to be Tinkerbell, thus shunning the vote of the populous, and has her costume waiting in the wings. So naturally, Leo "willingly" becomes the subject of our 2010 Halloween poll to keep the tradition alive!

Your choices this year are:

CANDY CORN

SPIDERMAN

RUDOLPH

Sammy helped get these photos together so you can make an informed decision in exercising your Cardinal Blog follower's right to vote.

The poll, which is posted in the column on the right, will close at 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 28, so be sure to get your votes in soon!

Note: You facebookers out there, log on to TheCardinalBlog.com to cast your vote today!

Monkey on the loose

By K.J. Cardinal

We let our Monkey loose in our development last night and boy oh boy did Anna have a blast.

She gathered the concept rather quickly this year that if she went up to a house and said "trick or treat" that they'd give her candy. As we were walking around the block, she even tried to go to the houses without any lights on to get candy... she was rather eager.

Anyway, the weather was ridiculous for October 31. Probably in the mid 60s with a stiff breeze. We originally thought Anna's costume would be great since it would keep her nice and warm, but by the time we got back home the little cutie was sweating head-to-toe.

After trick-or-treating, we hung out at home and handed out candy. I really think that Anna had more fun handing out candy than actually trick or treating.

Every time the doorbell would ring, she'd say "Kids! Kids!" and run to the door. Sammy would be the one that would give the candy to the kids, but Anna would just stand at the door (wearing only a t-shirt and diaper) and admire the costumes. It was so hysterical.

Once the trick-or-treaters stopped coming, then we had our handfuls trying to keep the candy away from Anna. She was rather resourceful climbing up to the high places we'd "hide" it, but all-in-all she was a good girl.

Kudos to the Cardinal Blog followers for picking another adorable costume.

Happy Halloween!

Michael Jackson lives

By K.J. Cardinal

This is rather freaky, but it looks as if Michael Jackson lives.

Monster Mash: Cardinal Edition

By Katie Cardinal

I thought this would get us into the Halloween Spirit!!!

Monkey highlights Hudson Halloween

By K.J. Cardinal

After cruising to a 23-10 victory over Candy Corn in the annual Cardinal Blog Halloween Poll, Anna "Monkey" Cardinal stole the show for Hudson Halloween.

Every Halloween, Hudson closes Main Street downtown and local businesses open their doors to trick or treaters for two hours. It's the first time I've partaken in the festivities and it was quite a scene.

Sure there were hundreds and hundreds of other kids and even dozens and dozens of other monkeys, but I think my monkey took the cake.

Angie, Sammy and I decided to walk downtown since parking is a disaster and it's just over a mile to downtown. It was a nice night, so we popped Anna into the MacPac, which she loves, and off we went.

Anna was really more interested in people watching and just walking in the middle of the closed street than scoring candy, but we still had a blast.

Hudson Halloween marked the second trick-or-treating session for Anna as she went to Intel Halloween on Tuesday night at Angie's work. The "real" trick-or-treating is Saturday night, so she'll have plenty of candy.

While we were downtown, we decided to go to the Horseshoe Pub for dinner. Anna was a good eater, so we decided to let her experience her first-ever Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Her reaction was simply priceless... I am so bummed I didn't get video footage of her because she was so giddy.

NOTE: The active followers of The Cardinal Blog proved that they are rather soft and/or care about Anna a lot as only two people voted for the Poodle (which Anna didn't want to wear) in the Halloween Poll.

2009 Halloween polls are open!

By K.J. Cardinal

For the third-straight year, the faithful followers of The Cardinal Blog will be able to determine which adorable Halloween costume Anna dons for a night of trick-or-treating.

Last year your voices were heard as Anna had a yabba dabba doo time as Pebbles Flintstone. While in 2007, a three-week-old Anna rocked a chili pepper costume at the request of the masses.

So, we are keeping the tradition alive in 2009. Your choices this year are Candy Corn, a Poodle or a Monkey.


For some reason, Anna refuses to try the Poodle costume on. So, if that's the people's choice, then hopefully she'll come to her senses. The polls will close at the end of the day on Monday, October 26, so be sure to get your votes in soon!

Note: You facebookers out there, log on to TheCardinalBlog.com to cast your vote today!

A yabba dabba doo time

By K.J. Cardinal

Readers of The Cardinal Blog had their voices heard and Anna was Pebbles Flintstone for Halloween 2008. What a great choice by the masses as we had a yabba dabba doo time going on Anna's first trick-or-treat escapade.

We only hit up a handful of the houses in our neighborhood, but Anna seemed to enjoy seeing other kids and new faces. Scott actually came over to partake in the shenanigans too...he couldn't resist seeing Anna in action.

The highlight of the night for me actually came after we went trick-or-treating when we were back at our house. When trick-or-treaters would come to the door, no matter where Anna was in the house, she'd come running to see the kids. We'd hand out the candy and then have to pry Anna away from the door as the kids would walk away.

Anna would then say "Bye, Bye" (her newest trick, which is just too cute) and look out the small windows next to our front door. It was rather priceless.


Also, just for record sake, the final tally of the votes for Anna's Halloween costume were 22 for Pebbles Flintstone, 4 for a piece of candy corn and 2 for a Super Why character. I don't want to claim that I'm a genius or anything, but last year I wanted Anna to be a chili pepper and the people voted her a chili pepper (5-4)...this year I wanted her to be Pebbles and she was Pebbles (22-4-2)...if only you knew who was getting my vote in the upcoming election.

A pumpkin amidst pumpkins

By K.J. Cardinal

These photos are just too much.

On Saturday, Angie, Sammy, Anna and I headed to Berlin Farms, right down the street, for a little pumpkin picking for Anna's party.

Anna didn't quite know what to make of the orange fruit, but it sure made for one of the greatest photo-ops in the history of The Cardinal Blog. Enjoy!

Andrew's Halloween Fun

By Tiffany George

Andrew's 2nd Halloween was spent dressed up as an adorable giraffe. Surprisingly, he didn't mind putting the costume on at all, and even managed to keep the hood on while we were outside. We only intended to visit a few houses to trick-or-treat, but our little man enjoyed the festivities so much that we proceeded much of the way down Dodge Street. Of course Daddy was eager to continue along, knowing that he would benefit from the candy that Andrew scored for him.

As usual, Kim, Darlene, and Gail came over to our house for trick-or-treating since they don't get many visitors at their homes. With our annual dinner, KFC, in hand, trick-or-treating began. Andrew sat in his high chair and peered out the window, hoping to get a glimpse of each costumed kid who ventured onto our front porch. Visibility was low, so we came up with a plan. Each time a child came to our door, Pete would offer them one piece of candy, but told them that he would sweeten the deal if they would wave to the baby in the window. Most kids willingly obliged, giving Andrew the chance to get to see everyone in costume.

After dinner Pete and I took Andrew out while the grandparents manned the fort. Andrew gladly rang each door bell by himself and reached into the candy bowl to grab one treat. At one house they said "do you want another?" and Andrew did the "please" sign indicating he liked their idea...Daddy did too. Andrew carried his Easter basket/Halloween bag around to every house by himself this year, and could even bear the weight of each piece of candy that he got. Last year he could hold his bucket, but dropped it the instant one piece of candy made contact with the plastic. With the candy safely deposited into his bag, he would give a thank you wave to each of our neighbors and we were off to the next house.

I'm not sure if it was the trick-or-treating that rocked his world or just the fact that he got to be outside at night, but either way this kid once again proved to be a little angel.

Once back at home he enjoyed going through his candy. He would take out all of the pieces and then put them back in. It's funny that this year he has no idea what candy is, or that he can open these packages to eat a yummy treat inside, and we're in no rush to teach him. His favorite candy to play with is the mini Crunch bars, and I'm not sure what we'll do if someone accidentally eats them!

Happy Halloween

By K.J. Cardinal

The people have spoken and their voices have been heard. With a slim one-vote margin of victory (5-4), Anna Maria's first Halloween is being spent in a chili pepper costume. As you can see, it was a great call.

I don't envision raising Anna in a "reality world" where her blog visitors vote to determine her fate, but based on the results of this, Ang and I are strongly considering it. Could you imagine that? We let the people decide on what she'll wear on her first day of school, on how long she should be grounded when she gets in trouble and who she can date. Definitely has some potential.

Anyway, Anna isn't old enough to enjoy a night of trick or treating or the endless candy that comes along with it, but this will undoubtedly be the most memorable Halloween for Mom & Dad. Instant classic.