Trick-or-Treat!

We hosted some of the family here in our wonderful new neighborhood for Halloween this year. Great fun was had by all. During the course of the evening I learned a few things:

1) A 2-year-old, much like a dog, will continue to eat candy until the candy runs out, at which point he will search out the candy of his unsuspecting brother and cousin. Both pilfering and puking could happen without adult intervention.

2) Candy does not stop a full fledged 4-year-old tantrum if the 4-year-old is exhausted and the tantrum is in full swing.

3) Teenagers will dump your entire bowl of offering candy in their bag if you leave it unattended, even though you have a sign that CLEARLY states "Please take one piece".

4) People in our neighborhood were creative enough with their decorations to win contests and draw paparazzi. Our decorations, in comparison, were totally lame. We had a couple of jack-o-lanterns and some ghosts in the trees, whereas we saw an entire yard that looked exactly like the set of "Where the Wild Things Are", complete with Max in his boat. If my jaw had hung open any longer, flies would have settled in.

5) If you ask your husband to tend the grill, you must give him time to do so, otherwise the burgers will strongly resemble hockey pucks. (Perhaps I should have saved some to throw at those teenagers.)

In all seriousness, everyone had a wonderful time this Halloween. The boys were pirates (which caused random passerby to shout "ARRGGH!" every so often, and which also caused people to ask, "Are they twins?"), and Sydney joined them as the lovely Princess Aurora. Even Baby Evan came along in the Bjorn. The boys participated in a parade around the neighborhood, which I found impressive, given the distance they marched without getting any candy. Mason wore a deep frown by the end, and I had to wonder if he was thinking "Where is all this candy I was promised! This is lame! They're making me march around here in the rain in this stupid puffy shirt with no sustenance!"

But we did in fact trick-or-treat once the sun dropped, and the best part for me was watching the kids flit from house to house, eyes lit with excitement, grinning ear-to-ear. We saw some impressive costumes along the way, including Snow White, a whoopie cushion, the tiniest Santa Claus I've ever seen, and a baby in a hot dog bun, nestled in a hot dog cart (complete with condiments), snoozing away. When we finally finished, we came home and gathered for a meal together before tucking our exhausted kids in for the night. Good memories. Happy Halloween.

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