Happy Halloween

Last night, we (along with just about everyone else in the country) celebrated Halloween. The day began with Annika waking up and asking if it was time for trick-or-treating. When I explained that we had to wait until after dinner to go, she promptly asked if we could have dinner. Mind you, it was about 6:30 AM when she asked... no dummy is she!!

Amazingly, we made it though our daily routines and FINALLY were able to prepare to head out for trick-or-treating. The kids could hardly contain themselves. We did up Eric to look like a jack-o-lantern, Annika to look like a zebra (yes, I DID sew her costume, thank you for asking), and Conor to look like a giraffe. After I donned my witch hat and spiderweb eyelashes, we set out to conquer the neighborhood.

The kids quickly mastered saying "trick or treat!" ("twi twee" per Conor) and thanking their candy patrons. One lady thought the kids were so cute, she asked our kids to re-knock on the door so her friends could hear the kids say "trick or treat".

Our neighbors were stocked to the hilt with candy for the kids, but Conor wasn't satisfied with that. He also wanted rocks and was determined to pick up almost every one that we passed. His trick-or-treat bag resembled Charlie Brown's goodie bag by the end of "Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". Mid-way through our adventure, we crossed paths with Annika's classmate (who is one of our neighbors); multi-family trick-or-treating just added to the festive feel of the evening. The girls had an amazing time and Conor did his best to keep up. (Although, he did lose his focus when we passed a neighborhood cat who was all too willing to lay down on the sidewalk and let Conor pet his belly while Annika hit a few houses.

We expected Conor to last about 1/2 of a block; we were proven to be dead wrong. He kept up with Annika all night long. We stayed out for a good hour and the kids have plenty of loot to show for it. By the time we got home, hands were cold, noses were cold, but spirits were high (doubly so due to the great lack of rain!).

Eric-o-lantern

Our little animals

Lighting the pumpkins

Annika the zebra