Trick-or-Treat

The kids were so excited about Halloween, they were asking about going to the Halloween party all Saturday morning. James loved his firefighter outfit and, even though Megan fussed about wearing her princess costume, she was fine once we got it on her (although nothing could have made her wear her hat). James' friend William was having a Halloween party at 3pm that day. They tried to play a modified bob-for-apples game and a pass-the-balloon-without-hands game, but it was really too hard for the kids. At first, Isaac was scared and clung to me tightly, but then he warmed up so much that it was all I could do to keep him from getting into everyone’s food and pulling down decorations. He really loved the balloons! The kids seemed to enjoy it, although they were scared of Darth Vader and another scary costume. We finally had to go when they turned on the smoke machine and scared all three.

At 6:30 that evening, James and Megan dressed up again to go to the Balkman’s Trunk-or-Treat party. This time, Megan was punchy enough that she didn’t put up a fight at all. She was just as excited as James to tote a pumpkin and ask for candy. In fact, on the second round, James complained that his pumpkin was too heavy and he wanted to stop, but Megan wanted to keep going around. Isaac did great in the stroller, as long as he kept moving and didn’t see me. (His crying at the sight of me is driving me crazy these days; it is reminiscent of the Megan Baby Days.) When everyone ran out of candy, there was refreshments and mingling. That part never goes very well because the kids are so tired. But this year, James was old enough to go play with the big kids so we stayed later than we normally would have. Even though we stayed till 8, James cried in the end because he wanted to ride down the hill on the cool bikes with the others. (He hadn’t even bothered to ask the kids for a turn, so after I got him to ask, I let him go down once and then burst into tears when I made him return it so we could go.)

We mistakenly thought they might sleep in after staying up an hour and a half after their bedtime. What a stupid idea; the kids have never slept in after staying up late! With the time change, they were up at 5am.