We had our morning playdate with Kendall, which helped pass the morning. We played at the park and went to the Halloween story time at the library. Ruby had school and Ellie was too excited to take her nap.
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| getting settled for story time |
After school there was just one hour left before we would leave, and the girls spent the entire hour pretend trick-or-treating around the house to each other and to pretend houses. They practiced saying "Trick-or-treat!" in loud, excited voices, and always remembered to say thank you.
Finally, we packed in the car and drove to Aunt Janae's house to meet Cooper. On the ride Ellie sang, "Happy Birthday, Halloween!" over and over. She was bursting with energy.
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| birds of a feather |
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| Scooby Doo, Flamingo, and Peacock |
The kids started knocking on doors and ringing doorbells a little after six. We were pretty much the first ones out and lots of doors did not open. But that's what's great about going around a townhouse complex - you can hit up lots of doors in a short period of time!
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| running to the next house |
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| Ellie held up her half-full bucket to me and asked, "Can I eat this all gone when we get home?" (Ha!) |
We went around with Cooper and Annabelle for a good forty-five minutes before I made the girls drive back to our neighborhood for trick-or-treating phase two. We drove straight to Grammie and Papa's house for a quick visit then set out to fill those buckets.
At this point Ruby was going strong but Ellie was losing steam. She was telling me, "I scared. It's too dark." She stopped going up to the doors with Ruby and the other kids, and hung back with me. We made it half-way down the long street, made a last stop at one of my friend's houses, then walked back to the car at Grammie's. (It's a shame, because the weather was Perfect! I was wearing flip-flops and a light sweater, which I didn't even really need. You don't get trick-or-treating weather that good more than once every four or five years, if you'e lucky!)
When we got home Jeff had just gotten home from work. Jeff took Ruby to the houses around the cul-de-sac. We put candles (and sparklers!) in our jack-o-lanterns and handed out candy to trick-or-treaters.
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| sitting on the porch waiting to hand out candy |
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| Jeff's pumpkin looked extra spooky all lit up |
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| Ruby told us, "I have freakin' lots of candies!" She let me know I could have any of her candy that I want any time. What a sweetheart! |
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| Ellie told Jeff, "This is MY candy!" and told Ruby, "These are your candies, those MINE!" She's a little protective of her stash. |
Happy Halloween to our family and friends that we didn't get to see this year!
