The Final Night of Halloween

So, it's finally here...the tale of our actual Halloween night.  You didn't think it would ever actually happen, did you?

We laid low most of the day because we knew that we had Halloween celebrating to do that night.  When the afternoon rolled around we all started getting ready and getting in costume.  Even Rip put on his little pirate costume and pranced around the house.  Ian and I actually decided, for once, that we would dress up.  I pulled out my fencing gear and Ian found his old Tae Kwon Do uniform.  They might not exactly be costumes, but it was the best that we could do.  Ben again willingly put on his turtle outfit while Evan again refused poor Elmo until we were actually ready to go trick or treating.

Ian's main project while we hung around the house all day had been the creation of a dessert for our little pre-trick or treating gathering.  So, when we headed out, we also grabbed his beautiful creation, a ghost cake.  The cake was a rolled sheet cake filled with orange icing and covered with a white fondant.  It looked great, and Evan still talks about it to this day.  He helped Ian make the fondant and was very proud of it.

So, we set our Halloween candy out on the porch with a note for the trick or treaters to take one or two (yeah, right) and we were on our way.  We arrived at our friends the Offenbaker's house about 5pm to have a quick dinner to fortify ourselves for our trick or treating.  We all enjoyed a delicious feast of chili and grilled cheese sandwiches, added a few more friends to our number, and headed out.  We were quite the caravan with seven adults, four toddlers, one almost-toddler, and two babies.  The non-mobile ones rode in carriers on their parents while the toddlers had radio flier wagons to make their rides a little more enjoyable.  I never realized how much work trick or treating is for the parents.

(Ben and his girlfriend Amelia wait for the Trick or Treating to start.)

(Evan's friend Nathaniel admires his costume.)

(The adults and their carriers-Hilary and Amelia, Ian and Ben, and Jason and Jonas)

(The Offenbakers-Abby, Jason, Quinn, and Jonas)

(Our happy family)

(The caravan heads out.)

I also didn't realize how many rules there were to trick or treating.  We would lead the boys up to the door reminding them of the many things they had to do..."Knock on the door"..."Hold the pumpkin for your candy" ..."don't climb in their plants"..."don't touch the decorations"..."say trick or treat"..."just take one piece"..."don't actually go in their house"..."say thank you"...It's a lot to remember!

(Carson and Evan enjoy their sweet ride.)

(The boys Trick or Treat around the neighborhood.)

After a few houses, the boys had figured it out though.  However, it was a lot of chaos and one by one, the two year olds wore out.  As the night wore on, the boys would each meltdown and head home and our little group would get progressively smaller. Finally, it was Ben's turn to meltdown, and we headed home with a grumpy Ben, a happy Evan, and a pumpkin full of candy.

We also headed home without my camera.  Apparently, I had set it in my fencing mask in a wagon and it was dropped out onto the side of the road in the middle of our journey.  For a few days it was lost, and I didn't know what to do with myself because we all know how much I like to take pictures.  However, someone found it and sent a note out to the neighborhood e-mail list searching for the owner.  It's amazing how much you can find out about a person from their camera.  They knew that we had two boys, had been to the state fair, we were Duke fans, and we had a son named Evan.  It was clear that it was our camera.  I'm definitely glad it was found.

So, it was an eventful and fun evening and a great finale to all of our Halloween festivities.  I need the next 12 months to rest up for another exciting Halloween next year!