Halloween!

I just stole a piece (okay, several pieces) of candy out of Danny's trick-or-treat jack-o-lantern. He's still young enough that he has no idea what was in there before he went to bed, unlike Clare, who catalogued the items with glee. As I poked around in there, I caught a whiff of that smell I remember so well from my own childhood Halloweens. You know, that smell of a big pile of candy, all mixed together and just waiting to be devoured.


We've had the decorations, the orange lights, and the Halloween books out for a few weeks now. The costumes have been waiting in the closets, the subject of plenty of conversation and planning. Compared with our childhoods, Halloween has a lot more fanfare these days, which is fun. But I also worried that with so much build up, the main event would wind up disappointing. I'm happy to report that this was not the case for Clare and Danny today - and not just because they both wound up with a hefty supply of treats, though that didn't hurt.


No, from the minute it was time to put on the costumes, they were fired up. This was particularly fun in Danny's case, because at his age we couldn't be guaranteed that he'd be willing to wear his shark costume, much less be excited about it. Fortunately, he loved it, and embraced its spirit whole-heartedly. You may not have known this, but sharks roar.


For the third year in a row we participated in the neighborhood Halloween event, whereby the kids line up in one of the neighbor's driveways and then parade down a designated street, "trick-or-treating" along the neighbors that have lined up to watch them process by. It works very well for our neighborhood, because we have so many small children, and our streets are so hilly. After the procession we all get together at one of the neighbor's homes for a happy hour-type event that this year involved pizza. The weather was spectacular, so we were able to stay outside the whole time and chat with each other while the kids enjoyed the swing-set, or played baseball (Danny), or just ran around and enjoyed their sugar highs.

Halloween is pretty darn great for kids. But we're finding that it's also pretty fun for we parents, too!