I took the day off yesterday to prepare the children for Halloween. Ty and I read a poem, “Teeny Tiny,” from a reading textbook, in which he learned to read frightened. The boys and I talked about Halloween. Kyle especially liked that our costumes were necessary to disguise ourselves from what larks about. We made Halloween cupcakes, which were square and kind of flat because I don’t have a cupcake pan. Taylor pointed at the pumpkins that we carved in the morning. I also finished Dad’s costume (Thank Goodness).
After watching “Arthur,” we started getting ready to go out. The children ate a snack and cleaned up their room. We were a little bit worried about the weather because it had been raining on and off all day. It was clear and sunny for a few hours, but during “Arthur,” it rained again. Not a big deal. We started getting ready anyway. It took us an hour to get into our costumes, pin what needed to be pinned, take everything off to put on undershirts (it’s been breezy), don the costumes again, and pin what needed to be pinned, again. *whew*
And we were off.
Dad took pictures of the trick-or-treating party. Guess who’s the ghost.
These are mostly home-made costumes. Dad hid in the shadows in his black cloak.
Kyle won our little costume contest.
We stopped by a few houses to get our first treats, then we crossed the street. The street had been barricaded and guarded by police, so no cars would be able to drive through. Every year, the houses that sit on the lake in this neighborhood put on a sort of block party. The sun set quickly, and we were in darkness, with the help of a thick gray cloud, by the time that we reached the end of the block. We took a left and found thousands of trick-or-treaters. Most children were dressed up in sweet costumes. Some found the joy in wearing ugly masks and painted faces, which is okay in my opinion because… it’s Halloween! Spooks are after you! We had a great time walking up to the different houses, not knowing what to expect.
We had reached the point of no return when it began drizzling. People screamed. Umbrellas were popped open, and down came the deluge. Big ol’ fat rain. We had nowhere to run, so we trucked on forward. I pulled the wagon that carried the younger children, and Dad and Ty followed behind. It was like a mission, a wash down, and chaos all in one. I steered my way around the umbrella-topped pillars (of families), almost took a running teenage boy down with my shoulder, and… what’s the point of running? There’s still plenty of candy left! We walked a little bit farther and started heading home. We let the children trick-or-treat a few more times before it started getting cold.
We showered and put on pajamas. Ate dinner on the floor in front of the pumpkins.
The children went to sleep, and a few friends came over who had come into the neighborhood to trick-or-treat. We sat in the dark, three couples on the couch, recovering from all that walking. The little boy, Skyler, who is Ty’s age, tried to teach us a Jack O’ Lantern song, but nobody got it down.
And that is how we ended a great summer.
