Halloween 2013

Halloween was so strange this year.  Must be the mood after losing Chewie last week and then the anticipation of how the holiday would go down with the weather that came through the night of Halloween.  Everything was just off.   And everything was just up in the air right down to the last minute.  In the end, our neighborhood and many in the area officially postponed Trick-or-Treating til the next night, Friday, Nov. 1.  That plan made sense and we were all for it, but we also took the opportunity to go do a new sort of trick-or-treating on the actual holiday, Oct 31st.  We suited the kids up and headed over to a local nursing home that hosted their own indoor trick-or-treating.

Getting into character - Cowboys and Indians!

Playing the friendly photo-op part when necessary.  All night people asked Noah if he was The Long Ranger.  He eventually just started saying Yes.  Ha!  I guess that makes Anna an inadvertant Tonto?

By the time we were done, it was no longer rainy, but it was good and windy.

The air felt so good by then, that we just sat down and enjoyed the moment on the home's front patio.

Anna is all about making silly photos lately.  We humored her.

And back at home, we got down to the necessary business of sorting out peanut candies.

Then, Friday night, we suited up again for a PERFECT-weathered evening of trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.  It was our best year yet. 

The kids were off to races.

Josh was able to walk along the street with me for a change, since Anna apparently didn't need the escort she has required in years past.

We did keep telling the kids to slow down.  They didn't have to run and they were gonna need their energy.  They didn't listen.  After 5 houses, they were winded and moving a little slower. Ha!

This house ended up being the most memorable for the kids.  They stopped yards away from the front porch once they got an eyeful of that scary clown.  Anna only hesitated a little.  She plucked up the nerve and walked right up to It.  Well, right up to arm's length at least.

Noah took a few more moments to size up the risk and slowly approached the scary clown, too.

Noah was less nervous at other houses after that.  And when he was nervous, he whipped out his toy gun and shot at the scary things he saw. That seemed to do the trick for dealing with his fear.

By the last 30 minutes of the night, Anna was WORN THE HECK OUT and Daddy was back at his post from years past, carrying her from driveway to driveway.

It was fun to run into friends as we made the rounds up and down many streets.

But it was fun to call it a night and head home, too.

Noah and Anna were eager to do some handing out candy of their own. 

They felt so grown-up.  It was adorable how seriously they took the job.

Anna sporting her self-titled Fierce Face.

Another Halloween (two of them technically) is in the books!  

And - bonus- Josh and I made out like bandits in the peanut screening process, too.  I have been savoring every little Butterfinger and Peanut M&Ms I can find in the dangerous candy stash. :}