In anticipation of the sun starting its final descent we headed indoors to grab a quick hotdog and get the boys changed into their costumes. They were….
Race car drivers!
The boys were far more cooperative than I anticipated. I wasn't sure they were going to wear the hats as the first time we pulled them out a few days ago they wouldn't leave them on long enough for me to get a single picture with them on. With the slightly chilly night expected I was afraid their shirts would be covered with their coats and aside from their cars there would be no evidence of their costume in sight. Thankfully they let me put the hats on and even flip them around once or twice as they were knocked off or sitting askew.
With costumes on the boys grabbed their buckets and headed around to the front door to trick or treat. Ryan got a 3 musketeers which he immediately pulled out of his bucket and tried to get everyone including complete strangers to open for him. Too bad he didn’t eat his dinner…
With the sun sinking below the trees and headed for the roof tops and other trick or treaters starting to arrive we pulled out the boys’ rides and headed off down the street. The boys held their buckets as they were wheeled up to door after door. I don’t think they really knew what to make of it as door after door people came out, looked, and talked to them before depositing goodies in their baskets. The boys were pretty shy and quiet despite our prompting to at least get them to say treat or please or really anything at all. They had a deer in the headlights pose as they took it all in including the other trick or treaters in costume rushing from door to door all around them. But as the doors would close and we would head back down the walkway they would start babbling excitedly. Probably talking about how it cool it was that they got more and more candy and they didn’t have to do anything other than sit there and look cute. And wondering if every day was like this. They were probably plotting how they should run up and ring all the neighbors’ door bells on a regular basis with their hands outstretched to hold all the inevitable candy, right?
We eventually completed the circuit around the block and back to Kevin’s parents’ house. Getting the boys and their treats out of the cars was a bit more difficult that we imagined. They were a little attached to their baskets to say the least. Kevin let Ryan try to carry his. It was so heavy and unwieldy I am amazed he didn’t just topple right over. We eventually managed to get them set them down in the floor long enough to get their jackets off. I asked the boys to pick out a piece to eat and after rummaging for a minute Ryan pulled out a box of Milk Duds which was vetoed and Connor found a popcorn ball.
We cracked open the popcorn ball and let them both share. While Connor was busy eating and waiting for another piece Ryan was helping himself to Connor’s treats and picking out all the Milk Dud boxes and relocating them to his own basket. It was just too funny. We eventually loaded the boys back into the car and carefully repacked the traveling house as the boys began to drift off. The traffic on the way out was a madhouse as usual. There was still a line of people from the front door all the way to the street along with a big contingent of people across the road taking pictures, and waiting on their children. Parked cars littered the streets and traffic moved slowly out of the neighborhood. We got home just before 10 and there were more lights on in our neighborhood than I think I have ever seen along with the remnants of proof that folks gathered here and there outside to watch the trick or treaters pass by. A single group of adults remained on the street behind ours sitting in chairs circled around a large fire pit in someone’s driveway. The kids had probably long since returned home with tired feet and full baskets and were already dreaming of doing it all over again next year.
We put the boys to bed then pulled my carved pumpkin out of the car, stuffied it with far more tea lights than necessary and lit it. I was sure the more light the better to compensate for my less than perfect carving. I sat on the couch watching the flickering glow emenating from the pumpkins for a while before finally blowing them out and calling it a good Halloween night.
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