Halloween: The Real Thing!

Owen is an all-star when it comes to trick-or-treating. Last year, he followed a few of his friends around and scored candy. Every now and then he'd elbow his way up to the front of the pack so he could be first.

But this year, he was on his own. No other kids to follow, no one to lead the way. And he rocked.

Chris had to go to work in the evening so the plan was to trick-or-treat early down Main Street in Sumner (the city shut the street down and the shopkeepers were handing out candy). Chris would then head to work and I'd head home to trick-or-treat with my neighbor and her son. But we had a costume mishap which changed our plans.

I forgot to wash Owen's white turtleneck. No problem, Chris said he'd pick one up at Target and meet us in Sumner.

And when we met up in Sumner, he pulled out a white GIRLS' turtleneck complete with pleated, puffed sleeves. They were out of boys' shirts and Chris didn't think the sleeves would matter.

Unable to appreciate my husband's attempt to improvise, I erupted.

All I could think of was "my kid looks like a freakin' princess with these puffed sleeves. Now I have to go buy him a new one which will severely limit the time Chris has to spend with us." We worked quickly to devise a new plan. Ran to Fred Meyer for a new shirt. Chris called his sergeant and arranged to go in a couple hours late. I texted my neighbor and told her not to wait for us. And then I calmed down.

We made our way to Main Street and it was PACKED. Rather than erupt for a second time, we turned around and headed back into the residential section to trick-or-treat there instead.

Downtown Sumner is special to me. My late grandparents lived in Sumner forever. My sister and I used to trick-or-treat there every year, even when we were probably too old to do so. Because it was sad to give up the tradition. We'd ring my grandparents' doorbell first to say hello, and then we'd take off in search of loot. Sumner is full of old people, and old people love to hand out candy. We'd knock on doors until our pumpkin buckets were full and then make our way back to Grandma and Grandpa's.

Some years, Grandma would be waiting at the door for us and frantically announce "I'm almost out of candy! If you girls give me some of yours, I'll replace it!" This was the best arrangement ever. Laura and I would unload the crap we didn't want (raisins, Smarties, peppermints, etc) and Grandma would replace it a day later with the good stuff (chocolate bars).

(Pause... I'm starting to cry a little.)

I loved the idea of taking Chris and the boys on a walk down memory lane with me. I became a little teary when we walked down my grandparents' street. The house was dark so we didn't ring the bell. Even if the lights had been on, I don't think we would have gone to the door. I can still hear my grandma's heels as she'd walk to the door to greet us. It would have been too hard to be greeted by someone else.

So to get back to last night, we walked up and down several blocks and trick-or-treated. Owen learned how to tell whether someone was handing out candy or not by checking for porch lights. When we'd approach a house with lights, Owen would pull away from us and run to the door. He'd walk right past the dark houses. He even said "trick-or-treat" a few times. But mostly, he'd forget and just say "pumpkin" and hold his bucket out to collect his candy. He received tons of nice compliments on his train conductor costume.

Logan enjoyed the evening from his stroller. Everyone loved his dinosaur costume, especially the junior high girls. He snuggled up with a blanket and slept most of the time. Next year he'll be chasing his brother around, I'm sure.

Chris left for work and I took the boys to my mom's house to say hello. Our night was so much fun, Owen scored a TON of candy, and we're already excited for next year.