Glimpses of Halloween

Calvin and Hobbes emerged from Indigo Hill this Halloween. Liam is TOTALLY Calvin, and God love Phoebe for indulging her brother and thinking it was a cool idea to team up. We're lucky that our kids mostly get along.



First stop on the Halloween cavalcade of fun was the kids' elementary school (though Phoebe now goes to the high school) where we posed for a family photo. I think we'll send this one out with the Christmas letter this year.



Next we went to Clay and Ali's house for pizza and parent juice before heading out into the falling dusk to beg for candy from complete strangers.


The good houses had lines of kids waiting for their turn to mumble "triggertree" and hear the satisfying thud of another piece of high-fructose corn syrupy goodness drop into the bucket. We were pleased to note that we no longer have to browbeat our kids to say "Thank you!" to the kind candy givers.

Meanwhile over on Warren Street, WitchyPoo was doing her thing. Entire generations of kids have been scared spitless by my mom's depiction of "the witch." Some of these same kids now bring their OWN children by, just to experience Elsa the Witch. She says "Halloween is the one night of the year when both my drama major in college and my arthritic hands come in handy!"

She will NOT give candy to kids who are too young to speak. Or to "kids" who are old enough to be grandparents themselves.


Granny and Geepop's house is the final stop for all of the kids in our family. There the front parlor takes on the look of a frontier trading post, where all the candy is dumped out and the Twizzlers are traded for Sweet-tarts, Reese's Cups are hoarded and the Butterfingers are hidden from me.

For a much more poetic account of the evening, head on over to Zickland.