Halloween 2009

Alex dressed as a witch. I thought she looked the part with that mischievous grin.

They had a parade at the Kindergarten grounds, which I attended, and then a Halloween party afterwards which I regretfully missed . This is the last year she can wear a costume to school. I couldn't be with her and watch their party because I decided to go to Zach's Halloween event at his preschool instead. I knew that if I didn't go he would give me his pouty face asking me sadly why I wasn't there. I couldn't handle that.

Zach was dressed as the same dog from last year! I don't think he feels like being a superhero yet. He was petted and hugged by the kids at school, and chased by Alexandra. He can now sympathize with Day-Z dog!

He had a parade at school and did trick-or-treating at different high school classrooms (his preschool is within the highschool's compound). It was fun to watch the highschoolers' reactions to the kids as much as watching the little ones parade. "Awwww ... so cute," the high-pitched voices from the highschool girls said each time the kids encountered a group of them.

On Halloween night, the kids did trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, and they didn't want to miss our house of course. Zach got a few dog comments (like, don't bite!) and he was amused that people thought he was a real dog. He reminded them that it's only a costume(!). We also ended up trick-or-treating at one of Alex's Kindergarten teachers house down our street. It was a nice surprise to find out she is a neighbor!

Alex wanted to fill her bucket up to the brim with candies before we went home. When we were done, we "set up shop" out by our door and gave candies away. We started doing this last year and the kids got a kick out of it (and David appreciated it since he tires of having to open the door every few minutes). Alex and Zach used to feel bad when it's time to go home, and now it's ok because they also look forward to the next part of our evening and they get to prolong Halloween a little bit more. Alex was a good "shopkeeper", while Zach yelled like a peddler, "Come here! Yummy candies....we have yummy candies..."

I am now weaning them off of their buckets of candies (they have way too many!). Most of the time they just play with them, dumping the candies and then admiring their loot. But then they end up nagging me to eat one last candy. So I've been hiding their buckets and only taking them out if they remember. Today, they haven't asked for their halloween candy yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed (and out of their candies). :-)