Trick-or-Treat

Darth Vader & Jango Fett

The last week of October is probably the busiest of the year for our family, and that craziness was hard to foresee when we told the OB six years ago, "Oh, would you please schedule the c-section earlier so that we can be home for Halloween to trick-or-treat with our older son?" We try hard no to let the Second Little Nguyen's birthday be gobbled up by Halloween like a Snickers bar by a child on a sugar high.

After all of the excitement of Fall learning experiences at school and the Boo Bash and the birthday, Halloween can seem a little anti-climactic. Usually, we are worn out by October 31, but the energy streaming from one 8-year old and one 6-year old living in our house always prevails! Remember how excited we used to get at the thought of dressing up in some fun costume, trick-or-treating with friends, and walking around the neighborhood in the dark? It's hard not to feel like a kid again when you are watching your own children experience that same excitement. The Candy Crew

This year, we followed along behind the Little Nguyens as they trick-or-treated with some neighborhood friends. It was a really crisp, cool evening, and the cups of hot, steaming apple cider we brought along helped warm us up. They met lots of other school friends along the way, and it was really just an evening of innocent fun. It was strange having Halloween fall on a Sunday this year, and we thought it would be difficult to settle the kids down for bedtime after all that trick-or-treating. Somehow, by walking/running around in our neighborhood for an hour and a half they managed to wear themselves out completely. When we got home, they spread their loot out on the kitchen table for us to check over . After they each chose and consumed with lightning speed one piece to eat, they headed off to brush their teeth and hear a bedtime story. The real trick on this night was keeping our hands out of the Little Nguyens' Halloween candy. There were so many yummy treats! Oh...so hard.

Happy Halloween!