This year Ruby was invited to a trick or treating party at her friend from school’s house. I had conflicting emotions about this immediately. Of course I was excited that Ruby was invited over to a friend’s house. But on the other hand, we always go trick or treating as a family. Was this just the beginning of the end? Would she be off on ski vacations for Christmas and spending her birthday on Maui next year? Well, maybe not, but it did set off the signal in my head that she was starting the transition to having a social life that did not include watching “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” with me.
Luckily, as it turns out the whole family was invited, and there was going to be pizza, so we RSVP’d yes and got ourselves excited for some Halloween fun!
First we had to get into costume, which was easy for Edward, since he was going to wear his Spider-Man pajamas as a costume. Ruby had already been wearing her Donald Duck costume at school for the parade and my wife was going to be Minnie Mouse again (to go with Donald), so that left only me with no costume.
I figured if the girls were going Disney, then I should match Edward and be a superhero, but which one? I have so many superhero shirts that it was hard to choose, but Green Lantern seemed easiest, so I cobbled something together and we were ready to go.
When we got to the party, it was packed! That is one popular kid! Several people from Ruby’s class were there and she was having a great time. Edward sequestered himself over at the snack table and proceeded to touch every food item within reach. Many of these items did make it into his mouth though, so that was good. With Ruby playing and Edward cause snackstruction, Simone and I were free to actually engage in conversation with other adults, which was weird. I kind of forget how to do that sometimes.
With food eaten and friends played with, it was time for the main event. Trick or treating! Everyone went outside as a group and quickly evaporated, leaving us confused as to what to do. Some families went left, some went right, a few crossed the street, and a couple more were still inside eating. We decided to just get started and the fun began!
We did kind of team up with another family or two, and they were a lot of fun. Ruby walked up to the doors with her friend, and Edward walked up with me. Let me tell you, Edward LOVES the trick of treating. It is his favorite. At 19 months old, there is nothing he loves more than taking things out of one container and putting them into another. All night long he got to go up to random people, take stuff out of their bowl, and put it into his bucket. He was in seventh heaven. The only problem was, he kept trying to take all the candy. He would go back for seconds and/or thirds, even as I would try pulling him down the steps and away from the candy. One guy had to pry his little fingers off of the candy bowl as Edward snuck back for fourths.
When we finally made it back to the party, we were surprised to find even more people there. Richmond, VT is jumping on Halloween, I have to tell you. The streets were packed with kids, and that party was hopping! Well, of course the kids did not want to leave, but it was bedtime, so we dragged them home, and then, to get them ready for bed, let them eat a ton of candy. It was a great night, and I will leave you with this last video of what the kids were doing after I told them to get ready for bed. (Hint: with their glow necklaces on, it was kind of like a rave)