Here is Thomas' version of Halloween 2014:
Like many families with young children, Halloween is an
exciting time for the Wilsons. Once the
twins birthday celebrations have ended (their birthday is October 3rd)
everyone eagerly turns their attention to picking out Halloween costumes. Actually, at various points throughout the
year, the kids will say, “I want to be _______ for Halloween.” But once we get into October, flippant
comments about what they want to wear for Halloween go away and are replaced by
actual (and seemingly gut-wrenching) decisions.
This year, Anna chose to be a witch.
It was a very cute costume. Both
Kori and I thought it was the best witch costume we’ve seen. As an aside, Anna
went out of her way to let people know that she was a good witch. However, she also kept telling everyone that she
was going to use her witch powers to turn them into a frog. Kara was a peacock. It was a very pretty costume that had a cape
that could attach to her hands. Thus,
when she raised her arms, the cape would rise up to resemble peacock
plumage. It was a wonderful touch that
really made the costume stand out. She
looked really cute. Jack has been
reading a lot about the Revolutionary War lately, so he chose to be a soldier
from the continental army. I thought he
looked fantastic, but people were generally confused. Many thought he was a pirate. Regardless, his costume was unique and I was
very proud of his choice. Luke wore a
lion costume that we’ve had forever—it was a gift to the twins from their Great
Grandmother.
Halloween
day the kids’ school had a parade where all of the kids lined up and walked
past one another to show off their costumes.
Kori, Luke, and I went to check it out.
Jack and Kara were very excited to see us. Unfortunately, Anna was being a bit grumpy
and refused to acknowledge us (undoubtedly a precursor of what it’s going to be
like when the kids get into middle school and high school.) The parade was a lot of fun and generally
everyone had a good time.
Finally,
the big night arrived. Although this is
our third Halloween in our current house, this was the first time I got to
participate in the festivities. Our
first year, I was in Cuba and last year we were on our cruise. We decided to split the neighborhood into two
sections. For the first section, I took
the kids and Kori stayed to hand out candy.
Then we would switch places. We
headed out right at 6:00. Luke the lion rode in the stroller and enjoyed seeing all the people running around. It was still a bit light out, which nobody
seemed to mind. The overwhelming majority of houses had their porch light on
(indicating that they were participating in Halloween) which was nice. It really is a great neighborhood in which to
live. However, I was surprised at how
many people were sitting on their porch handing out candy. When did we stop ringing doorbells and
yelling out “trick or treat?” when the door opened? Regardless, the kids did really well. They were polite and appreciative to everyone
who gave them candy. Some of the houses
had scary scenes on their porch, and I was afraid that it might have been too
scary for the kids, but they all went right up.
I think the fact that 1) they were all together and 2) it was still
light out, helped their courage.
We
finished up our two streets and headed back to the house. I took over for Kori and she
headed out to finish the neighborhood with the kids. Unfortunately, Jack ended up not feeling well
so he came back home early. He changed
out of his costume and stayed with me handing out candy. He is such a nice person, I think he enjoyed
handing out the candy more than he did receiving it. Finally, around 8:00, the girls and Luke
returned and we closed up for the night.
Two hours of trick or treating!
While it was already past bedtime, we let the kids stay up to examine
their haul. They all ended up with a ton
of candy! Because of Jack’s allergies,
there are a lot of candies that he can’t have.
It was really fun to watch him barter with Anna and Kara as he traded
them the candies he can’t eat. Kara loves
M&Ms and was willing to give up anything to Jack for his. Fortunately, he did not take advantage of her
and they all handled these transactions really well.
Halloween 2014 was a fantastic time! It is so fun to experience all of these
things through the eyes of young children.
Knowing that soon enough, the kids will outgrow all of this really makes
me appreciate these days. These are
memories that I will keep with me forever.
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