Halloween, revisited

We've been going through some life the past couple of weeks, so sorry for not getting around to posting. Katie is working on finishing her Master's degree portfolio and I'm writing up a proposal to the National Science Foundation. (I need to convince them to give me $300K of your money. No, it doesn't go into my pocket.) Both are due on Monday. So there has been a lot of Graham juggling during the days, and non-stop work after both boys go to bed. It has been a team effort!

I thought that I'd give a summary rundown of trick or treating back a few weeks ago. Firstly, Finn would only say "Tricker," and that was just at home. The thing he said best out on the streets was "Next house!" I was interesting to see what was going on through his eyes. Very bewildering but not too frightening. For instance there was the 5-foot giant chicken that stopped him dead in his tracks:

Sometimes Finn would try to reach in and give candy to people who were giving him candy, like a trade. The neighborhood that we visited was a few streets down from us. They go ALL OUT. Pretty much every house had substantial decorations, and there were kids and parents everywhere. The road was closed off to traffic.

It had always annoyed me that in E.T. the kids went out trick or treating BEFORE it was dark out. Who does that?! Well, it is interesting that Finn is basically never outside when it is dark. He goes to bed and 7 p.m. and by the time he goes outside in the morning, it is light out. He just doesn't do darkness. So of course we had to get an early start on trick or treating, since he goes to bed so early. Even so, at 5:45, when we started, there were a fair number of kids. It was definitely more crowded at dusk at 6:45, which was a good sign for non-lameness of California children and parents. As he gets older, I'm firmly committed to him actually going trick or treating when it is dark out. Because to do otherwise (except when you're not even 2, is well, lame.)

My lasting memory of our outing was the large amounts of alcohol consumed by the adults. We saw parents leading their kids while drinking bottles of beer and to-go cups of wine. Many people answered their door holding glasses of wine. One woman in front of us in line for candy said, "I brought the cosmos!" to her neighbor. Another house had the grill going and a keg. So the adults succeeding in having a good time as well. We didn't partake....but there is always next year. :)