Halloween!

It was rainy and chilly here last night but we ventured out with the kids for some trick or treating.

Silly faces from the crew!

We started off early, heading to our little downtown to walk around the shops.  It was raining fairly steadily at that point so Steve, mom, and I each took a kid under a golf umbrella. 

Kitty cat... very excited to be wearing makeup. 

 Not all the shops were participating so we made the rounds pretty fast.  We decided to take a break and see if the rain would let up so we headed back to the house for a quick pizza dinner.

Captain America!

It was still pretty drizzly when we finished eating so we decided to try our local mall.  As we should have predicted, the entire city seemed to have the same idea and the experience was less than enjoyable. The kids were all troopers though, and took it in stride.  A lollipop seemed to eradicate any dissapointment.

Dora! She actually kept the wig on for most of the night!

Fortunately, at this point, the rain had stopped so we made our way to a larger section of our neighborhood.  We made good use of our car and drove until we found several houses near each other that were handing out candy.  Then we'd all jump down, make the rounds, and pile back into the car.  I can see why people do this every year, regardless of the weather.  Everyone's moods really starting picking up and we all had a great time.  The decorations and lights thrilled the kids and the houses participating were all terrifically nice... and gave out huge handfuls of candy.  The haul the kids got is insane. 

We ended up back at our house around 8:15 and everyone was pooped. One little girl had an especially long and hysterical, though not unexpected, tantrum. Everyone was glad to get cleaned up and into bed for the night.  

Addie's on the left, Gabe's on the right.

We had left our pumpkins and ghost lanterns lit along with a bowl of candy on the front porch while we were gone, but it seemed like it hadn't been touched.

Milk jug lanterns decorated with a sharpie marker, filled with sand, and lit by an electric tea light candle.

We had a total count of one trick-or-treater after we returned home so our candy stash grew even bigger. We're going to have to set some serious limits.

All said and done, we had a great Halloween.  The kids are already talking about what they want to be next year....