Halloween

Derek and his friend Gavin getting ready

Derek, Gavin, and Adam make their way to the parade start

Derek and Becca stand farther and farther apart for their picture each year

Helen works the drink stand while my Mom looks on

Our niece Brooke

...and big sister Lindsay

Party after the parade before the kids head out for trick-or-treating

Jason, Christian, Adam, and Connor

The kids going through their haul after all the trick-or-treating is done

Father and son all googley-eyed after a long night

It was so nice that Halloween was on Saturday this year. It's usually such a traffic nightmare when it's during the week. I learned early on to take the day off or leave work right after lunch.

Derek invited his friend, Gavin, to spend the night. Both our boys were bouncing off the walls with anticipation all day. It seems Gavin was doing the same at his house. We got a call in the early afternoon from Gavin asking how early he could come over. I said anytime and his mother was at our house within minutes. She said that Gavin was going crazy.

Our neighborhood has an annual Halloween parade complete with fire truck and pizza party. The rain put somewhat of a damper on festivities, but the show went on. The kids were worried all day that the parade would be canceled.

We invite our extended family each year and everyone has a good time. This year our three year old niece, Lindsay, was really looking forward to it. She went to a lot more houses this year and even got to trick-or-treat with Adam.

Last year Adam was so intent on getting lots of candy that he ran off and left all the friends he was supposed to be going around with. We found him trick-or-treating alone and scolded him. So what happens this year? He does the same thing. I walked around the neighborhood frantically looking for him. It was dark and there were many strange cars coming and going. I finally found him and after scolding him he made the same response he always does when we scold him, "oh". I keep telling Helen that it's not a matter of if he will get himself into big trouble, it's a matter of when and to what degree.

The kids had a great time. They spread their candy out on the floor and compared who got the most. The girls were so cute swapping candy with the older boys. Even little Brooke was into it. She may not have known exactly what was going on, but she loved the big piles of candy in all the different colors, shapes, and sizes. She liked taking pieces of candy from the piles and distributing them around the room.