Happy Halloween!

What a great Halloween! I really, truly enjoyed Halloween with the kids this year. I've enjoyed it every year, but mostly because I loved how cute the kids looked in their costumes. This year was fun because the kids actually enjoyed Halloween.

Halloween was actually a week long this year starting last Sunday. We went to trunk-or-treat with the Mallory's at Drew's sister's church. That was cute. People decorate the trunk of their cars and hand out candy. Tripp was a little nutso walking from car to car, but all-in-all it was fun. Kids got a lot of candy!

Tuesday night we went to Kroger for their trick-or-treating Halloween party. It was a little lame, but I do give them props for trying. It was raining pretty bad and everything was inside. My guess is that they set some things up outside on a normal night. They had a haunted house that went through the deli freezer. Justin was scared and wouldn't go through. I carried Tripp and Anthony held Sophie's hand all the way. It was cute. Older kids were screaming through the haunted house. The actors (um, employees) did a good job not jumping out and scaring the little kids. When we were at Kroger today grocery shopping, Sophie asked if we could go back into the freezer lol She has a good memory! They also did some face painting, decorate your own cookie, and gave out candy.

Friday was trick-or-treating and Halloween party at the kids' school. They had a ball! Since the parties were at different times depending on the classroom, I went up and hung out with Sophie for her Halloween party and John went up for Tripp's party. The kids really loved having us there. So much so that I had to bring Sophie home with me at lunch. She was crying and carrying on and I couldn't bare to leave her. She took a nap and I worked. They also got to walk around to the different classrooms and trick-or-treat in their costumes. It was very cute!

Finally, the real thing today! The Mallory's came to trick-or-treat with us and to watch the UF vs UGA game. I won't say who won (Go Gators!!!) so not to tick off my UGA friends, but I was a happy camper. It was hard to get the guys away from the football game and it was getting late (and Tripp was oh so ready to go!) so Holly and I started off with the kids. The guys met us a few minutes later. It was a little bit chilly, nothing like the cold weather of Halloweens past. Not only was it chilly, but it started to rain. It rained earlier in the day and stopped so I thought we would be in the clear. Nope. It started pouring rain just before we left. Some kids and parents just kept trudging through the rain for candy - actually some parents came to the door with bags while their kids sat in the car (really????) - we waited for the rain to slow. It did. We took off.

Marly, Sophie, and Tripp had a great time! I wish we had gotten some video of the night. I need a new camera for that. I lost my little video camera. This was Tripp's first Halloween as a walker. Last year we pushed him in the pink car and Sophie was very hesitant to walk up to doors. This year Tripp thoroughly enjoyed walking from house to house, up the stairs to the door, and getting the candy (and grabbing more if the opportunity arose!). Sophie loved every minute of the attention and playing the big sis, let me walk first role. Tripp was in awe of the older kids in costumes. He was priceless tonight, it was like he was in his element. And, Sophie. Sweet Sophie. She just wanted the candy. Candy, candy, and more candy ... and sneaking a piece to eat here and there ... that girl has a sweet tooth! Marly is like a pro. She went house to house, getting her candy, walking down the steps, and moving on to the next house. Well-behaved as always! Sophie and Tripp always enjoy their time with her. She's like another member of the family.

All-in-all this was a fabulous Halloween. The kids loved it and I loved it. Oh!! Wait!! I didn't mention the costumes. Tripp was Spiderman with muscles. It is honestly one of the cutest costumes I have ever seen. In the beginning he wouldn't put the mask on, but by the end of the week he was an old pro and kept the mask on for us. All the parents who saw him loved the costume! I let Sophie pick out her own costume this year. She picked a pink Spidergirl costume that was super cute. That's why I picked Spiderman for Tripp. Well the costume didn't fit well and had a hole by Tuesday so I purchased a new costume for her. She wanted to be a butterfly. I was looking so last minute for a costume and just could not find a butterfly so I settled on a fairy costume that had big wings .... or so it did on the cover of the package. What a sham. When you see the costume, you won't see any wings ... that's because they are so small you can't see them. They're there, they're behind her back. I was so annoyed by that. Of course, Sophie didn't seem to mind. She loved her star light wand and her light up skirt. She was happy with her pitiful butterfly costume. Marly was Little Mermaid. She had a red wig, not sure where it went. She was adorable and the red wig was a hoot!!

Halloween 2009 was the best yet!