Halloween 2011

After two years experience of trick-or-treating, Jon and I have learned a thing or two about Halloween with children. First, you must come prepared for potential toddlers meltdowns. Secondly, you must come prepared to enjoy it yourself. I decided that to keep the kids happy, we should bring the green wagon (and a few toys) in case one (or both) became tired from all that walking. To keep myself in the game, I decided upon flats and a comfy sweater. And Jon decided to keep his spirits up by raiding the beer fridge on his way out.

The kids both took solid 3 hour naps, so I knew we were in for a successful night. The girls had the best time trick-or-treating, and Madison, who was dressed as a fairy, surprisingly walked majority of our neighborhood in her cute little fairy booties. Kaylee, of course, went as the princess of her choice, Sleeping Beauty.

    Kaylee told Madison she could fly now that she was equipped with fairy wings.

The headband didn't make it past this picture. But how cute is that?!

Princess Kaylee

Headed out to meet up with our neighbors

3 Princesses and a Frog :)

The girls eagerly set out on their candy conquering mission. Madison got her technique down early on- she would linger in each doorway after the older girls ran off with their fun size candy bars, prompting each homeowner to give her up to five times as much candy as the older ones. And if a particular candy distributor didn't voluntarily offer up more goods, she would just take it upon herself and pick a few more pieces from their stash. Smart girl- using that 1 year old charm.

As for the homes that didn't answer, Madison left her own treat of smudges and fingerprints, while the older girls carefully thought of specific reasons (taking a nap, still at work making money, taking a bubble bath, etc) for the lack of acknowledgement. It was all very amusing!

Madi is determined to get an answer.

All in all, we had an enjoyable Halloween. The girls were so wiped out from trick-or-treating, they went to sleep without even asking for a piece of candy. Five days later, Kaylee still hasn't asked for a single piece. And just like all the other parents out there, Jon and I rewarded ourselves with several items from the kids' candy baskets, and because we let Kaylee be the official "candy giver-outer," we were able to get rid of all 500 pieces of candy we purchased to less than 100 trick-or-treaters.

We hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!