Believe the Hype: Halloween 2013

I'm happy to report that Halloween 2013 exceeded expectations.

After its two year hiatus, how could it not?


Witch Vogueing.





Harry, admittedly, may have been less than pleased with his costume. Or, the wearing of a costume in general.


Can't you just hear Lucy saying "Cheese."

Lucy on the other hand, was SO excited about dressing up that she ended up wearing two costumes, starting out the day as Tinker Bell and ending her day as Clifford the Big Red Dog (Harry was so annoyed with us all by this point, he couldn't even show his face and was happy to trade his earlier Clifford look for a different dog costume, not that you can't tell from this picture).


My little chain gang and me. A few people who saw this picture didn't realize I was wearing a costume (I won't take personally the fact that the sight of me in an orange jump suit apparently seems de rigueur). I will however, take this opportunity to shout from the roof tops in my nerd-fan glee that not only was my costume that of an inmate, but it was a real jumpsuit from the costume closet of the show "Orange is the New Black" (which, by the way, is one of my favorite shows of all time, if you haven't seen it yet, run, don't walk and sign up for Netflix). Yes, I may have been a bit excited.





By the time we set out for trick or treating, Leo was DONE. I'm impressed that he agreed to join us at all, since he's not a big Candy Guy (like, at all). That explains his subdued costume choice (for the school parade/party he went as Michelangelo, one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. By afternoon, it was all he could do to don an old cape and his Spidey Web slinger. Hey, whatever works.


First-timer.

At point point while we were trick or treating, Erin was holding Harry and she said to me, Is there a reason Harry isn't wearing a diaper? I looked at her in horror. I mean, I do forget stuff but that would definitely be up there in terms of pretty remarkable screw-ups on my part. Oh wait, she said. It just fell off. Here it is just slipped down around his ankles. Of course! I reached for him to fix his diaper and that's when I realized his shoes were on the wrong feet. Because, of course! (Gee, that might explain why he was not enjoying the walking aspect of trick or treating). Sorry, buddy.


Haul.

As is always the case in our house (so far), the handing out of treats is even MORE exciting than the getting of treats. At one point Erin had to break up an almost fist fight between Leo and Ellie about who got to hand out treats first. Yes, the two of them had a gigantic brawl, with tears and everything, in front of some unsuspecting neighbor kids who stood on our porch with mouths agape, as if to say, We just wanted some M&Ms but is this a bad time?


Waiting for begging for trick-or-treaters. And yes, at one point Ellie stood on the front porch calling out to random people walking by, are you trick-or-treaters? Oh and of course, Ellie's sitting on a baby potty. Only in our house.

I carved a pumpkin for the first time in three years.

Of course I forgot to take a picture of it.

With all the festivities, the babies were up a little later than usual. Lucy had an epic meltdown/tantrum of extraordinary proportions (I really don't think I've ever seen her so upset and that's saying a lot) for the simple reason that she wanted a candy bar.

And so I did what any responsible parent would do.



I gave my two year old a Hershey bar.

Hey, it was a miniature.



So, I think Lucy might like chocolate?

Happy Halloween!*

*Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Hanukkah to plan in just 28 days. Wait, WHAT?