Trick or Treating on the Dark Side

Halloween on a Sunday is rough! So much to get done and all to the tune of,"Is it Halloween yet?" The boys also kept insisting on dessert all day. Even when I reminded them that there will be plenty of candy tonight. After lunch, Hartwell told us he knew where to get dessert and then led us into a candy store. When I told him that ice cream was too much, but he could have a handful of gummie candy, he threw himself to the ground and cried. Loudly. As I paid I said to the cashier,"This happens a lot in here?" She just nodded and handed me my receipt.

We got back to the house around two and I had to listen to, "Can I wear my costume?" for the next 4 hours. Finally, after dinner, six o'clock rolls around, the boys are dressed and we head out. First we visited the neighbors! That is always a good time! The boys across the street did an awesome job on a haunted front yard.

And then we made a quick stop at Deborah's house.  I think my Darth Vaders knew she'd have the good stuff. Eventually we made it to the area we like to trick or treat in. Which worked perfectly this year as Bee decided halfway through he wanted to go home. And he refused to accept any more candy. When people tried to be good sports to his 3 year old dark sided moodiness, he screamed, "No!" and yanked his bag away.

Luckily, when we got home Hartwell got really excited about the prospect of handing out candy. So I put him in a chair on the porch with a giant bowl of candy on his lap. He started making up candy rules. Like, "The first person who walks up only gets one candy. After that they can have more." I think he liked handing out the candy more than trick or treating. Next year I'll just buy him his own bag of Crunch Bars and  make him answer the door all night.

Trick or Treating!

It's their second year trick-or-treating and the first time they said both, "trick-or-treat!" and "thank you!" at the right times. Hartwell picked it right up, immediately yelling when the door was opened. Bee needed some prodding.

We went to Bungalow Heaven, a super cute area full of the most amazing little houses ever. So I got to look at architecture and the boys got some candy.

A lot of the houses had decorations, some with simple carved pumpkins, and one with an animatronic man with a bag on his head swinging from a tree. Like, pretty realistic creepy dead man. Not my favorite.

After every house, Hartwell tromped down the driveway and immediately grabbed Cousin Jessica's hand. And then would point to the next house and say, "Can we trick-or-treat there?"
I was worried they wouldn't want to go home, so I said, "Wanna go home now and eat your candy?"

Worked like a charm.


P.S. Earlier in the day:
Me: Hartwell, if you're sweet we can go trick-or-treating and get free candy...
Hartwell: I fink,...I want four candy.