The looting was a success

We went trick-or-treating Friday night with Scott, Mari and the kids. We drove to their rental house, then caravan-ed over to the new house/old lot to trick-or-treat. Their neighbors came along with us, and it was quite the sight to behold--it took four cars to transport the five kids, two babies, five parents, two grandparents and one nanny.


Before we hit the streets, we toured Scott and Mari's new house. It looks awesome, and will be done next month. It's amazing how much it changes each week--this week, there was a new sidewalk and the stairs from the street actually connected to the house. Four-year-old Grant showed me the rooftop patio, and its amazing view. "I can see all the way to Africa," he told me. He pointed out in the distance, and said, "See that factory over there? That's Africa." I agreed that was some great view.

Then it was candy time. We set down the trick-or-treating rules: No running in the street, and...well, I guess that was really the only rule, which they broke 15 seconds after we started. Luckily, the streets were teeming with children, but very few cars.

It was great fun to watch the kids. They were so excited they couldn't form a plan (i.e., go up one side of the street, then down the other) and instead, just ran as a mob from house to house. You'd see three kids running one way, and two kids running the other way. Luckily, there were enough adults to watch them all, and remind them to say thank you.

In a long-honored tradition, Scott pulled the beer-and-wine wagon. Halfway through the night, the kids asked for water, and we realized we didn't have any.

"You don't have any water in the cooler?" a neighbor asked Scott.

Scott answered, "No water--that would take up valuable beer space!"

I agreed with Scott. The kids got their candy, and we adults got our beverages. Turned out okay--the neighbor gave the kids a couple bottles of water, and everyone was happy.

We stayed out for a couple hours. The kids ended up with a grocery bag full of candy each, trading favorites in the car. I sat next to Grant, who silently handed me each candy to open, popping it into his mouth blindly. He couldn't name one candy he ate! By the time we got home, they were all sufficiently hopped up on sugar.

It was a really great Halloween, from beginning to end. All the school activities were fun, and Mark did pull a few tricks. But for me, the real treat was watching Mark and his cousins enjoy the night. It reminded me of my childhood--my brothers and I, all dressed up, followed by our flashlight-carrying parents, running house to house, swapping candy and gorging on chocolate. The biggest treat for me was reliving all that through my son's eyes, and seeing the tradition live on.