Trick-or-Treat | Round 1

In our city Trick-or-Treating isn't until Halloween Monday evening...but where I grew up, 42 minutes from here, it was tonight. So, I gathered up the boys' costumes, and headed back home for a few hours. It started off well; the mist was bearable. But by the time we got around the block, it was getting uncomfortable and the boys had enough.

"No more houses...." they each told me.

And that was OK! Because we're doing it all over again Monday night with their friends.

It was fun seeing the neighborhood again where I grew up; seeing my former neighbors as they answered their doors to my boys, not me, holding out their bags asking for candy, prompted sometimes by their mama ..."What do you say?", or "Make sure you say 'Thank you!'", or "This time..nice and loud - yell: Trick-or-Treat!" My gosh, it was like déjà vu...it seems like yesterday my brother and I were running up and down the driveways to get to as many houses that we could...I still remember the vinyl pants and the plastic face masks. You were lucky to make it home without the crotch ripping open!

It was fun to catch up with the neighbors that answered their doors. We briefly chatted about what their kids (my neighborhood friends) were doing now that we're all older, married, with kids...I was disappointed that a few houses didn't have their porch light on signaling they were giving out candy - I wanted to say 'hi' and get an update on them and their kids.

Maybe next year?

Here are the two munchkins all dressed up at Grandma and Granddad's house...awwww!

Happy Hallow's Eve!

A Few from the Fourth...

This year we went 'up north' to celebrate the Fourth of July...

We headed to the beach, meeting up with some friends I wish we'd see more often than we do...We all got married in the same year. We all sat around a campfire and said out loud that it's going to be funny - in a few years, we'll still be hanging out, but with lots of little ones running around. Those 'in a few years' are now.

We headed to a neighboring town to watch the parade. The temperature was perfect as we were on the shaded side of the street.

The firetruck crept along...then came to a stop. Then kids swarmed out from the sides of the street stood in front of the truck. After some revving up, the truck let loose....water came out full blast, and cooled off the hot sweaty bodies. Austin got drenched.

The kids waved their flags, collected candy...and had fun.

And the boys got a drink from an artesian well...what a way to cool off!

Dyeing. Collecting. Eating.