happy halloween!

It has been our tradition to spend our Halloween night with some of our favoite friends, the Gillettes. The difference between boys and girls is never so obvious as when we are together. (as evidence, see picture to the left)

The daddies of both families were MIA for Halloween, so Karen and I enjoyed an evening together, enjoying each others' kids. Pizza, cookies, candy, trick or treating, good friends, handing out treats. What more could a kid want on Halloween night?

And just in case we forgot the plans for the future, Makenzie reminded Ben over dinner, "Ben, I want one thing from you when we are grown ups." Ben: "What?" Makenzie: "You know what...mmmmmmm....." B: "I don't know!" M: "Marriage!" The funniest part was that Ben then agreed wholeheartedly. Those two are quite a pair.
My neighbor has this amazing Halloween display. We gave a very minor helping hand this year with getting a few of her decorations out. Seeing her house every day makes it so festive and creates a well-travelled street for Halloween.

I often complain about the romoteness of our neighborhood; grocery stores, work, church, normal stuff is just so far from where we live. However, this night, on Halloween, I fell in love with our neighborhood all over again. The streets were literally swarming with families out trick-or-treating. We met our neighbors who live behind us; they are a lovely retired couple and told me that they got such joy overhearing the boys play together in the back yard. We saw friends and acquaintances and said smiled to complete strangers as we walked along together, house to house, creating childhood memories as a community. We laughed and giggled at the hilarity and cuteness of our kids. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and the wide streets and even had a police officer ride by in his cruiser handing out treats.

I hate the driving that this house requires, but I've decided that it's well worth the gas money when it provides my kids with the kinds of traditional American childhood experiences that we so rarely get to provide any more.

Happy Halloween!