Trick or treat?

Several friends mentioned waiting expectantly with a bowl full of candy for the trick-or-treaters that never appeared this Halloween. While I can’t say we didn’t get any masked characters at our door, it is only because the group caught us on our way out the door to go trick-or-treating ourselves. They piled out of the car and hit up a house or two that had lights on before jumping back into the car and continuing on to what I can only assume were greener pastures. We bundled up, turned the porch light off and headed out ourselves: one dashing pirate, one little firefighter and one pumpkin-turned-hipster after the latest blowout.

This is our third Halloween at this house; we had barely moved in on the first, and on the second I stayed home again to hold down the fort while the boys scavenged for candy. Both years we had around 50 trick-or-treaters which I thought a good amount. However I was in for a shock, because the crowds we saw just a short walk from our house were unbelievable – one could barely walk through the crowd with a stroller, much less maintain visual contact with all members of our party at all times! The residents had gone all out with live music, fire-eaters, gigantic decorations and buckets upon buckets of candy. There were lines of children at each front door, people sitting on their stoops handing out treats as fast as they could. While accompanying Mikus I heard more than one adult request candy, supposedly for the kid “too tired” or “sick at home.” Although the majority of children had costumes (some so elaborate I wonder at the time spent making them!) there were also those with just a bandana, a mask, or nothing visible that could be defined as a costume. All in all we didn’t stay long in the chaos; the boys were having fun people watching, but it was really just too much – I wonder if the people living in these houses really enjoy shelling out a few hundred bucks on candy when they don’t even have a chance to enjoy the costumes of those coming to their door… I felt bad that we were joining in the fracas while there were neighbors sitting at home, waiting for the bell to ring.

the band is playing on the left and the lady swallowing fire is on the right

So we walked home, trick-or-treating as we went. Those homes with porch lights on welcomed us with outstretched hands full of candy for the boys, as they had seen few children all night – very hard to believe with the costumed masses just up the street. When we got home the boys poured out their haul onto the table, where mom and dad took a look (and a small fee) before selecting one piece and then heading off to wash the mustache and chocolate off. A very nice evening, as the weather cooperated and the boys had tremendous fun.

It was during the night that we got our biggest surprise… snow! During moments awake with Vilis I heard the wind howling and even hail on the roof, but with sunlight we saw the white stuff had lingered in shadier spots as it tends to do. Lauris and Mikus downed their breakfast in record speed while I emptied the front closet in search of snowpants and gloves that fit (it was the first time the boys even wore their winter hats this season). Luckily we got them out the door in time and they had just enough time to soak through their shoes and get a few well-aimed snowballs in before it melted.

Vilis made it outside for a few minutes too, as this was his first snow. He wasn’t impressed.

And today the temperatures are back up to 70 degrees… Who knows what tomorrow will bring?