Halloween Redux

Halloween this year was quite the party.

Little Bo Peep - before the Halloween party at her school

It was the first year that Zuzu got into it (although she made an adorable little duck last year) and Coco made the perfect Halloween accessory, so we had a Little Bo Peep and her (found) sheep.

We also had family in town for the weekend--my parents were here, my aunt and uncle were here from Arizona, my brother and his girlfriend were here on their way to a wedding, and a friend of mine came over. It was a full house and we had a fridge full of pumpkin beer, so that made it that much more fun.

I made chili and my mom made potato soup, my friend Erin brought cornbread and apple cobbler, and my mom also mixed up some apple cider wine on the stove top. And I busted out the Fritos because what good is chili without fritos?

Zuzu trick-or-treated early, while it was still daylight, and before it got super duper cold (it was freezing!). Considering how much she enjoyed canvassing for a ballot proposition a couple of weeks ago, she was even more thrilled to wear her Bo Peep dress and get candy when she knocked on the door.

A little sheep and Little Bo Peep

We really practiced saying "Trick-or-treat! Please and thank you!" but as soon as she saw the candy bowl, it was like her mind went blank and she could only think about candy (which she selected based on the color of the wrapper, since she'd never actually had candy before and didn't know what was in the wrappers--this is how we ended up with a bunch of Almond Joys--come on, choose Snickers, kid!).

Trick-or-treating with Mama and Coco

When I'd say, "What do you say?" she would say, "Thanks!" which was cute, even though she hadn't even gotten the candy yet.

Almost everyone who answered the door said, "You look so cute!" to which she would reply, "Yes!"

And when she left, she'd cheerfully call, "Bye! Have fun!" over her shoulder, echoing what our neighbors were telling her.

It was just as adorable as it sounds.

She did NOT need assistance going up the steps.

I purposely bought her a very small trick-or-treat bucket at the Dollar Spot at Target and told her that we'd trick-or-treat until it was filled up. So after going to five houses, the bucket was full and it was time to head home.

Our neighborhood is famous (notorious?) for attracting trick-or-treaters and we went through almost 500 pieces of candy with a steady stream of trick-or-treaters.

We gave kids two pieces of candy if they told a joke--which is a St. Louis tradition I'd never heard of until we moved here. David thinks it's weird, but it's my favorite part!

The best joke we got all night?

What's the difference between a man and a savings bond?

A savings bond matures faster.

Hahahaha.

We also got some good Cubs jokes, which went over well at our house:

What do Cubs and vampires have in common?

They both wear gloves for no apparent reason.

And

Why don't the Cubs have a website?

Because they can't put three W's together.

Bahahahaha.

Zuzu was thrilled to greet trick-or-treaters. She was seriously like the mayor (and her dad) saying hi to everybody: "Hi guys!" She handed out candy like a champ, and when David told her to only give one piece (he was worried we'd run out) she started trying to hand out individual M&Ms and Skittles.

distributing candy 

There was a hilarious and weird moment when we were all sitting in the front room and two little boys came in. One was dressed as Spiderman and I can't even remember the costume the other one was wearing. Anyway, they just WALKED inside and then the little Spiderman (he was about four years old) started playing with Zuzu's xylophone.

We were all just kind of staring at them and I said something like, "Hi, Spiderman! Are you trick-or-treating?"

My friend Erin asked who they were and I said, "I have no idea! I've just met them!"

So then I went and asked David who these kids were who were in our house and he said he had no idea, they just asked if they could come inside.

???

I asked Spiderman if he needed to go trick-or-treat at some other houses and he said, "No, I'm cool." The older kid looked a little embarrassed. Then Spiderman discovered Zuzu's little kitchen and yelled for his brother? cousin? to come check it out.

So there were eight adults, all kind of dumbfounded, just watching this kid make himself at home in a complete stranger's house.

Then whomever was supervising them apparently discovered they were missing and started yelling at them to get outside. It was just slightly bizarre.

Meanwhile, Zuzu was LOADING up on sugar. Having never had any of this candy before, she was pretty excited to try everything, and nice about sharing it (though we all declined to share the sucker that she offered).

She got completely wired--I mean so wound up it was crazy. She was belting out, "LET IT GO!" and "singing" it over and over and over. Just the chorus.

My brother noted that she has mastered the lyrics and volume but just needs to work on tone.

It was 10:30 pm before she was asleep, and we had to wake her up the next morning to go out for breakfast, so I'm just going to declare those markers of a great holiday rather than lax parenting.

This Halloween was definitely the most fun so far with Zuzu, and it was the easiest in terms of grief. We were busy and distracted and having fun with a house full of people, but we were also able--finally--to have the kind of Halloween we would have had for the last two years if Eliza were here.

There's a part of me that will probably always imagine how things would be different if, even though I know that it would be impossible to have this life plus Eliza. Logically I know that, but I can't help but imagine holiday scenarios with three little girls.

Still, this year was easier, lighter, the most fun Halloween we've had for a very long time.

Or, as Zuzu liked to say, "Happy Birthday Halloween!"