Halloween on the Prairie

We didn't have time to go around the entire neighborhood as we did last year, and Sam and I didn't get to tell spooky stories about the dark woods behind our development, but we still got to see Sophie the dog and the little girl named Clare and the house with the scary witch at the door.  We got to stretch our legs and run acress the grass and breathe the crisp fall air.  We got to count pumpkins and look at spooky ghosts and marvel at a Halloween tree decorated with spiders.  And we got to listen to Eva announce after every house "I like that house," before pointing to the next lit porch and saying "There's one."

The kids got their costumes on at Jamie's and played in the leaves and sunshine with another Darth Vader for a few minutes before we drove home for a rushed dinner-snack and some bundling up.  I pushed them in the bike-trailer-stroller as far as Nolan's house where Eva got to trick or treat for the first time and we learned that Nolan's mommy just gave birth last Friday.  After that it was non-stop running from house to house with only one spill and about 5 seconds of tears.  By the time we'd gone up and back down the big hill, the sun had set and the wind had calmed and it was perfect Halloween weather.  The darker it got the more the kids loved it, and Sam was once again impressed with the welcome mat at "the motorcycle guy's house" that triggered a spooky sound when they stepped on it.  Once again this year we saw too many people driving their children around from driveway to driveway, missing out on the fun of Halloween by piling in and out of heated cars and cursing the cold.  We were never cold.  Our bodies kept moving and the fresh air kept flowing in and out, and I knew that even after the kids ate their alloted 3 pieces each of sugary goodness we would all sleep well.

Another beautiful dark Halloween night out on the prairie.  Making memories.  I am so blessed.