All Hallows' Even

Halloween came and went this year in a flash. The festivities started early with a trip to a local pumpkin patch for playgroup.

Later on in October, we took a stroll down memory lane by going to a pumpkin patch in Santaquin, the same one we went to 2 years ago when the girls were just a few months old.

We carved (for those of us old enough to wield a knife) and painted these pumpkins on Halloween Eve, then did the traditional trick-or-treating the following night.

Trick-or-Treating started off kind of rough for the girls. We took them to the Parks' house first, where Matt was waiting just inside the door to hand out candy. He was dressed in an oversized, hooded robe, reminiscent of the Grim Reaper. He slowly opened the door, peering at the girls. Oh man, they were terrified! The looks on their faces were priceless. It was the saddest, yet funniest thing! I couldn't help but chuckle. For the next couple of houses, the girls were very hesitant to knock on any doors. We had to push and prod them up to the door. When we finally got to a neighborhood where there were lots of other goblins trick-or-treating, they relaxed and quickly caught on. They had a ball - we took them around Stonewood, a nice neighborhood just west of our condo complex. We had been practicing saying "trick-or-treat" all day long - but usually when they got to the door, they just stood there, looking cute, hoping the nice person with the big bowl of candy would have pity on them and just give them some chocolate already. It was easier for them when we made it to Stonewood because there were trick-or-treating veterans who would ring the doorbell and ask for the candy and the girls would just sort of fall in line. The girls scored in the candy department - they got about 3 or 4 full-size candy bars each (none of which they ate - daddy tax :) ) By the end of the night, the girls were exhausted and were asleep before we could even get their costumes off. Oh, initially Isabelle picked the butterfly to wear and Eliza picked the mouse (or rat, as she was called at one house we stopped at - I was slightly offended. Who would dress their daughter as a rat??? A mouse is much more feminine.) But, when they were getting dressed that night, they suddenly switched costumes. I guess such is the prerogative of being a twin - double the wardrobe, double the fun.

As a sidenote, I had a couple of proud mommy moments while we were out trick-or-treating. For the most part, the girls said "thank you" for the candy they received. Hallelujah, something I've been trying to teach them has sunk in! And I fully expected them when reaching into candy bowls to take a fistful of candy, but they very politely and delicately just took one piece - every single time they had the chance to pick out their own piece of candy.

And a lesson learned - never leave a bowl full of good candy sitting outside your door, expecting people to just take a piece or two.