Happy Halloween--and we're baaaack!

Yesterday was Halloween. It was a full day that ended well. It was also, in the heat of the afternoon, 103 degrees in our back yard. One hundred and three. Halloween. That's important for later.

Last year, we drove home from a fall weekend in upstate New York with family--Camp Covington 2014! On the way, we stopped at a front-yard farmstand and bought our pumpkins. Huge ones. We put our $4 per pumpkin in the coffee can they had set out for the purpose.

For Halloween 2014, we were at home outside of Princeton. Our neighbor on the dark country highway told us that trick-or-treaters never, ever stopped at our small cluster of houses in the dark with no sidewalk. So we cheerfully all went together to trick-or-treat in the neighborhood she advised. It was a delight to walk with J while the troupe trooped. We never all get to walk together because someone has to stay home to hand out treats. It was my favorite year. They had chosen a Spanish theme and coordinated their outfits. Nona supplied the matador and bull outfits. I remember thinking, "This coordinated group-think won't happen again."

But it did, sort of. This year, Pixie knew she wanted to be Scarlett O'Hara and we had all of the pieces for Dorothy from Oz in place already. The boys rallied around the idea of old-school characters and chose the Lone Ranger and Zorro. Although Pixie was old enough this year to go trick-or-treating with friends, the other three hung together with me and we enjoyed a sweet evening.

Two years ago, we were in Madrid for Halloween. The kids wore souvenirs we had bought (masks in Venice!) and handed out candy to the students, who came to our apartment on the way to a Halloween party the program hosted off the Puerta del Sol. We haven't been home for Halloween in a long time.

So, this year it was fun to be back in town for Halloween. This week ended with a little bit of chaos, and I was glad to wrap things up last night (and to get an extra hour of sleep!). Part of the chaos was a wildfire that started in the foothills behind our house on Thursday morning. Part of it was a Fall Festival at school on Friday, in tandem with flag football and ballet and all of the usual Things. By the time Halloween rolled around, it was Pixie's third time in her costume. This year when carving pumpkins, J broke out the jigsaw. I think it will become a staple.

We are all grateful to have made it to Sunday, on which we have worshipped and rested and had a neighbor up for burgers for dinner. And eaten chocolate, of course. What's your favorite Halloween candy?

This morning at breakfast I gave the kids the Cliff Notes version of this blog post, which asks whether Halloween might be more Christian than Christmas. I recommend it. It resonated with our kids, who are familiar with their Boppy's "Christmas Goody-Goody" song.

I remember that at the beginning of this post I said that 103 degrees was important for later. It still is, but I've moved those thoughts to a different blog post because I haven't yet wrestled them into order. Soon.