trick or treat

The weather actually cooperated on trick or treat night this year which felt like a miracle.  It started to sprinkle as we took pictures out back beforehand and then by the time we were out the front door, it was done and stayed clear the rest of the night.

The playhouse made for a fun photo spot so I had all kinds of fun with that.  The kids got into it so I guess they had fun too.  But mostly they were cooperating because they knew as soon as we were done, they could start collecting candy.

Tyson had a hand-me-down Thor costume that Shane wore one year which he loved and I found all the girl's costumes at a secondhand store.  Avery has been wanting to be a leopard for years so it finally worked out for her.

Avery wanted to pretend she was trick or treating at the playhouse for a picture.   They kept saying they were going to play "trick or treat" after that night in the playhouse but they never did.  Fun idea though.

Violet was so excited that she hardly knew what to do with herself.  I don't think she fully realized what was about to go down.  I love how the first 3 years (at least) of a child's year, each holiday seems like their first because they just don't remember from year to year so it's all new to them each time!  So awesome.

"Wait for me!" were Violet's repeated words for the first several houses.

My favorite photos at Halloween are always the ones from the back so this one is precious to me especially because Mia & Violet were holding hands without being asked.

After each and every house, Violet would come down the driveway staring into her bag and then loudly say, "Look what I got Mommy!" and then something hilarious about how it was what she always wanted.  She couldn't believe it.  We had so much fun listening to the sweetness and watching her in action.  She was very serious about her manners too.  She would make sure the person was looking her in the eye before she said thank you.  It was the sweetest.  One time when she forgot, she came down the driveway and said to Jason and I, "I forgot to say thank you but that's okay."  We told her she still had a chance so she ran back up to say thank you but not until they looked directly at her.  Also, because she is little and adorable, people were just throwing extra candy in her bag and telling her how cute she is.  She was in heaven.

As usual, I did not want the fun to end but the girls got tired and were ready to go home and eat some candy.  Tyson would have stayed out all night long if we had let him but it was time to call it a night.  Once we were home and all the goods were dumped out on the table, we learned that Violet is completely obsessed with candy.  It became a slight problem in the form of a few (or 20) meltdowns.  That little rascal.  

They already have next year's costumes planned out so we'll see if the ideas stick...