Trick-or-treat time!

We went trick-or-treating in Jeff and Lori’s neighborhood again this year, and had so much fun! This time Jeff and Lori actually had a house, so they took turns staying behind to hand out candy, while we just free loaded and were takers and not givers. :)

The gang's all ready to go!

The cutest dragon in the world

The kids were so excited that they were just running from house to house. They were so polite though and Eli would say thank you and then wave bye to everyone too. After only going up and down the main street Eli’s pumpkin bucket was already almost full and he asked Jon to carry it for him. When we dumped the candy in the stroller to lighten the bucket load though, Elijah decided he didn’t want his bucket anymore – “I’ll push the stroller now, Grandma!” Hmm, smart kid. Never leave your candy unattended!

My new candy bucket is bigger and has better suspension.

At one house Eli was given a jawbreaker in his bucket (which he’s not allowed to eat, as we had already explained to him earlier in the day at Jon’s work). Eli reached back in his bucket, grabbed the jawbreaker, and handed it back to the lady at the door, telling her, “I’m not allowed to eat these. Thank you!” It was so adorable. What a cutie.

Eli's about to get the jawbreaker . . .

After about an hour and a half we had gone through less than half of the subdivision, but Elijah asked to stop trick-or-treating. He was wiped out and said he wanted to go home and rest. We headed back and Lori and her kids continued on to get more loot. Eli was even so tired that he accepted a ride in the stroller on the way home (he says the stroller is for babies now and doesn’t want to ever ride in it).

I'm so tired I can barely walk.

In fact, I'm so tried I'll accept a ride in the baby-mobile.

As far as Matea, she LOVED being outside and seeing all the kids. I wore her in the Baby Bjorn and she was kicking up a storm, smiling, and literally squealing with delight when the kids were running around. By the end of the night she was tired as well and fell asleep before we were done. Still, her first Halloween she had a lot of fun (if not any candy). :) I’m already looking forward to next year and seeing her toddle along with the rest of the kids.

One tuckered out ladybug . . .

When we got home Jon and Eli counted up Eli’s candy haul from that night, and he had 104 pieces of candy (not even counting what Mommy and Grandma ate on the way home). I think that should tide him over for a bit! 

I love this picture because you can see the dragon eyes but not Eli's eyes. It makes me smile.

Doing the annual pumpkin dump. What a haul!

The next day we were off to visit Jon's family, and Elijah donned his costume once again to trick-or-treat at Grandpa Bob's door. And this time he didn't get just one piece of candy - he got the whole bowl of candy all to himself! Our last trick-or-treating stop definitely had the highest candy ratio! Grandpa and Grandma's houses always seem to have high yield. :)

Hey, my roar gets me candy here too!

They just dumped the WHOLE bowl of candy in my bag. This is the best day ever!

Elijah hauled in enough candy to last until next year, so it's a good thing we’re enacting the “parent tax” on candy, as Jeff called it . . . we’re helping him “redistribute” the candy wealth. Bad idea for government but a great idea for trick-or-treat! :) And next year we'll have two pumpkin buckets to raid. Yummy yummy!