Trick-or-Treating

Well, another Halloween has come and gone, and both girls really seemed to enjoy the evening. The day started off fairly quiet in the morning, and then Hannah headed off to preschool. I ran a bunch of errands with Gemma, and she & I managed to get in on a few treats throughout the various stores--including a yummy dark chocolate mini-bar from Whole Foods, which I was delighted by! :) Now that's a good trick-or-treating spot!
After that, we picked up Hannah, who had already had a couple treats at school (and the sugar rush begins...) Due to some bad planning on my part (and thinking "everyone will have wands & crowns for sale!"), we had to make a couple stops on the way home to try & find a wand & crown for Hannah's Princess Presto costume. (This is a character from the PBS show "Super Why," and her "power" is spelling. She dresses all in purple--and Hannah had her purple flower girl dress, so it was almost complete, minus the accessories.) Wouldn't you know it that I could not find a crown/wand set (purple or otherwise) at any store?! We finally found a couple things that worked at Party City, although they were definitely Disney princess-themed, and the crown Hannah ended up choosing was glitzy, gold, and it said "Angel" on it. Ah well, nothing that a little purple ribbon couldn't fix.


By the way, that's her "princess smile".

We then went home to pick up Keith and got in the car again (poor Gemma had been in that car seat off and on all day!) to head to my parents' house. They have been asking to go trick-or-treating with the girls since Hannah was born, so we figured it was high time we did so! Mom had made a delicious chili dinner, so we all enjoyed that, while getting up & down occasionally to answer the door & pass out candy.
Here are the trick-or-treaters ready to go out:


It was really fun & funny to see the girls' reactions and comments while making the rounds of my parents' block. Hannah knows the drill, so she'd run up to the door and wait there, insisting that "my sister's coming" if someone opened the door prematurely. If they didn't open the door, she'd stand up there singing and dancing around until Gemma could make her way up the driveway. At that point, to speed her along, we'd say "Where's Hannah?" and Gemma would say "Anna, 'ate!" (Hannah, wait!) :)
Obviously, in that ladybug costume, it was a little tricky for Gemma to hurry, but she held her own! Anytime someone offered to hold her hand or her treat container (which, by the way, was mine from childhood--a McDonald's relic that I probably got from my grandparents), she quickly said "No!" (She definitely got the hang of the treat thing. Every time she'd see more candy being put in her bucket, she would say "Ohhhhh!")

By the time we'd gone around the block--which only ended up being around 15 houses that had their lights on, Gemma was running out of steam, her earlier noises being reduced to a low hum (her sleepy song, as my mom calls it) all the while walking around sort of zombie-like in this huge costume. It was pretty comical! :) Hannah was going strong, but even she was starting to say "Let's go home!" (I think she wanted to get into her stash!)

Obviously, we would not have needed to go any farther, as this was what they looked like sorting through their candy:


You can't see it, but Hannah's bag was/is also full.

We all had a fun night, and I know Mom & Dad thoroughly enjoyed watching the evening unfold. Uncle Erik was also there, and that was an extra special "treat!" :) Now on to the "real" holiday season....Woo-hoo!!!