Since the pandemic essentially canceled parties and trick-or-treating this year, I thought we were going to have a pretty dull Halloween. Then, as I kept hearing Todd eagerly count down the days until October 31st, and his oldest sister drearily telling him that nothing interesting would happen that day, I decided I needed to find some ways to make Halloween fun. I logged onto a local mom Facebook group to get some ideas, then I made a plan.
First, the two younger kids and I participated in our ward scavenger hunt this morning. We took photos of spooky stuff around our house and our town, then snapped our last picture here at the finish line, six minutes before the game ended.
Then we went home and did Saturday chores, because even a proper princess must do her part around the house.
Anna, Todd, and I bought pumpkins at our local farm stand, then I helped the kids carve them. Anna's is a cheerful princess (of course), and Todd's has numbers for facial features (of course).
Since no trick-or-treaters would be traipsing up our long driveway to see our jack-o'-lanterns, we took them to the town common, where they could grin at passing drivers with dozens of their friends.
Next, our whole family drove around town to see the Halloween decorations people had put up. I knew that some of the houses would have treats out on tables, so I told the kids to bring treat buckets. The two older kids had passed on the earlier activities I planned, and they weren't very excited to go look at decorations either, but they warmed up to the outing once they saw the candy.
I was amazed at how many people had set out treats. By the time we got home, the kids' treat buckets were full.
We saw a street with over a dozen treat tables on our way home, and Joy asked me to take her there so she could collect more sugary loot. I told her if she was going to walk along a street picking up candy, she needed to put some sort of costume on. She bundled up in her snow gear, put on her monarch butterfly wings from last Halloween, then gamely posed for one token picture before we headed out into the night. It was literally freezing outside, and when we arrived at the treat street nearly all of the tables had already been put away, but we found one house that had a dozen treat bags left, and they encouraged Joy to take them all. She brought them home and split them with her siblings. I've long been a fan of the creative, generous spirit Halloween inspires, and I loved seeing Joy embrace that generosity tonight.
Happy Halloween!
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