Reformation Sunday. That’s how we started the day. Martin Luther and the Diet of Worms. The kids got to play games for reformation Sunday. Garrison Keillor even mentioned it in his dialogue from Prairie Home Companion.
I also thought about Sabbath. My mind kept racing back to my unfinished toy tear down. I had produced several bags to give to goodwill and was unsatisfied not to be able to finish the job. It takes work to actually stop work and sabbath. I did load the car with all the bags early this morning. The key to getting rid of toys is keeping them out of the minds of kids. In past attempts, there has invariably been a loud toy that gets knocked and makes sound alerting kids to it’s presence and they proceed to rescue it and other toys. I gave a stack of books to Erica. It is satisfying to give things away to friends who I know will enjoy them.
There were costume negotiations with Sara. She refused the beautiful princess dress for her old dragon costume. The parents needed reparations for the shift in plan. Communication networks were at full steam ahead to navigate this dilemma.
After church, I took advantage of sun breaks and biked the kids to the park. We ran into another friend of Laura’s from school.
Halloween began after nap. In the big picture, this was one of the most satisfying Halloweens and the most tiring. I kind of gave up trying to rustle up much company for Halloween. Last year, I tried to get neighbor kids to join us. No go. Halloween parties, relatives, prior obligations. I tried more timidly this year. The real issue is that most folks want to trick or treat in their microcosm of neighborhood. I’m all for that. That’s what I want to do. I see Halloween as a chance to see my neighbors. So we had some plans.
The main plan was to meet J&C and the girlies. Together we were a mass of almost 10. The Ballard trick or treat was tricky. There’s small entrances to stores and lots of kids trying to get candy. I held the twins hands for most of the time and that was heavenly. I love looking at the costumes. I revel in my kids greed and fascination of candy (though I’ll limit it in the coming days). There was one store giving away free books. I walked past, but Sara found one of our favorites from the library, The Day the Goose got Loose. Claire’s absolute joy in this holiday is infectious. We started to drag half way down Ballard Ave. We headed to Zak’s for dinner. We were turned away by crowds. We checked out the HiLife. No go.
Finally, we turned the corner from the main drag and found home and hospitality at Piada Italia next to Malena’s. We were welcomed with prosciutto wrapped melon. We got delicious fries. My favorite picture was Ruth eating her lollipop with one hand creating a blue tongue and stuffing a french fry with the other. The burgers were good. Wayne and I tried the flat bread or piada’s. Mine with grilled zuchini, eggplant, and pesto, and italian sausage was nice. More melon for free for the kids. So nice and needed.
We headed home and immediately jumped to neighborhood trick or treating. Light the pumpkins. Gather candy. leave it on the porch. Off we go. We immediately ran into a random family and adopted them as our buddies. We showed them around our neighborhood. The Boo Radley house was awesome. It’s finally aquired the right family that understands it’s potential. Strobe lights in the upstairs bedroom, a witch looking down from the window, steam and a crypt on the porch. One neighbor scared the living daylights out of Laura leaving her crying. The neighbor was dressed as a dummy on the porch holding the candy bowl. He’d come alive and scare kids. Laura cried. She did muster on to other houses. Going with a family was great. I’m glad God provided one for us to follow around. We got back to mostly eaten candy at our house. We hung with Ken and Erica and Hazel for an hour. I got to hold Hazel. I read books to the girls. It’s fun to see other folks books. We’ll have to get McElligot’s pool by Dr. Seuss. We also started Paddington Bear. There was definitely more trick or treaters this year, taking advantage of the dry weather.
