It rained on my Halloween parade. (Yes, just mine.)

Here's the thing. I love Halloween. I love it! I love that anything is possible, and that trick-or-treat becomes a walking display of creativity and imagination. It's not about flaunting how many gifts got passed or how fancy your house is. Halloween is just fun. And ya know what? We dealt with crappy, cold, rainy weather last year. Two years in a row puts me in a foul mood. 

 

But, it was just me. Everyone else had a blast!

 

(Everyone but James, that is. But I expected him to wear a costume, and that'll tick anybody off.)

 

So, here's a rundown of our Halloween 2013!

 

First, the punkins. We created and carved with some great friends ("like we allllllllllllllways do," as one Kindergarten participant said). That's Elliott's on the left, Patrick's hybrid of carving and Mr. Potato Head pirate on the right, and little James in the middle. Ohhhhh, maybe NEXT year we'll carve yours, buddy?  :[] 

Don't even try to say Elliott was a vampire. Clearly he was Count Dracula, which he kept pronouncing "Dra-CU-la" and then would get mad that 1. You thought he was just a lowly vampire, and 2. He said it wrong again.

As you well know, it can be hard to get willing volunteers when you vant to suck someone's blood, so in a stroke of genius, he doubled as a Red Cross Volunteer! (Ahhh, I love Halloween! The bucket says, "GIVE BLOOD. (or candy)"

Don't even tell me you aren't in love with King Patrick. The one-size-fits-most crown instantly fell like a necklace, so I pulled out the wig he wore as a Mad Scientist a couple of years back. It beefed up his head to keep the crown on and looked ridiculous (in a ridiculously adorable kinda way). It was itchy, and he hated it, but he toughed it out for Mom's unbearable love of this holiday. What a trooper!

 

It's possible he was motivated by his bucket, although I really think he would've been happy with gold pieces OR sugary treats. They're both tops in his book.  

 

The boys begged to go out on their own this year, and, well. WHO ARE WE to stand in the way of their budding independence?! Especially when it's cold, windy and raining! OK, boys. You win!

 

So, that left Pete and me home to drink wine, pass out candy to the revelers and wrestle James into Thee Cutest Costume He Couldn't Stand--

 

He's an owl! This here head would've made a world of difference, but there was just no. way. he was agreeing to it. (I wasn't joking about two adults wrestling a beast of a baby into this getup!)

 

James relaxed when he could get outside--only losers stay inside during the coolest outdoor party--and the rain helped his hair blend right into the costume. teehee!

 

I can't even tell you how many people guessed he was a turkey! They're laughing WITH you, kiddo. Swear! 

 

There was all kinds of talk about postponing trick-or-treat to avoid the storms, but you know what? These boys were completely undeterred! Just LOOK at Patrick, returning home after only lapping our own street. He's 103 percent happy!

 

Can you SEE how wet his shirt is?? I was so ticked at the weather gods, but Patrick was GOOD.

 

Elliott, too! I mean, I know he still has his angry eyebrows on, but other than that, he's GOOD!

 

Then, as soon as we realized our neighbor's house was not on fire and that the kind firefighters were instead rolling around the 'hood, handing out candy to even-more-elated kids, the night got better still!

 

The boys got right back to their sorting, trading and consuming, bouncing around the house with jittery, sugary happiness. At one point, James tried to get in on the serious candy sort business, but Elliott quickly shooed him away with a, "James, no! This is my life's work! ...OK, I guess it's my night's work..., but NO!"

Poor kid.

Your parents don't carve your runt pumpkin. They squeezed you into some padded turkey. AND your brothers won't even give you a pity piece of candy! How about a bag of pretzels, huh? Does THAT help?

 

Happy Crappy Halloween 2013, everybody!