Halloween Report

One thing I forgot to mention about Halloween celebrating yesterday is that, of course, some of the best part of it is the preparation. We always carve pumpkins:


And, of course, the costume preparation is a large part of the fun, too.
Our celebrations went pretty well yesterday and we figured out some things for next year.

In the afternoon, Davan started lamenting that it didn't really feel like Halloween yet. We opted to go to the afternoon trick or treating in downtown Gresham, after all, just to be able to put her costume on and show it off to more people. It was cool with showers off and on, so, when she started putting on her costume, she chose her rain jacket:

Bunny was a cat:
and, of course, had to go trick or treating, too.

Then, the alien came along and abducted both Davan and Bunny:


We were, of course, quite scared, but when the alien just carried her around for trick or treating, we relaxed some.

Davan got a lot of positive attention in her costume. In the crush of people, we only saw two other little boys in homemade costumes. People turned their heads to look and a few even took pictures of her. That was really fun for her, but, again, the crowds downtown made it not a lot of fun to trick or treat there, so after only going to a couple of stores, we walked back home. On the way there and back (1 1/2 miles each way), Davan got a lot of pointing and staring, as well. This is one time that sort of attention is welcome!

When we got home, my parents were there, so we got to work on dinner. My mom and I decorated our sweet potato pumpkins together and they turned out pretty cute, I think:


The broccoli on top is the stem, the ones beneath are a bed of grass and the cauliflower is supposed to be the moon. They were tasty and well received. Each person had a unique jack-o-lantern.

Of course, spending time with family is what holidays are all about, right?

We had a nice time with my parents. My mom and I put a strip of paper down on the table, and, though you can't see it, wrote out "Happy Halloween" in orange and black as well as drawing a jack-o-lantern. Then markers were put out for others to add to the decoration.

Now that this meal has come off as a surprise, which was fun, we've decided to make it our regular, non-surprise Halloween meal (it came together really quickly, with the yams and sweet potatoes having been baked the day before, and all liked it), but next year, Davan gets to do the faces on the jack-o-lanterns and decorate the table.

After dinner, Davan, as is quickly becoming tradition for every holiday, did her Halloween show. Some of her acrobatics - strength and balancing, particularly, are getting really awesome. Zig Zags, going to see live circus type shows and watching Cirque du Coleil on DVD is, apparently, paying off.

We got our first trick or treater at the door during the show, for which Davan paused and did her door duties. So, after the show, she quickly put her costume back on for door answering.

Seeing as how we hadn't lasted long downtown, we didn't have a ton of stuff in our goody basket. There was some candy, a few of the cheap toys left over from another year, and the gourdes. The first group was a very large group and I quickly realized supplementation was necessary. I put out boxes of raisins, a few fruit leathers and three little Lara Bars that I'd gotten at the Veg Fest last month. Davan found a few things in her room, a couple small toys and some candy she'd recently been given that she didn't want to eat. That helped bulk things up a lot.

After a while, I added even more raisins and fruit leathers. We were surprised at how many people chose them. And the gourdes! At the end of the night, there was only one of the ten left, even though there was candy still. At the tail end, things were looking really slim, so I added a cup of noodles, left over from when we had our Korean exchange students - we don't eat it, to the basket, sort of as a joke, but it was chosen, so we put out a few more!

At the end of the night, in addition to the one gourde, the leftovers included a few pieces of candy, a couple of the less popular toys, the most recently added cup of noodles and a couple of fruit leathers.

The choices people made gave us ideas for next year as to what to hand out, that being, by far, Davan's favorite part of the whole affair. She would just as soon not go trick or treat, she tells us. She loves answering the door, though, and getting to hand stuff out. So, next year, to keep with our principles, even if it's a little more expensive, we're going to have a mix of gourdes, fruit leathers, raisins, and Halloween crayons we intend to make ourselves out of old black and orange crayons. Judging by this year, those things will probably be pretty well received.

During the trick or treating, we treated ourselves with the candies that my mom and I had each, individually, made (her's also were free of added oils and refined sugar) plus some air popped popcorn. Everyone felt like they'd gotten a good treat and had a little bit too full of a belly by the end, but we felt pretty good about the contents of said bellies, so that's pretty good for a holiday that's usually all about the junk food.

A nice evening was had by all and we've got some good ideas for next year. How was your Halloween?