Trick or Treat!

     It doesn't get much better than this as a parent.  Tonight was one of those special moments where we could take Madison on a journey to a wonderful place where she got tons of free candy from complete strangers!  She was so cute, she didn't even have to say "trick or treat!"

     Tonight, we met up with Aunt Shain, David Austen, Jonathan, and Hannah to do some trick or treating over at Discover Mills.  What a great way to do Halloween.  It used to be that we'd tromp around in costumes in the cold, and sometimes rain.  Nowadays, children can storm the malls for candy, all in a well lit, warm, and safer environment.  You can say "they didn't earn their candy like we used to," but I'll take a walk through the mall over a journey through dark, cold and possibly wet neighborhoods any day.

     Bless Hannah.  She held hands with Madison throughout the entire mall, helping her get up to the people giving out the candy.  There were a lot of kids there, some with very creative costumes.  But at times there were just about too many kids - and it was good to have someone's hand to hold.  Madison really likes Hannah, and thanks to her she had a great evening.

     Madison got the hang of trick or treating pretty quick.  What a strange custom this is:  free candy from everyone!  She carried her plastic orange pumpkin around with her everywhere, gradually filling it up.  Those who were foolish enough to allow her to reach in and take whatever candy she wanted realized too late that Madison's hands were bigger than they appeared!  She grabbed a lot of candy tonight!

     As the evening wore on, you could tell she was getting a little tired.  Daddy pushed a stroller along, and Madison climbed in for the last part of the trip around the mall.  Soon, we left Discover Mills and hopped in our cars to go trick or treating at a very special house.

    It was quiet on the way there for most of the journey, until the sugar kicked in, I guess.  All of the sudden, Madison burst out with all sorts of funny noises in the back seat and making everybody laugh!  She had a serious sugar rush!

     Yes, we don't do this too often.  But tonight was a night of free candy - and we weren't done trick or treating yet!  We met at our house, and together marched over to Ye-Ye and Nana's house and rang the door bell:  trick or treat!

     In we all went for a fun time together.  Sure, there was free candy - but it was nice to hang out with the family as well.  David showed off his video of his latest band performance, Ye Ye let Madison climb all over him, and Nana snuggled up with everyone as we plugged in the latest Ice Age Movie.

     It was a great night out, and over all too quickly.  There was talk of going to another mall tomorrow, actually on Halloween itself, but we'll see...tonight we certainly had enough fun to make this year's trick or treating experience one of the most memorable I've ever had.