Halloween Firsts

I left work early to grab the kids and get them to our neighborhood's parade. As usual, it was a riot of kids, costumes, ghoulish decorations, and bountiful candy. The kids and I both reveled in seeing friends and neighbors, and their thirst for candy convinced me to make a deal with them: be good before, during, and after dinner, and I would take them around after dark.

Sure enough, they held their end of the bargain, so we went around the neighborhood for the first time ever, and then retired back home to do some giving out of candy of our own. But, it being a school night, I pulled the plug on the fun relatively early, and Amy put them to bed. Even though they were wound up from all the fun, they eventually settled down to sleep. The costumes will get washed and retired, but the memories and the photos will last.