Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin pancakes: that's how we began our day. Topped with cinnamon whipped cream. I think we started a new Halloween (and possibly Thanksgiving) tradition. Chef Blanden helped make them every step of the way (although in the end he preferred syrup to whipped cream).

This evening we went over to Blanden's friend Gavin's house to celebrate together. Here the boys are playing in the basement and gearing up for the big night.

Ellis just took it all in.

Ellis, as a Little Rancher, posed for a Halloween photo with Mommy.

The boys ate pizza before heading out. A few trick-or-treaters began coming to the door while we were finishing dinner, and then the boys got really excited and couldn't wait to put on their costumes.

Ready to go!

Still not quite sure what this is all about, but confident that, whatever it involves, it will be fun!

Daddy and Mr. Nate dressed up as mad scientists.

Here we go! Blanden was so curious about the whole process. He's normally shy, and although he held Mommy's hand to walk up to most of the houses, that was mainly because there were often steps involved. He definitely wanted to do it, and he quietly said, "trick-or-treat," and "thank you," and even tossed in a few "Happy Halloweens!"

We hadn't gone to too many houses before Blanden began saying, "One more house, then that's it" after each one. I think he was afraid we were going to tell him that that was it, it was time to go home, so he was already beginning to negotiate. We kept assuring him that the fun had only just begun!

Ellis stayed snuggled in to Mommy. It was actually a very warm, pleasant evening, probably in the 50s. But it was a treat for Mommy to have Ellis nestled against her for a couple hours. It didn't take long for him to rest his head on my chest and sleep for the duration.

Blanden brought his Elmo treat bucket with him over to Gavin's house, and Grammy even made him a coordinating pizza-print treat bag that matches his pants, but Gavin had an extra pumpkin bucket specifically in case Blanden wanted to use it, and that one won out this evening.

By the last house the boys were literally crawling up the stairs, still happy and giggling but definitely getting tired. Or so we thought ...

When we got back to Gavin's house and broke out the candy, the energy came with it. It wasn't long before Gavin and Blanden were chasing each other around the house, and every time the doorbell rang with the last kids out for the evening, they would run to the door and shout "trick-or-treat!" from inside the house. And instead of sleeping in the car on the way home as expected, Blanden sang -- a lot. We heard several renditions of the ABCs and another song called "Ba Ba Ba" that he made up on the spot.

Blanden has had very little candy before. In fact, I'm not sure he's had anything other than M&Ms and lollipops until now. Tonight he tried KitKats (liked), Reese's Pieces (liked), Twizzlers (spit out; did not like at all), and Almond Joys (which he must have liked because he ate two).

When I tucked Blanden into bed tonight, I said, "Happy Halloween. It's all over for this year." And he responded with, "Blanden's happy Halloween." As of tonight, he would like to be a fireman next year. We'll see where we end up next summer when it comes time to request another costume from Grammy...