Halloween is easily going to rank in the upper three holidays for kids. You get to go door to door and collect candy. This is also when even the youngest of children begin to realize that their parents are liars--a trend that is likely to last them into their late teens. Parents continually tell their offspring, "don't talk to strangers, don't take candy from strangers, strangers are bad people" then of course we as parents ruin all of these good sense precautionary warnings in one fell swoop of Halloween. Where kids go to random houses just because they have lights on and collect gobs of candy. These strangers give them candy even if there are partially decomposed skeletons hanging from the trees in front yard. At any rate it was a very good Halloween weekend for the kids. Their grandparents came over to trick or treat with them and we were all grateful for the unseasonably warm October weather. The kids made a haul on the candy, probably about 8-10 pounds between the two of them. Merrick could barely carry his pumpkin bucket and had to lean heavily to one side as he carried it. Bob and Nancy also got to join in the season with a little nostalgia and instruction for sophia as to how to trade candy with your siblings to get the best deal.
On Saturday we played around with a new wood stove and we cooked some eggs and hot chocolate on the stove in the back yard. Later in the day we went for a small hike on a ski trail on the edge of town and saw two deer, multiple scrapes and rubs and three of the biggest garter snakes that Dad or I can recall seeing. Bob spotted the first one as Merrick stumbled off the trail and almost landed on the poor snake in its ectothermic stupor that the cool weather had brought. Mom chased Sophia down the board walk and Bob tried to hide behind trees along the trail until Sophia pushed him out of the way so she could hide--apparently she was unable to find another tree as suitable in the woods as the one that grandpa was already behind.
Sunday was a recoup and rake day day as Merrick and I cleaned up the back yard and then spread all the leaves in the garden to breakdown for next years vegetables. Sophia also started hockey, while it is actually an indoor arena it is still enough activity to discuss here. She was a little tentative but did have a friend that she found in the locker room and appear to have fun. She skated pretty well and is excited to go back again next week. Merrick also enjoyed running around like a complete maniac in the large arena space and crashing himself into the glass (there is an elevated viewing area) as if he was checking somebody--this was alternated with just kicking the glass and eating 'stuff' from undr the bleachers.
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