Halloween in T Harbor!

What a great Halloween!!! We couldn't resist coming to Maine for a long weekend, and the chance to trick-or-treat on Watts Ave.! It was such a nice few days - morning walks down to the harbor with steaming coffee cups in hand, loads of playtime with Grandma and Granddaddy, Ian and Suz and cousin Eli... Granddaddy was super excited to give Ollie his "birthday boat" (a week before his birthday) -- a handmade little wooden boat that had a hidden "Happy Birthday" song in it from a greeting card, and a button on top that you press and hold down to make the song play! Ollie loved it, of course. Andy had to work in his nice office in the garage all day on Friday, where the woodstove kept him extra toasty. Over the weekend we carved our imported pumpkin (fresh from the fields in NJ!) -- Andy quickly got frustrated with traditional carving and opted for a more efficient technique - see photo! We were so impressed with the result, especially the delicate nostrils.

Saturday night was our big night out - Ian and Suz watched the kids for us (thank you!!!!) and we went across the street with Mom and Dad to our friend Beth's famous Halloween Party - she throws a bang-up party every year with a great costume theme that changes each time. This year it was to dress up as a song title, so I went as "Kiss" by Prince (making use once again of my fabulous homemade kiss costume), and Andy went as "Devil in Disguise." I loved mom's costume as well - she went as "Yesterday," and wore a costume made of newspaper from yesterday's paper, and a hat draped with black fabric since she "had a shadow hanging over her" - get it? Awesome!

Halloween day just flew by - Andy had to work in the morning, and I took the kids to G&Gs for a great bagel brunch. Eli came back with us to our house at Maddie's naptime, and he and Ollie had fun playing all day. We had everyone over for a dinner of Andy's famous saffron pistachio risotto with Maine shrimp and peas (super good batch!) and then it was time to get the kids suited up. At first Maddie fussed and struggled to get her tutu off, but pretty soon she seemed pretty happy with it. We all headed down to the East Wind, where they were giving out special goody bags in the lobby, then to Big Dave's house around the corner, and Anne and Tony's... after that, Mom and Dad headed back to our house to give out candy, and we continued on our rounds. It was freezing out (literally), and Ollie got tired and cranky pretty fast, but we all trudged on, the promise of candy keeping Ollie from total meltdown. I was so proud of our cute little house, pumpkins shining, long candlesticks in the front windows, sparkley decoration on the door, woodsmoke rising from the chimney. Such a Happy Halloween!!