Halloween - Vroom vroom!

Well this will be a predictable post as you know that last Friday was Halloween. But did you know that Ashton and Alex went dressed as racecar drivers? Did you know that racecar spelled backwards is racecar? Now you do! That's called a palindrome, people.

When I asked Ashton what he wanted to be for Halloween several weeks ago, he said, "What is it?" I explained and then told him, "So you can dress up as anything you want - like a racecar driver, for example" and he said, "YEAH! I'm a wacecar dwiver! Vrooooom!!" (spit everywhere) and that was that. I could never convince him there was any alternative. I debated on dressing Alex up as his pit crew (and so beginning a lifetime of servitude) but ultimately just got him a racecar driver costume too.

Ashton's big Halloween day started off at school, where they had a concert, parade and pinata. I unfortunately had an off-campus retreat so I couldn't go :( Jason went but took crappy pictures so I don't have any to show you. Imagine a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds marching around as superheroes or princesses from Frozen and you're there.

By noon, Ashton's excitement meter was at about a 5. Jason told him about trick or treating after his nap with Jackson, Adrian and Owen, and it shot up to a 7. This was Jason's big mistake because a 7 and above is actually a no nap zone. Far too much going on for a preschooler to lay still in the dark for two hours. 

So after he didn't sleep and after I got home, we stuffed the boys into their costumes and headed up to Cushing Square as is our tradition. This is the first year Ashton was not a tan safari animal...

...and he was ready to roll. So was Alex, literally ;)

Alex did the entire 30 minute loop in his car and it was so cute and funny, I could not stop laughing at him and actually a lot of other people couldn't either. We had such a great time this year, meeting up with Ashton's friends and even Alex had a little partner with Addie in the next car over.

Most of the time, we took up the whole sidewalk.

And the trick-or-treating looked pretty much like what you would expect it to. 

Lots of blurry pictures, lots of colors and general chaos. It is worth mentioning that at this point, Ashton's excitement level hit a 9. At a 9 or above, he's fixated on whatever he is doing and is completely incapable of being still (like for a nice picture) and basically can't hear you. He wants what he wants and I swear there is a faint buzzing noise that emanates from his body. Overload is imminent. Halloween poses a significant risk because not only do kids wear costumes, which in and of itself will transform their behavior, but add sugar? Forget it.

Still, I did find myself trying to monitor Ashton's lollipop intake. Jason and I talked about candy like you would talk about drinks if you knew you had to drive home.
"How many has he had?"
"Three, but they were over 4 hours so he should be fine."

After Cushing Square, we headed home for pizza and then Jason took Ashton back out to hit the neighborhood while I put Alex to bed. We had a few trick or treaters and it was nice and quiet until they got back. Ashton sat right down and started to take inventory.

If you were there, you would have heard "Chips? Why chips Daddy? Chips are for LUNCH." He started in on another lollipop (a nightcap) and the doorbell rang.

Ashton was up like a flash to see "who was here". When he saw the little girl take candy out of the bowl, it did not go well. Because it was his! Why was she taking it? Where was HER house? WHHHAAAAAHHHHH!! Finally, school + music concert + parade + pinata + costumes + friends + collecting candy + lots of pictures + pizza + lollipops and minus a nap...the meltdown.

Surprisingly, I had nothing but patience for the sticky little boy crying in his racecar driver outfit. I brought him back down to earth and explained again about trick-or-treating with every knock at the door. He eventually was eager to hold out the bowl but boy, if Halloween is a difficult concept to grasp, Christmas is going to be a doozy. I've already started to prepare.

I'll leave you with this year's Halloween "Seen and Heard" between Jason and myself.

1. After taking candy from the bowl, asking for money.
2. A 5 year old looked up and said, "Aw! All you have is Three Muskateers?! I already have a TON of those!"
3. The group of just-barely-teens wearing their regular clothes, zero attempt at a costume, and putting their candy into white, kitchen-sized garbage bags. They didn't even say thank you!
4. Sometimes people leave a bowl on their porch if for whatever reason they are not personally giving the candy out. Jason saw a woman dump the entire bowl into her bag.
5. There was a group of women that hit our house twice! They gestured both times to a stroller back on the sidewalk, like presumably there was a child in it, but who knows.
6. All the older kids took at least two pieces. Greedy little buggers. We must have said, "Take one!" to Ashton a million times. Why would he listen to us when everyone else is doing something different? Talk about an uphill battle not even specific to Halloween.

7. Ashton picked a large lollipop out of a basket, held it up and loudly announced "I'mma gonna have this one for brequist!" (Breakfast)
8. The best part was the few little kids in their tiny costumes not old enough to be on a mission for candy but just taking in the whole experience with an innocence that totally can't be described. When they were at the door and I held out the bowl (which also had non-food treats like stickers and little toys), they stood for a good few seconds trying to pick out exactly what they wanted. They'd slowly reach their little hand out and put it on their choice and look up at me, waiting for me to say, "Sure!". It was so cute. Ashton's already past that stage but luckily I can look forward to it with Alex.

So, the story ends with Ashton practically falling into bed at 8:30 pm and Jason and I toasting a Halloween well done with some hot toddies. Vroom!