More Halloween

I have had a tough time getting pictures downloaded to post lately. My camera battery died the one night I set aside some time to do it, and from that point on I just got sidetracked. It is also starting to get cold, which means late at night the last thing I want to do is sit in the somewhat chilly and totally uncomfortable study to wait for the photos to download and then troubleshoot when and if necessary. I finally charged the battery, found the power cord to my laptop, set up shop in the warm, cozy den, and loaded about 100 pictures. I will spare you a ridiculous post filled with nothing but pictures of Luz and James that make me smile and will, instead, just post a few at a time. What follows are a few from Halloween night. We trick-or-treated on State Street with friends and family again this year and, thanks to Aunt Margot, had a home base complete with snacks, drinks, and all of the comforts of home. I allowed unfettered access to the candy for the night with only one caveat - a grown up had to examine and approve every piece of candy before consumption. It worked well for the most part. Luz was actually remarkably restrained, James, not so much. They both enjoyed trick-or-treating, but as it got darker James started to get increasingly more freaked out by the crowds, costumes, and decorations. He quit before Lucy did and spent the remainder of the night handing out candy. The highlight of Halloween this year - a holiday on All Saints Day - I think it would have been impossible to get the kids up, dressed and ready for school after that night.

Luz & James w/ their friends, Emma & Luke, before heading out to trick-or-treat James made a last-minute costume change and opted for Batman instead of the pirate (which totally irritated me because it was the 2011 Halloween theme, but he is only 2 and apparently does not understand why themes are important to me)

Luz w/ Katie (who is dressed as a sort of cat - adorable and festive)

Luz w/ her parrot - Katie found this perfect addition to the pirate costume. At one point we crossed paths with a guy dressed up as a pirate (the Johnny Depp Pirates of the Caribbean pirate) and he started harassing Luz, saying she took his pirate and it was pretty authentic and she started to totally freak out until I got involved and straightened things out which required looking at the dude with a 'hey, pal, you are taking this one a little over the top, easy' kind a of look...funny stuff.