Halloween or Treat!

Ella and Lily had been practicing their trick or treating by pretending to trick or treat with one another. Lily however, with less experience under her belt, kept saying “Halloween or Treat!” which is quite the mouthful. Luckily, by October 31, we were able to straighten her out in time for the big show. Good thing they had been training for weeks.

Ella and Lily were very excited leading up to Halloween. It’s the first year that they both really “get it”. For days leading up to Halloween, I was asked if they could either A: Go to Ms. Marie’s Halloween party or B: Go trick or treating. Kowalski's was hosting trick or treating, and after a last minute costume change of Ella’s part, we were excited to attend. Ella was originally going to be a princess, utilizing all of the dress-up gear we already owned. The night before the event at Kowalski's, she decided she wanted to be a “princess cat”. Luckily, I had a “sexy cat” costume from my college years. We utilized the non-sexy parts of the costume, the ears and tail and added those to a tutu. Lily was wearing the last of our prescribed costumes, a tiger. Once the noses and whiskers were drawn on both faces, they were off for trick or treating, round one.

For the last couple of years, I’ve avoided this event. Thinking, Halloween in a strip mall? Ding ding. How great could that be? The answer – IT IS AMAZING! We visited each storefront where they were waiting out front with candy, and then we ventured into the actual grocery store. To call Kowalski's a grocery store is a little misleading. It’s more like a beautifully decorated food department store where you can also purchase toilet paper. Once inside, we moved from station to station to trick or treat throughout the store. The goodies were plenty. Large cans of soda, small cans, chocolate milk, white milk, cheese sticks, apples, candy, chips, bottled water and more. By the time we reached the last station, I had to carry the girls’ bags because they were so full! There was cookie decorating and each person manning a station was in costume. About three stations in, we came across an employee who was dressed as a fairy, complete with sparkly face paint and fiber optic lights in her blue glittery hair. Ella stopped dead in her tracks. Her mouth fell open and she was in shock. She blinked, shook her head and finally mustered up words. “That is beautiful!” was all Ella could muster. She gathered her snack and walked away with her head fixed on the beautiful fairy, nearly walking straight into a display of canned goods. I was worried we were going to have to tweak her costume so she could be a “princess cat fairy”!

A few days later, we attended the other event the girls had been anticipating for awhile – Ms. Marie’s Halloween Party! Oh the excitement! The only problem? I thought the party started at 10:30, I was quite shocked when I checked the invite at 9:55 to see it started at 10. We went into crisis mode to get everyone ready. This also meant that Loran had to stay behind because he was still in pjs. The girls and I were off to Marie’s house. As we passed the hospital where the girls were born, Lily pointed out, as she often does, that was where she was born when she was a baby. She then very thoughtfully asked if I was there when she was born. Yes, Lily. Yes I was.

We arrived to a wonderful party set up for the children. They were able to go from station to station creating crafts like necklaces, masks, painted pumpkins, played with play-doh, hammered golf tees into pumpkins and more! We then were treated to a great lunch and cookie decorating. Despite all of the amazing crafts, which the girls loved, they were enthralled with Marie’s bathroom…typical preschoolers. Marie had a pumpkin soap dispenser, fall-themed towels and the clincher – orange toilet paper with jack-o-lanterns on it. Because of that toilet paper, the girls were sure to use the bathroom several times each, ensuring no bladder infections for them!