I'll give you HORROR!

As always, you can click on the photos to make them larger. The first one was taken before we got Ryan's hair to be really big, but you can see his t-shirt and test tubes better in it than the picture of the two of them.

Margaux and Nichole came over around 5 so the kids could exchange treats they made for each other, then we had dinner together and set out trick-or-treating. None of the three kids eat candy, so they were just in it for the thrill. Ryan and Mira are allergic to most candy, and all three kids are vegan. It was funny to watch, because while they're going to doors they seemed to forget they were not going to eat any of the treats and they were totally excited when someone would give them extra candy. About halfway through they began singing:

"Eat vegetables with every meal, or your lips will start to peel, and your eyeballs will fall out, and your feet will smell like TROUT!"

at every house, and this upped their candy haul a lot. When they deemed their bags sufficiently full we drove to the town square for the Halloween festival. The streets were blocked off, and there were booths set up from local merchants. I think we missed most of the festivities, because a lot of the people were packing their booths up when we got there. There was live music, though, and an optional haunted house. We stopped to talk to a group of friends (after me giving the kids the standard reminder to stay close together because of the crowds), then moved on to find some fun. After a couple of seconds I looked around and did not see Mira. "Where's Mira?" She's tiny, so this is usually quickly followed by Mira piping up with "I'm right here!" The "geez, mom, are you blind" is only implied by the tone of her voice. Not so, this time. "WHERE'S MIRA? MIRA!!!" I was screaming by then. I turned around and thought I saw a tiny flash of white lab coat running in the opposite direction, so I took off running and screaming. I haven't run that fast in...ever. I haven't screamed that loud since Jay tried to shut me in the attic when I was around 9 years old. Ryan was right behind me, and we were both screaming. I then got a better glimpse her, and she was running near the group of friends we had just left, clearly lost and frantically looking for us. I was running my fastest, but so was she. Oddly, nobody seemed to notice the crazy lady running and screaming. I guess crazy things happen at Halloween. Fortunately, Ryan had the presence of mind to split from me and run in the opposite direction around the large circle of people, so he was the first to reach her, head on. He stopped her and held her til I caught up. She was, of course, frantic. Poor baby. We stayed for another 30 minutes at the festival, because I didn't feel good about making everyone else leave. I had to carry all 45 pounds of Mira the entire time while she cried off and on. We saw a lot of people we knew, but we didn't approach any of them. Mira was in no mood for socializing. I think it would have been a pretty fun event if the trauma hadn't happened, because it was a festive scene. Finally I suggested we go home to count candy, and all 3 kids agreed. While we were walking to the car, me still carrying Mira, one of my feet slipped on a slimy spot in the street and I fell. Somehow I managed to scrape both knees, land on my bottom, gently place Mira on the ground, twist my right wrist, stand up, and scoop Mira up again all before anyone else's brain had time to do anything but register shock. She wanted me to sit in the back seat with her on the way home, but I couldn't figure out a way to drive from back there.

We got home, and after crying in my arms for a few more minutes Mira joined Ryan and Margaux and all three kids played for long enough to restore the fun to Halloween.