trick or treat

For a week now she's been so excited about going trick or treating. She didn't really know what it was, but she knew she was supposed to say "twick or tweet" and she'd get candy from somebody.

After dinner last night she talked and talked about it, and wanted to put on her costume. Finally it was time, and she was thrilled. She looked at herself in the mirror, stood sideways so she could see her tail, and hopped up and down like a bunny.

A lady who walks her dog in the neighborhood when we're outside all the time knocked on our door just after Rachel got her costume on and said she wasn't passing out candy, but she wanted to give candy to the little ones she knows in the neighborhood (wasn't that so nice?). Rachel was so excited to put the candy into her pumpkin bucket.

Then we went outside to take pictures. The most exciting part was hippety hopping down the sidewalk. She was good and tired before trick or treating even started! The ears flopped every time she hopped--it was extremely cute.

We practiced trick or treating at our house, and Daddy answered the door and put candy in her bucket. She loved it.

When it came time to go, we started at Ethan's house, our next door neighbor, who is about 6 months older than Rachel. She was so excited to see "Spiderman," which was his costume he had been talking about several weeks ago when they were playing. We went up to their porch and Ethan/Spiderman was out, but his mom went back in to get the candy. When she came back out, so did their mammoth chocolate lab, Griffin, who came right after Rachel with a sloppy kiss. Just as she was just getting psyched up to say trick or treat! She came running to me, terrified, and then was all flustered, once things finally calmed down. We had to prompt her over and over again to say it. She finally did, but it was very soft and shy, not like she'd been saying it at home at all. From then on, it was more of the same. She followed Ethan around the cul de sac, and he'd holler "Trick or Treat" as he was walking up the driveways, but it was like pulling teeth to get her to say it, and often she'd cover her eyes when I'd say, "What do you say?" She did manage to say thank you to most of the people, though, so at least she remembered her manners!!

We went around our cul de sac, and to a house across the street to a house where we know the family, and then she was done. Ethan kept going all over the neighborhood, but she had had enough. The part she loved the most was sitting outside with us (it was warm and beautiful! Great trick or treat weather!) watching everyone and seeing all of the costumes. Her favorites were a Dora costume and a Pablo (from The Backyardigans) costume, who she asked about constantly ("Where'd Pabwo go??? Where's Pabwo?") She asked to eat her candy non-stop, and was allowed half a kit kat and a little mini twix, and then sucked on a tootsie pop (which didn't even fit in her little mouth!) for the rest of the night.

From time to time she'd hand me her sucker and go hop again on her hippity hop (she calls it her bouncy ball, but we always called them hippity hops growing up). "I hop in dark," she kept saying. It was quite a treat to be outside in the dark, since she's usually in bed by dark (which will now change with the time change this weekend....more on that in another post). People started calling her the Energizer Bunny, hopping all around on the sidewalk in front of our house.

That's our girl, all right....the Energizer Bunny (who fell into bed exhausted when the night was done--she didn't make a sound!).