Hallo-what?!?

There is no question that some Halloween treats are better than others. As I kid, I always coveted anything chocolate but turned up my nose at the necco wafers and circus peanuts. Mark says he hated the Orange and Black taffies with a passion. (Does anyone like those?) I was also disappointed by the dentists and other extremists who opted out of giving candy all together and would hand out nickles or stickers.

Over the years I have seen many non-candy treats appear in Halloween buckets. Some have been better than others, and include gift certificates for fast-food restaurants, vampire teeth, spider rings, bubbles, kazoos, microwave popcorn, crayons, novelty toys, and cans of soda (given out every year by a family in our neighborhood who owns a vending machine company). But, this year my kids got something I could hardly believe--hand sanitizer and wet wipes.

Really, what is this world coming to? What's next? Carrot sticks? Math flash cards? The funny thing was that Brandon thought the hand sanitizer was sour spray candy and was trying to squirt it into his mouth until we told him differently. Emily actually really liked the hand sanitizer and traded candy to her brothers in exchange for theirs. But then again, she also trades away all her chocolate for bubble-gum, so I'm not sure we should go by her opinion of things.

All in all we had a fun day. The kids are getting so big. They hardly needed any help doing their pumpkins this year and even Brandon and Bryce stayed out until their pumpkin pails were full to the brim. Natalie went trick-or-treating with some of her friends and hit almost every house in the neighborhood. She actually had to trade up to a shopping bag about half-way through the night because she had so much candy. Emily was more prepared and started out the evening with a pillowcase instead of her plastic pumpkin. She got a little annoyed with me because when she asked for a pillowcase I dug out the Hello Kitty and Blues Clues pillowcases and, of course, she couldn't be seen walking around the neighborhood with those!

Here are some pictures of our day: