trick or treat

oh halloween. a weekend full of delish candy delights and the most adorable max puppy, bear lion, and ayla ducky around. our festivities began on thurs evening with a JCI office trick or treat route. my dad invited us to visit his work and participate in this event and we happily obliged. my sis kels was there to assist in the visual contact of the oh so excited boys. the boys quickly picked up on the benefits of halloween, and raced from one office to another saying please and thank you instead of trick or treat. oh well. i was shouting from the back on their behalf. and sometimes on my own behalf, there was really good candy at stake. we followed the arrows to office after office, except the two times i got us lost in the southview jci plant due to my overeager arrow misreading. though we found no candy in those areas, we did meet some nice folks.

my dad dressed as a cowboy/howard stern man. he is clever that one. last year he was a disturbed veteran complete with bloodied army fatigues. he turned off the lights in his office and laid on his desk with a bowl of candy resting in his outstretched arm. when a child would approach, he scared them, bad. some children have not recovered. after we made our rounds, we hit the cafeteria for donut holes and cider. yum. then we went on to supper at russ. my dad wore his wig inside the most conservative restaurant around. good times.

on saturday we joined some friends to participate in the treats and trails event at the outdoor discovery center. outstanding program. as we toured the trails, the kids got candy, lessons on owls, a hayride, some up close and personal time with snakes, and smores. such fun. ayla got hungry during this activity, so at one point i nursed her in the sling while walking the trails. no one could even tell. well, some people could but i was still discreet :)

we had so many treats this weekend, brad thought it time for a trick. yesterday i asked him to listen for ayla so i could quick take a shower. while i was still in the bathroom, i could hear her screaming so i was frustrated with my man and hurrying to tend to her needs. i rushed into the room after glaring at brad and could not find her on the bed where i had put her for her nap. i panicked and searched the surrounding floor. sure enough, she was laying next to the bed crying hard. at this point, brad remembers me waving my arms, taking a step forward and back, screaming "brad, the boys tried to pick ayla up and dropped her on the floor", and finally surging forward to rescue the little angel. brad could no longer contain himself and burst into laughter. he assured me ayla was not harmed in the making of this dramatic joke, he just gently laid her on the floor knowing i would reach a stage 4 spaz attack. never a dull moment. i have eaten approximately 14 pounds of candy to soothe myself.