Halloween Recap

I'm pretty sure that Friday was the best day of Dixon's life. He spent most of the day jumping up and down, talking excitedly about candy and costumes and "Mike and Lee-ha's" party (Dixon and Madison both call Alicia "Lee-ha". They can both say Alicia, but choose not to.)

Around 4:30, we got dressed so we could start making our rounds. Our outfits made Dixon so happy that I kind of think we should always dress in matching superhero gear. Here we are (and no, the reds don't match. Do you know how hard it is to find that many red things? A lot harder than you'd think.):

After a couple of family-related trick-or-treating stops, we arrived at Mike and Alicia's, where trick-or-treating was in full swing. Early on, Jen (Batgirl) and I took Dixon and Maddy (dressed as SuperGirl) to a couple of houses, then decided that they're really too young to actually trick-or-treat. They were excited, but lost interest quickly, which was fine with us.

Back at Mike and Alicia's, the party was in full swing, with kids running all over the place and a ton of food. But first, a note on the decor. Mike and Alicia are famous for being our friends with a perfect house. Two weeks after they moved in, they'd already painted from top to bottom and even the laundry room looked ready for a Conde Nast photographer. They do an amazing job with holiday decoration, too, and the season really starts with Halloween.

The front yard was full of the stuff that kids love - a skeleton, cobwebs and spiders, cute and creative carved pumpkins and (Dixon's favorite) spooky lights in the bushes. Inside, every surface was covered in crazy Halloween gear. Out back, the set was a little more grownup, but still fun - the fire pit sat on their patio under a big tree dressed with Halloween-themed paper lanterns.

As usual, just looking at Alicia's decorating exhausted me.

And, finally, the food. While Dixon dined on Old Bay popcorn and chocolate (he found a different person to open each candy bar...smart), the rest of us ate soup and meatball sandwiches and cupcakes and cheese and dips and a million other things. And candy, too, of course:

(The first three photos are courtesy of Mike. The fourth - the candy - I swiped from this blog.)

Alicia makes the soups every year. The one in the photograph is my favorite - it's a not-too-heavy cheesy vegetable - but she also makes a great corn chowder. The cupcakes were great, too - pumpkin with cream cheese frosting (and a little shot of frosting inside the cupcake itself). And the meatball subs...I'll write more on them later. They were the subject of much, much discussion, and the impetus for my quick trip to Parkville yesterday morning.

So, great food, funny costumes (including not one, but two, Juno-and-Bleeker combos - one of which involved a real pregnancy) and a crazy amount of toddler excitement.

Good Halloween, all around.