Trick or treat, country style

We took the kids out to trick or treat last night and had a great time. Unlike many people, we don't go door to door in our neighboring town. When I was a kid, we never did and I have carried that on with my kids. Instead, we all pile in the car, and with daddy at the wheel, I give him the route for about 6 houses of relatives and neighbors that we do stop in at. This year, Terry and Cindy, my brother and sister-in-law wanted to join us, along with Sapphire, their collie. Mind you, my car seats 7, so the dog had to ride behind the back seat in the cargo area. I think she was mildly insulted, since she is an "only child" she normally ranks much higher in the pecking order of life.

So off we went with Zorro, Little Bo Peep and Felicity (American Girl character). At each stop, we all have to pile out of the car, go to the door, get treats, chat about life and then pile back into the car. At our third stop, we hit two houses in one. Grandma Stanna was finishing up on some yard work, so we quickly got our treats and she got back to work. We also caught the neighbor Harts coming from the barn. Neighbor Melissa had to fill me in on her great news....and we talked.....and talked.....'til my ride went rolling down the driveway and threatened to head out to the next stop. See that is the fun part of country style trick or treating. We get to catch up on the latest news, since all the houses we go to are people we know.

Off to my aunt and uncle's place. Now Aunt Stub (her real name is Naomi) makes sure there are treats for the big kids, and this year was no exception. She had a huge box of doughnuts and fresh cider from Gleis for everybody. Now they hadn't seen my brother in about 4 years, so there was a lot of catching up to do. That stop lasted about 45 minutes!! Between that stop and Grandpa Bob's, we called in a pizza order to the local pizza joint. We made two more stops, grabbed the pizza and headed to my parents for supper.

Great fun was had by all, and the kids came home with bags full of candy. One more thing I figured out about trick or treating, country style......you get more candy per stop than the in town style......so your kids still end up on a sugar high on the way home.