A Halloween Haul

Ah, Halloween. Candy corn and apple cider, donuts and more apple cider. Trick or treating and yet more cider. It's a great time of year, even though I'm 13 or 14 years removed from my trick or treating days.

What I'm finding out, though, is that Halloween is even better in Southern California--the lack of fall colors, chilly evenings, and plentiful apple cider not withstanding.

You see, today started the beginning of the Great Halloween Haul of 2005.

It began at 3pm today with "Fall Fest" at my office, where spouses and children were invited to come in at 3pm for some trick or treating and refreshments (as though you need them when you're walking around the office gathering candy). All of the attorneys and secretaries left out bowls of candy for the children to come by and stick in their bags. I have never seen such a high concentration of good candy*. The firm is obviously taking good care of its employees when so many can afford Reeses and Snickers. So Jared came by as Pooh Bear and charmed the office, filling his bag with goodies as he made the rounds. He quickly caught on to what was supposed to happen--when he saw a bowl of candy, his job was to go get some of it.

Then this evening the whole Irvine Stake met in the church parking lot for a Trunk or Treat. Jared again went as Pooh Bear, Michelle as an Angel (she didn't even need a costume for that, though she wore one still), and I went as the character I thought most fitting: Mr. Incredible (Jared called me "Mr. Incredible Daddy", which I liked too).


Our decorated trunk that had kids having to fish for candy in the trunk--Michelle's idea. (Last night we taped paper clips to the candy and then fastened magnets to make shift fishing rods). Michelle and I took turns between monitoring the fishing and making the rounds to other trunks.

Most were gracious in giving out candy. I'm sure some people, though, were wondering just who the treats were for as I dutifully carted him around from trunk to trunk. A young boy not even 2 can only eat so much candy--even if his parents make no effort to regulate his intake.

By the end it was dark, and Jared was very tired (we'd find out later that he actually has a fever and has probably been sick most of the afternoon. Our little trooper, though, still put in a full day of trick or treating).

We came home, gave Jared some medicine and some snuggles, put him to bed, and then looked over today's haul. It was as though Michelle and I were ourselves still trick or treaters. Here's what we took in:

Of course, what we took in tonight was but a shadow of some of the famous Clark Family Trick or Treating Halloween Hauls in days past (There were years when we trained for Halloween night, making my younger siblings run wind sprints to be ready to run from house to house when All Hallow's Eve arrived. It's the stuff of legends). It's not a bad haul, though, for someone Jared's age. I daresay it's a promising sign of Halloweens to come.

The funny thing is it isn't even Halloween yet--we still have another whole evening of trick or treating if he's up for it. I've already scouted out some areas here in Irvine where we might minimize time spent between houses and maximize the number of quality treats (good candy).

Our main aim on Monday, though, may be more to try and find some decent cider around here, and the right donuts to match that cider. Oh yes, don't let anyone fool you into thinking that one size (or flavor) fits all when it comes to donuts. Some are more suited to certain occasions than others.

But that's a post for another time.

Happy Halloween!



*The term "good candy" should be self-explanatory, but if there's chocolate involved, it's likely to be "good candy." If we are talking Dum Dum pops, Smarties, bubble gum, or anything like unto it--you can rest assured that it's probably not "good candy." That's the kind of candy that gets left over in the bowl after all of the good candy gets eaten.