Happy Hallowiggle, Hallowheeeee, and Halloooochocolate!

We learned that even pre-chocolate, a certain little butterfly spends her first Halloween (last year, what with us all puking and being sick and me unaware that I was pregnant with Reni at the time, doesn't count) fluttering around like, well, a butterfly.

It would be good acting except that this is Anika every day anyway.

And what fun would Halloween be without a photo montage? Anika gave up the swings (line was too long for her taste, and her tantrum mercifully quit after a few seconds) in favor of the biggest slide she's ever been on. Of course she decides to try going headfirst, which impressed our friends whose backyard houses said slide. Wow, the six year-olds who come here all the time aren't even brave enough to try that, they said. Ani didn't even skip a beat, although I stood there and admonished her each time she didn't put her feet first. Her obsession did prevent me from getting any good photos. These serviceable photos will therefore have to do.

No time for pictures, mama, I'm headed for the ladder that leads me to the most.awesome.slide.ever.

Hello, you're embarrassing me. Enough already!

No time to sit still for a photo with brother, mom. No time.

No time...wait a second, is that chicken?

 Reni, meanwhile, was all, this Halloween business sucks, mom, I just want to go home and sleep. I've had a long day.

 Family photo attempt: fail

Cute kids-in-costume-lined-up-on-the-couch shot: fail. Anika too busy searching for more chocolate.

She then left to go trick-or-treating with her daddy, but they only made it to one house before they came back. Too tired, Armando said, and I don't want her to get any more chocolate. I looked in her bucket. The lady must have thought she was something else because her bucket was more than half full of really good candy, the kind of stuff you know I'm going to end up sneaking later tonight. One house, one large chocolate haul, one tired/wired and one just tired kid. Not too shabby for our first Halloween.

We did come home to a broken dishwasher leaking all over the floor, however. On this trick or treat, we got the trick.