Poodle Trick-or-Treating

This year’s Halloween was almost thwarted by Hurricane Sandy.  But we were sure to start partying before hand.  The Saturday before the holiday we had a pumpkin carving party.  I love our family dynamic of carving: Jacob does the scooping and the pumpkin-seed roasting, while I get to do all the creative decision-making and carving.  Anna joined in this year.  She was grossed out by the goop but would not put down her scooper.  We had a great time with our friends, thanks for joining us!!

For Halloween, Anna dressed up as a pink poodle.  Jacob’s parents sent us this adorable outfit with accompanying themed gifts such as a story book about a poodle and human Scooby Snacks.  The outfit has a fabric collar and for the zipper pull they made a little dog tag.  The front reads, “Anna,” while the back holds Jacob’s number and “if lost, please call:”.  We loved the warm outfit that was Connecticut-ready, unlike our naive first attempt at an outfit, a little summery tennis dress.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Allred!

On Halloween proper, Jacob suggested that we trick-or-treat at the mall.  I really liked the idea since there was still a lot of damage and debris around town from the storm, plus Anna didn’t have to walk as far.  She walked much further than I anticipated.  I suppose she was just really excited. We walked the entire mall twice, once for each floor.  And she only asked to be carried after all that walking, so we called it a night.

I think the two of us were equally confused and intimidated by the mall-method of celebrating Halloween.  But Jacob gently encouraged us and before we knew it, Anna was patiently standing in line and lifting her bucket for special treats.  The majority of salespeople were excited about the evening and made the experience a good one.  There were lots of cute costumes but it is hard to beat a toddler in a fluffy pink anything, let’s be honest.

Anna got a balloon from one store. Since she was a little girl, they gave her a little balloon.  She held our hands throughout the mall and when we went to switch hands once, she wouldn’t open her fist.  She was holding on tightly to her balloon ribbon, she didn’t want to lose her treasure.   I don’t think she realized we had tied it to her wrist.

I was really proud of our little girl when she bravely walked up to the motion-sensored goblin handing out candy in one of the stores.  The kid right in front of us hid behind his dad’s leg but Anna walked right up and patted him on the head.  She probably would have tried to feed him something if we had lingered a bit longer.

I had a surprisingly good time at the mall, even with my disdain for crowds and my love of ringing doorbells.  But New Haven cancelled (and then vaugely uncancelled) Halloween so it was a good time to try something different.  I must admit the loot wasn’t very impressive, mostly suckers, but what can one expect with such a volume of “customers?”  Jacob did make up for that by making the yummiest apple cider caramels.  He was just full of good ideas that week.