Trick-or-Treat 2011

We spent much of Halloween 2011 in the car driving back home. However, I had promised Kyrie earlier in the trip that we would make our best effort to go trick-or-treating since we had been unable to go last year because we were flying home. Unfortunately, Darren came down with a GI bug the morning we left (the same bug I had on our drive down) so I was in the driver's seat pulling a loaded U-Haul across Missouri.

 As night began to fall we found ourselves in Illinois, just outside of St. Louis. We pulled into a hotel off the highway, and I asked the man at the front desk if there was a safe, nearby neighborhood I could take the kids trick-or-treating. He printed off directions to a town a few miles up the highway. In our room, Darren collapsed on the bed and I got the kids in their costumes. Still pulling the U-Haul I drove the kids to Troy, Illinois and I found a quiet neighborhood with lighted porches and handfuls of costumed kids walking about.

 I felt a bit silly parking our van & U-Haul on the street, but we quickly blended in with the other families. The kids were excited- this was Degen's first time trick-or-treating! Glow wands in hand, Kyrie led the way across the lawns, ringing the doorbells and saying "trick or treat." Degen caught on quickly and soon both kids' buckets were getting full. We walked about a block, visiting about twenty homes. Several people commented on the kids' cute costumes. The kids were plenty done and ready to head back to the hotel by the time we reached the last house. We picked up dinner at a drive-thru near the hotel and crashed with fast-food, candy & a Halloween movie on the TV.

Kyrie showing off her Halloween bounty!

 Trick-or-treating is one of my favorite holiday experiences, and I was glad that I had the chance to take the kids even though we were not at home.

Degen officially announces the end of Trick-or-Treat 2011. (Yes, he's crying!)