Halloween!

Last night we went trick-or-treating! It was Dutch's first time ever, and Cook's and my first time as parents. We had a good time - I'd forgotten how charming Halloween is, with its license to knock on strangers' doors and be welcomed. Dutch was kind of nonplussed by the whole thing, and could NOT remember to say "trick or treat" when people opened their doors, so she'd just stare up at them silently. I think she was pretty overwhelmed by the asking-strangers-for-stuff element. But she enjoyed herself, and really liked all the decorations (though she did nearly jump out of her skin when this animatronic spider started flashing and twitching on somebody's porch). Just as Cook and I were starting to speculate about how soon we could wrap up the event, she announced firmly "when we get to the end of the block, I will be done trick-or-treating."

She dressed as a princess. She was very low-key about this - wore a "fancy" dress and tights that are part of her regular wardrobe (she's been wearing dresses and tights every day lately, in emulation of her favorite classmate), plus some random accessories and new sparkly shoes that arrived just in time, courtesy of the Shoe Fairy. That's my kind of costume - requiring no expenditure and virtually no effort. And she thought she looked fantastic, so I think we can count the evening a roaring success.