'I Really Like Halloween'

The girls got a special treat from "Auntie Mo" at Envoy, Inc.

About halfway up the driveway to our third house on Halloween night, Julia skipped ahead of the family, then turned around with candy bucket in hand and said:

"I really like Halloween."

And so it went last night. House to house, neighborhood to neighborhood, the YD girls gathered more candy than they could possibly imagine eating. (Fortunately, they — and their cousins who accompanied them in Bellevue — did not take Dad up on his offer to pay $5 to anyone who could eat their entire bag of candy.)

Veronica, now six weeks old, seemed to enjoy the festivities as well. Dressed as a flower, she made the rounds in the early afternoon, then sat out the hardcore trick-or-treating with her Grandma Bep.

For the record, the YD girls were a hodgepodge of characters this Halloween: Olivia and Julia were elephants, Emily was a witch and Lauren was a princess riding a unicorn. Emily's witch costume on Halloween night included some very bizarre green face paint that did not come off easily.

Mom took the opportunity to dress up, too. This time, she surprised Dad by wearing his United States Cycling Federation uniform, complete with stopwatch and whistle. He told her that she better not let the cyclists get a look at her or they'll want her to officiate the races instead of him.

Dad went as the "Rainbow Man" from the 70s and 80s who attended major sporting events and held up a "John 3:16" sign whenever he was shown on camera.