It may not have been a traditional Halloween with trick or treating, but it was a lovely Halloween, nonetheless. It was low-key, which was nice (for me at least). I tried to make the day festive for the kids by starting the day with a surprise of Halloween cards and little bags of festively wrapped candy when they came down for breakfast, which was, aptly, pumpkin pancakes.
We opened the box that arrived from Tessa, shortly after breakfast and found it to be filled with more Halloween treats and surprises, including a recipe and the ingredients to make dirt pudding (chocolate pudding, Oreos, and gummy worms). The kids had fun making that!
We spent the afternoon watching a movie, which is not something we usually have the time to do, so it was a treat. The kids all had different ideas of what they wanted to watch, so to be equitable, they all wrote their choices on pieces of paper and put them in Catherine's witch hat. The boys won, which made Catherine a little upset, so to be equitable once again, we watched her choice today. Great minds think alike - I preferred her choice.
After that, they put on costumes and obligingly took photos. The kids were good sports about putting on their costumes just to be photographed without being able to go out trick or treating as a reward. I was very appreciative, but we did need to document this once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) Pandemic Halloween.
We then headed into the kitchen to make dinner and dessert. Garin helped me make the soup and Graham spearheaded the pumpkin pie project. It was a nice way to spend the early evening.
After we enjoyed the scrumptious dinner and dessert, we headed out in the car to drive around the neighborhood to take in the decorations (sans costumes and treat bags). There were a few houses with candy set out and another with a spectacularly spooky Halloween show, which made for a nice ending to the day.
We ate well, ended up with a generous bowl of candy, watched a good movie, and got out of the house to have a wee bit of fun for an hour or so. What more could you ask at a time like this?
We started the day out right with warm pumpkin pancakes, with a creepy spider on the side.
We spent a nice and relaxing day at home enjoying the newest additions to our garden.
Miles costume #1: Sparkly Wizard. First worn by Garin in 2012 when the twins were just two months old and he was 4 1/2 and then worn by Graham a few years later.
Miles costume #2: Swashbuckling Pirate. Worn both by Garin and Graham in year's past. We were trying to figure out who looked the most handsome in it? Verdict: Undecided.
Miles costume #3: Clownfish passed down from Graham.
Catherine the witch. Garin, Baby Donald Trump (again), hopefully for the last time. Graham, the angler fish, passed down from Garin.
Fitzy, in a Japanese kimono, passed down from his predecessor, Jimmy the Pug..
A few group shots.
The entire gang dressed up and ready for....well, nothing, except photos.
Dinner and dessert: Sweet Potato-Parsnip Soup with Bacon Croutons and Buttermilk Pumpkin Pie (made by Graham).
A festive dinner included Baby Donald Trump seated next to Granny's honorary place at the table (which of course we set). She had to have been giggling somewhere at the irony of it all.
We decided to take a little drive in Hidden Hills after dinner to look at the decorations. We found this wonderful house done-up to the nines and completely Covid-friendly. Done by a Hollywood set designer, it was over-the-top, but who's complaining? Not us!
Our Day of The Dead Dirt Pie. Thank you to the Clute family for the idea, the recipe, the ingredients, and all the fun making it!
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