Ryan and Dylan in the City: Halloween

(from November 1, 2014 - still very behind)

Last year because of Hurricane Sandy, we did not have a normal Halloween so we were happy to have good weather this year and get back to our normal NYC Halloween routine.

Dylan had a costume party at school that day and it was really fun to see him dressed up with his friends. All of the parents made something for the party (I made jack-o-lantern cupcakes per Dylan's request) and the kids even got to go trick-or-treating in some of the other classrooms.

Dylan really loves his teacher, Ms. Aster and we really love her too. At the party, she asked us what our plans were for the evening and we mentioned we go to the local stores and then trick-or treat in our building. Ms. Aster told us that her building had tons of apartments that gave out candy and we should go there. Later that night when we told Dylan, he really wanted to go see her. Well, I totally forgot her apartment number but that was no problem: Dylan asked each person that opened a door to an apartment "Do you know Ms. Aster? She is my teacher". Funniest thing: he would not take candy from anyone until he found her apartment which is a shame because 1) every apartment did have candy and 2) we didn't find her apartment until we were 5 floors in. (The next day, Ms. Aster told me "A neighbor in the elevator this morning told me that a little boy was looking for me, and I thought it must have been Dylan. I asked Dylan how he found my apartment, and he said, 'I asked your friend.' So cute AND so smart!")

Dylan insisted on wearing the astronaut helmet for the picture even though it obviously was not part of his costume.

Later that night, we met our friends the Wyatt's to go trick-or-treating. Dylan decided to be Iron Man and Ryan decided to be Harry Potter.

Harry Potter (Ryan), Darth Vader (Jack), Flash (Elliott), Princess Lillie, and Iron Man (Dylan).

As I have mentioned before, trick-or-treating in our neighborhood is a unique experience. We probably went to over 30 stores and the kids got tons of candy and other unique things. One of the first stops was Walgreen's, a local drugstore/market and they each got a handful of candy.

Pretty funny because it looks like security is checking Dylan's bag but he was really just putting in the candy. Having said that, it is highly possible that Dylan snuck a few extra candies here and there.

Like 2 years ago, there was one restaurant that gave out falafel croquettes (again, only in NYC).

Of course, no kid wants that and I think 4 out of the 5 kids either threw theirs out/didn't take one/ gave it away but Ryan tried his and said it was ok - I couldn't believe he tried it!

Other non-candy treats included: Donuts, fortune cookies, a puzzle and a cookie (and i think i am forgetting something)

We also went to our fair share of bizarre places to trick-or-treat: the dry cleaners, the liquor store, the supermarket, LensCrafters, CVS/Walgreens/Duane Reade (which said they didn't have any candy! Seriously? you SELL candy), and the threading place to name a few.

Our last store to visit was a cute restaurant up our street and because it was the end of the night, they let the kids take whatever candy they wanted. For some reason, Dylan had another idea and told the hostess that he would much prefer a gourd to a candy - hahaha. She laughed and said go for it and said he could have a candy too which he declined. LOL He also refused to put the gourd down and even wanted to sleep with it.

We had a great time with the Wyatt's and were so glad we were able to go together. We were so sad when they told us at the end of the night they had decided to move out of New York and would be leaving the following month. It made Jay and I even happier that all of the kids had a great final memory together. (final at least until our paths cross again! we miss you Wyatts!!!)