Halloween weekend adventures

Ahhhhh! I've never spent Halloween anywhere warm, and even though it was mild in the beautiful Colorado Rockies this year, we were relaxing in 90+ degree Arizona sunshine. It was the kids first airplane trip since arriving from Ethiopia. They said they were scared - and admitted to being scared when we flew from Ethiopia as well - but did great as always!

My heroic Spiderman and beautiful fairy princess made a killing stopping at house after house where many were sitting on lawn chairs in the driveways or on the back of pickup tailgates. The kids didn't even have to walk up to the door! One neighborhood cul-de-sac had a semi-circle of chairs at the entrance so they didn't even have to go down the street! So not only did they not have to freeze to death, they were spoiled by such laziness and posh treatment. By the end of the evening, which lasted but a brief hour-and-a-half, their bulging sacks of candy were so heavy they were begging for assistance to carry them. And Halloween evening was their 4th haul!!! At home they had two Trunk-or-Treats (going from spookily decorated car trunk to car trunk - for one of the events we waited in line an hour and 20 minutes just to get to the admissions gate - what we won't do for our kids!) and one community event at the soccer stadium. These kids have it made! Luckily they are very generous and gave away all their booty from the first 3 outings before we went on the official Trick-or-Treat soujourn.

Along with their very successful candy trek, we visited the Phoenix Police Museum where they got to dress in police clothes and sit in a squad car and on a motorcycle. We also took to a hot and dusty trail for their first horseback ride. Fortunately we went in the morning before it got too bad outside. Even though they only got to plod along, both enjoyed the experience. We were hoping to see some fun desert critters, but made do with a squirrel and a lizard.

We had gone down to Phoenix to attend the retirement party for my long-time friend and she generously let us stay at her fancy-schmancy condo on a Mesa golf course. The kids love to swim so in the afternoon we headed to the pool. As we arrived one of the gentlemen there said, "Oh, you just missed it." "Missed what?" we asked. It is a retirement complex and apparently the pool is only open to kids from noon to 2:00 p.m. We arrived right at 2:00 on the nose. We pleaded ignorance and asked if anyone would mind we swam for just a little while. You could tell by some of the faces they wanted to object but no one was brave enough to do so. I told the kids to keep to themselves, hold down the noise, and don't splash anyone! But the last straw was when they went to jump in the jacuzzi. No sooner had their little toes touched the water, than the waiting vultures pounced. "You can't go in there!!! No one under 16 is allowed. It is too hot for them!" We made no mention of the fact that they used the jacuzzi all summer at home, thanked them for their generosity in letting us use the pool outside of approved hours, and high tailed it back home. Yikes! Remind me to refrain from becoming thusly tarnished when I hit my golden years.