We love tradition. And we especially love traditions around holidays as a way to kindle memory-making for our children, and to just plain make things fun. 
Halloween, however, is one holiday that has been challenging. I have great memories of Halloween as a kid – sooo, as much candy as I can carry, I just have to put on a wig and a pillowcase, trudge up hill and over dale, ring doorbells and ask nicely? – I mean, what’s not to love in that for a candy-deprived kid in the late ’70s when sugar was a saved for special occasions?
But things aren’t the same as they used to be. 
In an effort to still have fun, apart from the traditional trick-or-treating which does not seem to work for our crew, we’ve come up with a few variations over the years. 
One of our favorites is to hide candy all over the house for the kids to hunt with flashlights and glow sticks. But Magnolia and Clementine are still a bit tiny for that (read: will get run over by older siblings crazed for candy). And Magnolia doesn’t even like candy.
Go figure.
So last year, with showers in the forecast and Clementine still unsteady on her feet, we went to our neighborhood Publix. And it was actually a lot of fun.
This year, without a lot of other options available, and the kids chomping at the bit to still collect candy and don a costume, Publix it was.
And it was pretty darn fun again.
Clementine was ready the second we walked into the place that gives her free sprinkle cookies on the regular. And as soon as she saw there were games involved, the girl was ready to partay.
Adorably ready.
Magnolia was slower to warm up. People wearing strange costumes was not-so-surprisingly anxiety producing for her.
That is until she realized – based on the squeals from her siblings – that this might actually be kinda fun. 
What? All I can carry?
At this point she had zero idea what was in the wrappers she was man-handling… she just knew it was the same thing her siblings were clamoring for. Must be good stuff.
Then, in the middle of the meat section, Clementine met up with a little skee-ball machine that she kinda liked.
Okay, that she really liked.
She grabbed armful after armful of balls, throwing them in every direction fathomable.
Even with all the balls flying every which way, she never once hit the actual target.
But I’m pretty sure she won anyway.
All in all it was a sweet time.
No ripped costumes, no tears and no one got lost.
No, they didn’t get pillowcases full of candy. And yes, it took us longer to get all costumed up than we actually spent Halloween-ing.
But that’s okay for this season we’re in as a family.
Magnolia and Clementine won’t need babying forever. In fact, my guess is that I’ll be looking back on these pictures a few years from now and get all misty thinking how very tiny they are.
And I’ll be grateful we did the best thing for our most fragile ones when they were so small. Hemming them in and making sure they felt safe until they were ready for grander adventures.
Which might be one of my favorite family traditions of all.