Trick or Treat

When Scott woke up this morning, Susanne surprised him by telling him that she and Paxton would be following him down to NC today. He was ecstatic. Susanne couldn't bear the thought of him missing another one of Paxton's "firsts".

They spent most of the morning getting everything packed and ready to go. Scott was shocked with how long it took to get just Paxton's stuff together. By the time they were finished, both cars were fully loaded.

During the trip down, Paxton had a few instances where he got really worked up. He would be crying for a short time before Susanne decided to pull over. It was difficult to know whether he was crying because of something serious or if he was just overtired. At times, it seemed like something was hurting him or he was caught on something, but whenever Susanne pulled over he just appeared to be overheated. He would immediately respond to being taken out of the car seat and held each time. He loved to be snuggled close and tight. If only she could just have him curl up in the passenger seat and sleep the whole way like Maverick used to do, things would go a lot smoother. It was unfortunate that he never slept in his carseat. Usually it was because he could never find a position comfortable enough to be in or he was overheated. This was definitely a recipe for disaster for any long road trip.

Scott and Susanne made sure to pull over for some Five Guys along the way. Gigi and Poppy had made this somewhat of a tradition a while back since they did not have Five Guys in their town. It was only appropriate that they continued this trend in their honor.

They all made it safely to NC and Paxton couldn't wait to get out of the car. He had sweated through his onesie and looked like he had just been sitting in a sauna for hours. He was just plain miserable. When they finally got out of the car, the cool breeze was so refreshing. It was amazing how quickly Paxton recovered when he was cooled off.

Susanne and Scott had to stop by Gigi and Poppy's house first to drop off James before heading over to Aunt Leah and Uncle Wally's house for the Halloween party. They decided to try to surprise them since they didn't know they were coming down. The fact that no one knew that Susanne and Paxton would be there made it extra fun. Their plan didn't work as well as they had hoped. When they arrived at the house, Gigi wasn't even home and Poppy was on the phone. Scott tried to wait and wait until Poppy was off the phone, but it just wouldn't happen. Scott ended up encouraging him to answer the front door despite being preoccupied. He was beyond excited to see Susanne and Paxton standing in the doorway. They were the first trick or treaters of the night and not the kind he was expecting. They didn't get to talk to Poppy much since he was still on an important phone call. They decided to head on over to Aunt Leah's house instead of wait any longer because they wanted to be there in time to go door to door with Parker to get candy. On their way out, Gigi pulled into the driveway. She was confused at first, but quickly realized what was going on. She was so thrilled to see baby Paxton.

Aunt Leah and Uncle Wally, along with their neighbors, had hosted a Halloween party every year for the past few years. The location of the party alternated between their house and their neighbor's house. This year it was scheduled to be at the neighbors'. Everyone would spend all day decorating the entire place with all of the scariest decor. The coolest part was the realistic bats that they somehow strung high in the sky with string you couldn't see. They would activate at random times and scare anyone that was around. Wally's famous trick was to stand completely still in a coffin that was upright and not move until an oblivious victim walked by. He would then move towards them and send fear up their spine. They would immediately regret coming up to the house for candy.

This year was no different. They had gone all out with their spooky set up. When Susanne, Scott, and Paxton arrived, they made sure to park on the side of the house so no one could see them. Scott headed on over to the party since they were expecting him. Susanne and Paxton stayed back to wait for the perfect timing for the surprise. This would be their third surprise of the day. Scott wanted to make sure to get this on the video camera. He pretended to be taping his nephews. He was in the middle of getting a comment from Aunt Leah, when Susanne and Paxton showed up. Her face was priceless. Susanne had been able to surprise her a handful of times over the last few months. She had fallen for each and every one of her master plans. Susanne loved surprising people. It was always so fun to make people smile.

Scott and Susanne changed Paxton into his Halloween costume before they went trick or treating with the gang. Paxton went as a monkey...well because he is one. He looked so adorable. Scott held Paxton the entire time that they walked from house to house. He slept the entire time. Paxton was tuckered out because he didn't sleep at all on the trip down. Parker enjoyed trick or treating. It took him a while to figure out what to do. Everytime Aunt Leah would ask him, "What do you say?", his response was always "Thank you" instead of "Trick or Treat". It was the cutest thing in the entire world. Susanne got creative and came up with a few interesting tricks for Parker to do in between each house. She taught him to shout trick or treat so that everyone could hear him. She dared him to touch a tombstone and skeleton that was in someone's yard. She taught him to hide behind trashcans and cars and then jump out to scare Leah and Scott as they walked by. This was his favorite trick by far. He wanted to continue to do that trick over and over.

Once they were back at the house, they munched on some of the food that they had prepared for the party. Gigi and Poppy came over after handing out all of their candy to help join in on the festivities. Everyone had a great time catching up and watching all of the kids go through their candy bags to see what kind of treats they collected through the night.

All in all, it was an awesome night. It was so worth it to Susanne that she had driven down so that Scott could be a part of Paxton's first Halloween even if it was only for a couple of days. They both enjoyed seeing Parker truly trick or treat for the first time. Lastly, they loved the time they got to spend with their extended family. Hopefully, next year Paxton would get to do this all over again with his cousins.