November 14-16-18 Birthdays

Ariana, 8, Hannah, 6, Eliana 4

Always a great time celebrating my granddaughters’ November birthdays. They were all born on even days in November and this year they all have even numbers for their ages. Even though their birthdays are in November we had some pre-birthday fun on Sunday, October 29th. Ellie’s Mom and Dad invited her cousins and friends to Skyzone in Waldorf for a bouncing good time with a lunch of pizza and cake. The kids really liked Skyzone and being active.

Afterwards, we returned to my house where Ellie’s three cousins Ari, Nora and Hannah were there with their parents. Their dads were watching the Philadelphia Eagles football game vs. the Washington Commanders. A friend of Ellie’s and Michael’s moms, Bethany returned to continue the festivities with her two girls, Cadence and Melody. The cousins and Cadence and Melody busied themselves taking a walk around the neighborhood and playing in the basement. After a dinner of chicken nuggets, pasta and Shepherd’s pie we all sang “Happy Birthday” to Ari who had a vanilla cake and Hannah who had a chocolate cake. Some of the cousins also opted for ice cream. Each of the children were given two Halloween cookies to decorate to take home with them. They all left, happy and tired.

Tuesday, Oct. 31st, three of the cousins returned with their parents for a pizza dinner to trick or treat in the neighborhood. Marianne and James and their son, Michael 7, who was dressed as Leonardo, a Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle, joined Katie and Dan and their two children, Ellie who had a homemade Charmander costume, and Tommy, who was also dressed as Raphael, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. They were super excited to visit from home to home and collect the Halloween candy. The previous weekend they had gone to at least 7 Trunk or Treat events and already had a lot of candy! When they returned to my house, they spread their candy out on the family room carpet to see what types of candy they had gotten. They were very happy to have gone around the neighborhood together as a family tradition. Uncle Mike accompanies them and is their official photographer.

This year the weather cooperated by not raining as it had the previous year. There were over 100 children who came by in all sorts of costumes. I went through 3 big bags of candy, 2 boxes of chips and snacks and a big box of Oreos with orange middles. This year, I was struck by the politeness of the children many of whom said, ” Thank you,” and “Happy Halloween.” Halloween 2023 was a very enjoyable one.