Na, na, na. . .gonna have a good time!

And I'm gonna sing a song for you
And this is gonna show you
A thing or two
You'll have some fun now
With me and the gang
Learning from each other
While we do our thang

Na, na, na
Gonna have a good time
Na, na, na
Gonna have a good time
Hey, hey, hey!

~ from The Fat Albert Show theme song

Whelp. It's official. Our trick or treat outing for 2012 was a hit. Lots of fun with me and the gang. Learning about some interesting costumes. (While we did our thang.)

Okay. If you immediately recognize that Zachary is "Spidermonkey" from the Ben 10 cartoon, then clearly you have male children under the age of seven. Or nephews. Or you need to grow up.

And Isaiah? He's "Swampfire." Yes. Another character from Ben 10. Have I mentioned? There needs to be a PhD for Ben 10 characters, Star Wars, and Marvel Comics. Not. Even. Kidding.

Quick take a guess what these two were!  How cute is it that they were "pigs in blankets?"  I almost doused them with some syrup and stuck a fork in them. Wait. Eew. That sounds kind of weird.

Well, this little fella looked like an upstanding jack-o-lantern, wouldn't you say?

Some kids dressed as Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Pic sent to me by my sister, JoLai.

The old school Cosby Kids? Seriously?Seriously.

Funniest. Thing. Ever.

E-ver. 

I would totally have gotten Yolanda to join in with me to do this with our kids. Except for one problem. The only people that will get this immediately and ROTFL are black folks born between 1965 and 1975. (And a very small number of very, retro-culturally competent non-blacks.)

Otherwise it would be met with:

*crickets*

Zachary's face at all houses with peanut-based candy. He has an alleged peanut allergy (according to a blood test that keeps saying so even though his encounters with it suggest otherwise.) He kept hitting them with these really exaggerated, "THANK YOU, ANYWAY" salutations. Much emphasis on the "anyway."

Then he'd lament to me. "Mommy, so many kids don't eat peanuts. Why would somebody just keep on getting things with nuts? What about the kids like me?"

I said, "They don't care about you. They only care about what's on sale at CVS pharmacy five minutes before their doorbell starts ringing."

(Juuuuust kidding. I didn't really say that. Gosh, y'all! Relax!)

My med school classmate and fellow Grady doctor (Yolanda W. from Morehouse School of Medicine) came over with her family to trick or treat with us. We had a whole bunch of fun together, too! Hey, hey, hey!

Isaiah alerted me that this house has "real decorations." Unlike ours which include a pumpkin sitting on the table and nothing else.

Little Reggie was all smiles.

And Ryan won the "please and thank you" contest. I think that girls are wired for more pleases and thank yous.

Omega guys never miss an opportunity to show their frat spirit.

This costume was creepy-funny. So I took a picture with him.

But then he refused to talk. Like, not even kidding. He just walked around waving. So it just became creepy only.

But not to Reggie. To him it was funny.

Me? I shall have a nightmare about him tonight. Bet on it.

This was taken at the point where Zachary was wanting to "just eat some candy and get in the bed." Yolanda and I agreed that mommies feel that way, too, sometimes.

Swampfire was no ways tired.

That leap was AFTER we had finished trick or treating. I think he may have eaten some candy without me looking.

This picture makes me imagine the twins clinging together in the womb. So cute.

Zachary is still pissed about the peanut situation on this picture. Isaiah is celebrating because he is scoring all of the nut-based items from Zachary's stack. Little do they know that I will put all of it away tonight and ration it like they're in a penitentiary come tomorrow.

The Queen of Hearts kept the boys in line. She was pleased with her candy treasure.

The candy was sweet. But the memories were sweeter.

Oh, before I forget.

Funniest moment of the evening: 

Reaching across the aisle . . . for some candy.

We went up to one home that had a Romney sign in the yard. I braced myself because I KNEW that Isaiah would recognize it and then say something about it.

Kids: "Trick or treat!"

Man:  "Well, hello there kids! Great costumes!"

Kids:  *assorted thank yous as they pick two pieces of candy*

Man:  "And what are you?"

Isaiah:  "I'm Swampfire from Ben 10."

Man: "Great costume!"

Isaiah:  "Thank you!"

Kids all wave and start walking away. That's when Isaiah stops and looks closely at the sign. And when I began to cringe.

Wait for it. . . .wait for it. . .

Isaiah:  Turns back to Man. "You're rooting for Mitt Romney? Really?" Turns to me. "Mommy! Look. He's going for Mitt Romney. See? Do you see his sign?" Turns back to man.  "We're not going for Mitt Romney."

Man:  "Uhh. . .okay."

Isaiah:  "Excuse me, sir. How come you're not going for O--"

Me:  "Ooooo-key dokey! Thanks so much, sir! 'Preciate you!"

*pulling Isaiah out of the driveway and to the next house*

Isaiah:  "Mommy, do like. . . a whole bunch of people root for Romney-Ryan and we just don't know them?"

Me:  "Uhhh, can we talk about this later? Like when you get. . .say. . . around eighteen or so?"

 Seriously? Seriously

Whelp. That was ours.

Hope yours was a good time, too. . . . and bipartisan. Heh.

***
Happy Halloween.

And, of course, on the mental iPod which brings back the era when I was trick or treating as a kid. . .