Halloween 2015

I should start by saying that I pretty much hate Halloween. For a food allergy mom, this whole holiday is mostly like walking on a tight rope over the Grand Canyon with no safety net under us. Just for fun this year, we had the added equivalent of a 30 mph wind blowing while on the tight rope due to the Auvi-Q recall that happened merely days before the big Trick or Treat night festivities. Given that I pretty much hoard Auvi-Q's on Halloween and stuff as many in my pockets as possible, I was a little unsettled to know that these little lifesavers weren't a reliable source of comfort if the unthinkable had happened. I say all this to explain why I have been right on the edge of a nervous breakdown for the past few days, and then have been passed out due to the exhaustion of it all the past two nights before 8 pm. Please don't judge.

The kids, on the other hand, had a blast. Apparently they were too hopped up on sugar to notice my panic. We had made plans to attend a local Trunk or Treat that the church that is associated with the kids' school puts on on Friday evening. This is known to be a major to-do in our area. And before you give me any credit for overcoming my anxiety about the plethora of mini Snickers and Reeses cup covered little fingers at this event for the sheer joy of the children, please know I agreed to this out of purely selfish motives. Jason and I wanted desperately to attend the PSU game on Saturday and feared we wouldn't make it back in time to take them out on Saturday. So we stood in line about an hour and then the kids had a blast gathering candy through about 50-60 trunks and numerous stops inside the school. It was awesome and tons of work went into making it so much fun for the kids.   Jason's sister and her husband and his son, Gage, came along with us, so that was a treat. 

Saturday morning we were barely out of our sugar coma before it was time to take off for Happy Valley. I will say any lack of enthusiasm I was feeling for the whole idea was quickly remedied when we started kicking some Illinois behind. Seeing a shut out was a treat!  Josh was along with us for the game and we all had a great time. 

We made it home long enough to get the kids back into their get ups and head out to trick or treat around Turbotville. I will admit that Jason and I were dragging by this time, but we powered through. There were no broken hearts that there were many on the streets around our house whose lights were not turned on.  The kids filled their bags again and seemed to have a ball. 

We are happy another Halloween is in the books with no use of any of our (might not work) Auvi-Q's or the $800 worth of Epi-Pens I have had to purchase over the past few days to replace the recalled Auvi's. Judging by the size of the kids' treat bags it appears they will have more than enough candy to last them through  Easter of 2018. I will be clutching my epinephrine until then.