A Very Quinn Halloween

 Halloween 1993

Halloween was always a highlight for the Quinn family. The majority of my memories are shared with my brothers Conor and Pat, simply because they're the closest in age. Months were spent picking out the best costume, which was usually a pirate, a ninja turtle, or a football player for them and a fairy or a princess for me. We live in what's arguably the best neighborhood in town for trick-or-treating and had some precious intel from our older brothers about what houses were a must-go and which were a major-skip (i.e.the ones that gave those popcorn balls, ew). It was a strategic event for us; how could we get not only the most candy, but also the best candy, in the shortest amount of time? A challenge we happily accepted.

Our Halloween day would go a little something like this:

• 8am-3pm-Sit in school all day anticipating the evening
• 3pm-3:05pm-Upon arriving back home, IMMEDIATELY change into costume 
• 3:05pm-5:30pm-Sitting, waiting, watching the clock tick
• 5:30pm-6:00pm-Dinner
• 6:00pm-6:30-Organize pumpkin candy buckets, ghost flashlights and finalize costumes
• 6:30pm-It's go time
• 8:30pm-Arrive back home, exhausted, face-makeup smudged, but with a gold mine of sweets
• 8:30-9:30pm-Trade candy-like it's the NFL draft
• 9:30pm-Collapse into bed

I can't stress how important the trade portion of the evening was to us. After carefully arranging all of our loot in a strategic fashion on the living room floor, the trading process began. Obviously, there was a hierarchy of candy. Reese's peanut butter cups trumped all. They were the most powerful bartering tool. Supply and demand, catch my drift? "I'll give you four packs of Nerds for one Reese's peanut butter cup." "I'll give you two Milkyway's for a Snickers." "I'll give you ALL of my Almond Joys for your big Hershey's bar." (Almond Joys were always a tough sell). This went on for what seemed like forever until we were all happy with what we got. Best part? My parents dumped it all into one bag the next day and we all happily shared anyway. But it was a blast and I have some of my best memories from our trick-or-treating days.

I can't wait for the next Halloween, where I will undoubtedly be taking my nephew on his first trick-or-treating experience. As for this Halloween, I thought I'd share some comedy from Crest:

And with that, I wish everyone a happy, safe and super fun Halloween!

Do you have any Halloween traditions? What was the best candy in your house? Comment or share!

As always, "Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."-AB

A Party Without a Circus is Just a Gathering

Each fourth of July, most of my mother's side of the family gets together at our summer homes in the Catskill Mountains to celebrate and have a good old-fashioned American cookout. One of our traditions, since before I can remember, is to hold some sort of play or event. This past year, however, was definitely one for the books. In mid-June we received an email from the oldest great grand-child in our family, Caity. She's currently 8, just started third grade and is absolutely wise beyond her years (see email below):

Has anyone else ever received an email like this from an 8-year-old? I can't imagine many people have. What's amazes me most is that Caity facilitated, planned and put on a whole "circus" for about 100 people. We had popcorn, we had animals, we had clowns, we had a fire breather. We even had a girl on stilts. Everyone participated-young, old, friend, family, animal, human. Sure, we might have all looked like idiots dressed up in wigs and costumes, but we came together, created memories, and got some pretty great photos from the whole ordeal.

Dan, my fire breathing brother

A clown of course

We even had an aunt "shoot" out of a cannon

We might sound crazy. Our traditions might sound bizarre. You might think, "who are these people?" We're people who get together for holidays, who make fools of ourselves, who stick with traditions, who find a way to see each other once a year, despite the chaotic lives we all lead. And yeah, when an 8-year-old gives us the option to participate in a circus, we're going to do it. 

Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday. When I was young, all my friends would say Christmas was their favorite or even halloween. Presents and candy? Hell yeah, I like those too. But the Fourth of July trumped those holidays for me then and it still does now. While the Fourth of July may just be another day for most people, maybe a cookout and some fireworks, for me, it's always meant family and there's nothing better than that. 

This is most of us on my mom's side right after the circus-just missing a few!

What family traditions do you have? What do they signify to you? Comment, share or tweet me your favorite family traditions!

As always, "Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."-AB