You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Benicia’ tag.
Halloween weekend kicked off with a bit of unstable weather but by Sunday it was an absolutely beautiful fall day.
Josh had class again on Saturday but with the assistance of my parents we got the kids dressed in costume and downtown in time to participate in the Benicia Main Street Trick or Treat Stroll. My sis and I participated in a similar event when we were kids. This was a wonderfully hosted event and I was reminded once again why I like living in a small(ish) town.
our reluctant garden fairy getting her first taste of candy.
Our “roaming” Garden Gnome getting a few winks.
The highlights of the stroll were Sailor Jacks who handed out peanutbutter covered pretzels in this darling witches shoe, very creative and not your average trick or treat goodie. Coldwell Banker handed out popcorn and temporary tattoos, Claire enjoyed both especially the tattoo. A couple of other clever merchants handed out magnifying glasses and bubbles. As a parent who is conscious of her child’s sugar intake, I really appreciated that.
For some reason she really wasn’t crazy about her wings…ah well.
Hanging at the end of first street with Meme and Gi Gi.
Hide and seek with Meme.
Despite the look on her face, she really did LOVE her spider tattoo and remarked as much again and again throughout the day.
driving Meme’s car.
Sunday we joined up with some friends and trick or treated in a cute neighborhood in Martinez. Holy cow, this neighborhood handed out whole giant size candy bars and such…wow. It was great! I was conflicted because prime toddler trick or treat time fell right in line with Game 4 of the World Series but many households had the game on and were all too pleased to share the most recent details of the game. Claire even got an extra handful of candy from “the bishop” because her mommy had a giants shirt on.
Getting in the spirit to Trick or Treat.
Hanging with her buddy Davis.
Conor and Landon hanging out.
The one moment she was too distracted by Davis to realize she had her wings on. It lasted all of four seconds.
Buzz Davis Lightyear and his dad with Fear the Beard Krouse in the background.
So I became the “Giants Fairy.”
And we ended the night with the last few innings of the game and celebrating a Giants victory.
I’m Portuguese by my mom’s side of the family, that’s the largest chunk of identifiable lineage I have. The rest follows Irish, Norwegian, English, but by small amounts.
For the first time in our married life, Josh got to experience a Portuguese holiday with my family. It was also great to baptize Claire and Conor into a piece of their heritage. We attended the Festival of the Holy Ghost and enjoyed Sopas…YUM YUM. I hadn’t had sopas in years and it was even better than I remember. Yay for Portugal.
Claire and Conor’s first Sopas…yum! yum!
After our delicious meal we walked down the street to my grandpa’s flag pole where my Uncle Jody carries ona tradition that my grandfather had done for years. The Holy Ghost Parade goes right by the flag pole where they stop and play the Porguese National Anthem and the US National Anthem. Claire was lukewarm about the sopas, preferring her PB&J to beef but she was ecstatic about the parade. She and Gi Gi (my grandma) kept checking of the parade to come. Her favorite part was the band, so much so that after they passed by she kept insisting “again! again” to the music and sent Josh chasing after the band with her in tow.
Cousin Aiden getting a snack during the parade.
The raising of the Portuguese Flag – Uncle Jody and Jason.
Josh at one point turned to me and said “this is why I wanted to live in this town.” We are glad to be home, celebrating little festivals and family time.
