...consisted of us being Halloween grinches. 

Here was our checklist:

-Front porch light off.

-Indoor lights dimmed.

-Yelling at Charlie "Don't go to the door!!!!" when the doorbell rang.

-No costumes. (Although I did buy Jack his costume a few weeks earlier.. we just didn't don any costumes on Halloween night).

-No decor.

-No candy.

-Everyone in bed by 7:30pm, including me and Paul.

Why? Because 24 hours earlier, we were looking at this:

(the Italian countryside in Castel Colonna where we stayed)

and about 72 hours from that, we were looking at this:

(the bridges of Firenze)

And we were depressed that we were no longer in Italy and still recovering from a teary goodbye at the airport with these wonderful people:

That we opted out of Halloween '09.  I know all of you missed us.

HOWEVER! I didn't buy that $20 costume at the Disney store for Baby Jack's first Halloween for nothing! (Please don't tell Charlie I didn't buy him a costume.... well I mean actually we bought him a jacket in Italy and were going to send him out as "Italian Boy" had we been physically/emotionally able). So this afternoon, we got everyone all gussied up for a post-Halloween photo shoot in the backyard. Success! Enjoy photos of my little Pooh bear....

In case you're hungry for more Italy stories and pictures, I will be breaking down our trip and doing multiple posts sharing some of the amazing experiences/photos that we have.  So be checking in often!