Halloween at my House

I was asked by a couple of my AR friends to post some photos of my kids in their Halloween costumes, and to share my experiences from last night. 

We got a slightly later start than usual due to traffic getting home, but were hordes of kids out trick-or-treating, so it was tons of fun.  My son was a SWAT team member, my older daughter was Alice in Wonderland, and our toddler was Minnie Mouse, complete with the officially sanctioned Disney costume. 

The evening got off to an interesting start.  Our next door neighbors put more effort into this holiday than these people did.  Fog machine - check.  Fan - check.  Strobe light - check.  Decorating entire garage to look like Leatherface's lair from Texas Chainsaw Massacre - check.  Scary music that you could hear for blocks - yep, they had that, too.  I made the mistake of walking over to get candy with the kids, and I was carrying the baby.  She stiffened up and frowned, but didn't cry.  We made a hasty retreat to kinder, gentler homes.

 One thing I noticed last night was that my older kids' stamina level for trick-or-treating increased dramatically from last year.  Usually, we go around the block and they get tired, but last night they were determined to fill their candy containers, so I stayed out with them until this was accomplished.  Toward the end of the evening, I noticed far more teenagers out as it got later.  We also noticed that several people got really generous with the candy-giving.  My mom noted that it's probably best to go out really early, since people are optimistic about the amount of candy that they have, or late, since people are anxious to get rid of the remaining sweets.  Several people gave my kids the last of their stock. 

We tried to get the baby to say "Trick or treat!" and she did a good job at first, as it came out as "Twitty tweat."  Later, as she got tired, it became "Tweet tweet tweet" and even (once) "Pee peepee".  She is the most polite toddler that I have seen.  She must have said "Thank you" and "Bye" about 25 times. 

The entire neighborhood seemed excited, perhaps because of the nice weather.  Usually, we are dealing with cold weather, with wind or rain, but last night was clear and beautiful and spirits were running high.

My son seemed to take his SWAT role seriously.  He knocked on several doors with his billy club, as if we were about to storm in and raid the place. 

The funniest and oddest exchange all night occurred at a corner house about three blocks away.  Imagine yourself in my shoes as the dad, standing about six yards away:

MY KIDS: Trick or treat!

OLDER NEIGHBOR MAN: Well, here you go (handing out candy).

MY SON: Do you live alone?

ONM: No.

SON: Do you have any pets?

ONM: Yes, I have a couple of dogs out back.

SON: Are you married?

ONM: Yes, I am.  Is this "20 Questions"?

SON: Well, it just seems to be really quiet in your house.

ONM: Well, I guess I like it quiet.

The whole exchange only took a few seconds, but it was very funny (and awkward).  Overall, it was one of the better Halloweens in recent memory.  Thanks for reading! 

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