Halloween Recap

This was written the week after Halloween, it just took me that long to get pictures inserted!

Our Halloween festivities actually started when we went pumpkin patching a month ago and continued right on through this past weekend.  Our Halloween niece, the Princess Poozers, celebrated her 2nd birthday a few weeks ahead of time with a moon bounce, ice cream party, and pumpkin decorating.  The Lobster and Gobbles loved painting the pumpkins and made as much of a mess as they could handle while they did it. 

Hey Poozers - what a great messy project your mom thought of for us :)

I love BLUE!

Jumping is SO.MUCH.FUN!

Wiped out from all the fun!

That week during dinner, our doorbell rang and the dogs went nuts.  Hubs went to answer it but no one was there, just a bag of goodies - candy, coloring books, and Halloween trinkets.  The kids excitedly went through the stuff while I, puzzled, read the note attached, you've been booed!  As I read, the doorbell rang again and the same thing happened!  I had never heard of this tradition, I assume some pintrest-y mom thing, but we followed the instructions.  We proudly hung the sign on our door that we'd been visited by a friendly ghost and proceeded to go out and buy goodie bags for four more neighbors (2 for each boo we got!).  Gobbles was SO excited to head out booing a few nights later.  Hubs took him to the selected houses and watched from the car as the little flashlight bobbed up the driveway.  Gobbles loved knocking on the door and running away, trying not to get caught as the other kids yelled Thanks Mr. Ghost! into the night.  He was only chased by one dog that was looking for pets, because he had to run back onto one porch to retrieve his flashlight.  When they got home Gobbles was brimming with excitement and relayed his tales of booing with gusto.

Ready to go booing!

Lobster - I'm the one scaring - why are you dressed like Hannibal Lector?

That Friday was the annual Fall Festival at school, which is the non-denominational way of saying Halloween parade.  I hurried to finish sewing the Lobster's costume that I had started a month prior so that she had it in time for party.  We got a lot of comments both at the party and during trick-or-treating on her costume from those who actually recognized the character- Boo from Monster's Inc.  Thankfully they had Mike Wazowski costumes readily available on amazon so I didn't have to do double duty and make both.  Gobbles loved his store-bought outfit, complete with giant pocket for easy candy access.

This was our fourth year attending school's Halloween festivities, so we knew what we were in for.  There were art activities, little games to win prizes, and I made cupcakes for the "cake walk" (musical chairs where you win a cake based on the numbered chair you land in).  The kids enjoyed taking part in the little stations, but soon decided they just wanted to chase their friends and play.   Soon Gobbles found himself at the cakewalk, but try as he did, the luck of the draw wasn't with him this year and he did not win.  When hubs told him it was time to give someone else a turn, I could hear the screaming across the playground - I was on the other slide trying to keep the Lobster from killing herself on the climber.  At that point we decided it was time to call it a day!

It's a lolipop, what are you lookin at?

Of all the fun I can be having - Bubbles are where it's at.  Because the container is yellow - my favorite!

Shhhhh. Don't let anyone see us steal candy from this bucket!

Cheese!

Mommy photobomb?  wtf!

Where'd Gobbles go?

C'mon daddy! Where to next?

I'll just eat another lolipop!

Faceoff with Jake the Neverland Pirate!

I'm just a sweet lil angel!

Just Hangin' around!

The next day we had plans to meet a school friend at the zoo for the Boo at the Zoo event.  They advertised trick or treating around the zoo, but that part turned out to be pretty lame.  Thank goodness for the animals all around to distract the kids from the lack of candy.  The candy they did get was eaten immediately, which led to the Lobster attempting the same thing on Halloween night.

Why would you think the Boo costume would fall apart before trick or treating? Look how careful I am!

Pixar forever!

Really?  More pictures?

Ohh, whacha got in there?

Pumpkins.. or penguins?  Hmmmm..

Look at those Lazy Lions!

Why are they eating all the candy?

Hey Polar bear - over here!

Forget the polar bear - who's that pretty girl in the glass?



Our favorite animal!  Besides the otters. But mommy put the camera away by then!

Pizza is good even when you sit on a tree stump!

Now what kind of candy do I have left?

Finally, it was actually Halloween, trick or treat night!  I picked the kids up early from school and we went home, got dressed, set a bowl of candy outside, and rushed over to a neighbor's house where they had pizza and snacks for pre-trick or treat.  This is when the fun began for hubs and I.  When I asked the neighbor what I could bring, she told me drinks / juice boxes.  We took it a step further and stuffed a case of beer in the cooler as well and loaded it into the wagon.

When it was time to trick or treat, the kids were anti-wagon and just ready to run after the group up to every house to get their candy.  Good for us because there was no room after the giant cooler!  We made our way from house to house with the group, Gobbles chasing after the big kids and one of us carrying the Lobster up to the house because she could not keep up.  I absolutely love our neighborhood, but having every home on an acre of property is really a hindrance on the efficiency of trick or treating.  Especially when you really didn't want to walk across people's lawns.  But, it was worth it, the kids got a decent amount of candy, including 3 or 4 full sized bars each, and we got our exercise.  We must have walked about two miles by the time the night was over, which is a lot for the little legs. 

The Lobster still didn't get the fact that the candy was for later and insisted on carrying each piece in her hand instead of in her bucket.  She attempted to open quite a few and resorted to chewing clean through the paper when we tried to cut her off.  The saving grace of the night was the house that handed out soft pretzels to go with their candy.  The lobster then had something to chew on while trick or treating.  She'd go up to the step, lay her pretzel down, collect candy, pick her pretzel back up, then move on to the next house. 

All the while we were walking around with the  giant group of neighbors and interacting with the other groups we passed on the street.  We handed out beer from the cooler and their older kids gushed about ours and took their hands to bring them up to the houses, giving us a break.  By the end of the night the group roving the neighborhood had grown to about 20 families, all hanging out and laughing while the kids got more sugared up. 

The kids grew tired before we were out of houses and my parents and sister had come to see their costumes, so we called it a night and told the group we'd see them later when they made it to our house.  When we got back and greeted my family, the Lobster and Gobbles both got a second wind, most likely from the candy overload and Halloween gifts they were given.  They hung out while we tended to the stream of trick or treaters that were making their way to our house.  Some of the dads came in for a beer with hubs and making plans with him to hang out in the future. 

After the doors were closed and my family gone (along with the kids, spending the night at Grandmom's house so I could work the next day, a rare Friday workday), hubs turned to me with a smile on his face and the giddiness of a child, "Sweets, that was the BEST Halloween I can ever remember having."

And just like that, all the anxiety, stress, fears, and impatience we felt while selling our old house became worth it.  In the 13 months we've lived here, we've made more friends and gotten more comfortable than in the 7 years at our old place.  Our new house in the awesome neighborhood with the best neighbors was only there for us after we went through the year of trials and tribulations in selling.  Sometimes it takes hindsight to recognize, but everything really does happen for a reason.

Don't forget you let us have some candy for breakfast too!

Cheese.  For the 5th time!

Mommy - what is with this picture?  Something picasa albums does automatically
that you couldn't replicate if you wanted?? Neat!  Look at our puppies in the background!

The one picture of how the lobster's costume was intended to be worn - hood up!

Chocolate makes us HAPPY!!!

Oh another one of these?! how silly!

A portion of the trick-or-treating group