Happy (Slightly Belated) Halloween!

This year we carved our pumpkins just as Hurricane Sandy was warming up.  I, however, was not too terribly warmed up after attending an adult Halloween party the night before.   I think I may have indulged a little too much because I lived up to my costume’s namesake. 

                                    (Allan and Stu from The Hangover).

Anywho, with my head pounding away, we got busy.  We were dismayed to discover that our big pumpkin had rotted, but our three little pumpkins were good to go, so the kids got busy on their designs.  Ben did his in about 3 seconds and Jack’s took a few minutes, but Maddie spent at least an hour on hers.  She wanted to try shaving off the pumpkin’s face and then carving a design into the flesh.  She ended up carving Harry Potter into her pumpkin, but wasn’ t very happy with how it turned out.  I thought it was very cute though!

Ben’s on the left has a mustache.  Harry Potter is in the middle…it’s hard to see his glasses and lightning bolt scar, but they’re there.  Jack’s is a classic.

Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, our Trick-or-Treat night was pushed back one night, but I certainly can’t complain about that when you see the devastation she wrought along the east coast.  The extra time actually worked to my advantage as it gave me more time to finish Jack’s costume.

Photo below:  (back)-Maddie as Napolean Dynamite, Maddie’s friend Kelsey as grapes (don’t you love it?!), (front) Ben as Ghost from one of his video games, Ben’s friend Nathan as a banana (I didn’t notice his banana top was down until after the picture), and Jack as a chicken.

We walked together as a group for exactly one house:

And then Jack took off running.  It’s very hard for the average kid to keep up with him.  We tried going with friends last year, but in Jack’s words, “they’re slowing me down!”  So Kelsey’s mom (Dana)  and I raced around the neighborhood with Jack while Ben and Nathan went on their own, and Maddie and Kelsey went on their own.  We saw them occasionally on our race around the neighborhood, and I looked wistfully at other groups of neighbors all enjoying a leisurely stroll, socializing with each other, but for now, I just keep up with Jack.

Jack’s goal was to hit Santa’s house early this year (you do remember that Santa lives in our neighborhood, don’t you?)  Last year, by the time we got to Santa’s house he had already turned out his porch light.  Jack was heartbroken.  I gave him permission to ring the bell anyway, and luckily Santa and Mrs. Claus were happy to see him and had exactly one piece of candy left in their bowl.  Jack was not about to let that happen again this year.

Jack was spellbound.  Santa chatted him up and gave him his candy and complimented his costume, but Jack made no move to leave.  I seriously think he was just starstruck.  Eventually, after a few more HOHOHO’s, I thanked Santa and pulled Jack away.  Best moment of the night!

After about an hour and a half, Jack, Dana, and I were the last ones back.  The kids spread out their hauls and the trading began.

 

We had such a fun night, and within the hour we had all (especially me) collapsed into bed.

Happy Halloween!