Halloween 2011

Anthony is Mario as in the "Mario Bros." from video game fame. Natalie is a "goddess". Eric is of course "Lightning McQueen" from the Disney movie "Cars". They were all excited about their costumes, even Anthony.

We didn't have a block party this year, the first time in the 10 Halloweens we've been here. The main organizer moved away last summer, and the person who everyone seems to expect to organize it didn't want to do it again this year. Someone still set up some tables to hold all of our candy so we didn't have to individually hand out candy at each of our houses.

In previous years, we waited for some of the other kids on our cul-de-sac to start trick or treating, usually just before it got dark. Of course in previous years, Halloween always fell after Daylight Savings Time ended, so it got dark earlier. Since Halloween is on a school night this year, we didn't want to wait until dark. We started by 6pm.

I was a little surprised that Anthony wanted to go with us. He had even offered to take Eric for us, but of course I had to be there to watch them have fun and to take some pictures. Maybe if his friends had been able to come over tonight he would have ditched us in favor of hanging out with them, but I was glad to have the company.

As usual, Natalie sped along like she was worried about people running out of candy. As usual I reminded them to say "thank you" at almost every house. Patrick actually came with us, at first. After about two long blocks, Eric started rubbing his tummy and asked to go home, so Patrick took him home. Later Eric said that his tummy hurt because he needed to eat candy. :)

That left Anthony and Natalie and it was still fun for me to watch the two of them have fun. Anthony kept jumping up as if he were in the video game grabbing coins from the air. That boy cracks me up sometimes. He commented on how people looked at him funny. His post on Facebook (as is):

Man, all these people are staring at me like "whoa bro you're way too old to trick or treat!"
Or maybe it's "hey come on now you only half-assed your costume!"
Either way, they're giving me strange looks. :P

He didn't wear his mustache that goes with the costume because he wanted to "save it" for when he can wear it at the same time as his friend A.O., so that's why he said he wasn't wearing his whole costume.

After the third block (we really do have long blocks in our neighborhood), Natalie wanted to go home too. She had almost filled her cauldron-type trick or treat bag. Anthony was trying to convince her that they needed to keep going until his huge trick or treat bag was full. He was only half-kidding, or at least I hope so. He was at least satisfied that we had plenty of candy left at home. We really only gave away half of what I bought, and I only buy what we'll eat.

No pictures of Alex because he was at home when we left, waiting for a friend to get dropped off. He left with his friend at around 7pm before we got back. His friend did at least have a homemade costume, but Alex went around in his usual clothing of a T-shirt and jeans. They brought home what felt like 10 pounds of candy apiece and then traded candy with his friend until his friend was picked up.

If we hadn't already promised him that he could invite a friend over, however, he would not have been allowed the privilege of trick or treating. Yes, he had more trouble at school. He's having trouble with his new English teacher, including a missed assignment and something he said today that offended her. Sigh. He's grounded again.