Halloween 2012

Today is the big day! Alex invited several of his friends over for a little party tonight. Patrick ordered eight pizzas, thinking that with so many teenagers, that would be about enough. Natalie and Eric didn't finish eating until almost 6pm, but as soon as they finished, they got into their costumes and we went outside.

Every Halloween since 2002, our cul-de-sac has had a little party. We gather around a few tables set up in the street at the entrance of our cul-de-sac. At least one table for potluck food for us, and one table for all of our candy bowls. That way we could socialize with our neighbors instead of waiting for trick-or-treaters in our separate houses.

Unfortunately, the main organizer for the annual Halloween party moved away a couple of years ago. The one who took over for her moved away this year. Luckily, one other person took it upon themselves to at least set up a table for the candy. That left me able to go trick-or-treating with Natalie and Eric, and left Patrick able to stay in the house to watch over the ten 13-year-olds. That same person/family also set up a simple "haunted house" that you can see in the background. They've been doing that for the last couple of years or so. The kids usually love walking through it.

Natalie's friend Margot was dropped off by her mom so she could trick-or-treat with us. Her costume was "Little Dead Riding Hood". Apparently her mom was altering her costume at the last minute and brought her over when she was done with it. I loved her matching basket. Apparently it was the basket that usually held their dogs' toys, but it was the perfect "Little Red Riding Hood" basket.

In previous years, we have trick-or-treated with packs of other kids, so it was a little weird this year to only have Natalie, Margot, and Eric. Most of the kids in our cul-de-sac have either moved away or grown up too much to want to trick-or-treat or at least to trick-or-treat with the little kids. Of course we probably started out earlier than a lot of other kids, and that's why there weren't that many that were out yet.

Anthony had tried to get a couple of friends to come by, but it all fell through. Patrick thinks he's still a little down from his breakup over the weekend. He seemed in good spirits as he led his little brother around from house to house. Eric was thrilled to be with Anthony.

We have long blocks in our neighborhood. It took us about an hour to cover two or three blocks. I brought a pillowcase bag that Eric and Natalie emptied their bags into once before we headed back to the house. I was surprised (but happy) that Natalie and Margot wanted to stop and go home at the same time as Eric. They all wanted more time to eat the candy rather than just collecting it. Once we got home, they separated their loot on the floor and traded a few pieces. The teenagers were out and about at that time.

We took Margot home a little after 8pm, then one of Natalie's other friends, Maya, came by with a group after we got home. She went out trick-or-treating with them for another half hour or so.

Luckily, the teenagers let me snap at least this one picture of them. Later Alex was wearing one of the girls' wings, but he wouldn't let me take a picture, of course. The girls actually came in costume, one of them was supposedly not allowed to come (per her mother) unless she came in costume. They had just come back from roaming around the neighborhood and they were having snacks. Some of them had eaten before coming over, so we had lots of leftover pizza. Patrick took two of them to the cul-de-sac party outside.

By the way, that lantern that Eric is carrying in the first photo above is supposed to be a glow lantern, but I guess I've had it for a while and it didn't glow very much when I activated them. For some reason he still insisted on bringing it along. He has a glow necklace on also. It was just starting to get dark when we got home, so we didn't really need flashlights or other glowing objects after all.

As I see the big boys getting bigger, I get a little sad that they don't participate in these events like they used to. Because of that I have learned to savor every moment with the little ones. Eric has a wonder about him. For example, we've never had trick-or-treaters come to our house since we used to just sit outside at the party. Since the table broke up early out there, we got a few trick-or-treaters at our house. Eric got a kick out of that, and he was saying that we've "never had trick-or-treaters at our house before." Although that's true, he's only been alive for five of the ten Halloweens we've lived here. He was also laughing at the thought of being the one to give out candy at the door because people would "expect a big person" and instead be greeted by him. By that time though, it was time to put him in bed, so he didn't actually get to give out candy to trick-or-treaters. Maybe next year.