Frankenflatable

So here we are at Spook Central, where half the county it seems descends on our neighborhood dressed in all sorts of costumes to get candy galore.  The neighbors here go all out, as explained each year in this very blog.  The above is just one house that had a few inflatables, including the Frankenflatable.  By this point, Madison was still running from house to house to house.  

A last-minute change:  she was Merida on Saturday for the trick-or-treating in town, so tonight she wanted to go back to a Catwoman costume.  She even had a little diamond to carry around with her (that's the one she "stole from the museum").

We had our house decorated nicely for all the visitors that came by, but we didn't see much of the house tonight, did we?  The group of us were all ready to go out and get some candy!  But the first thing we did was have a little party at our place.

Here is Daddy with one of his gifts:  yes, it's unusual.  It's a giant rubber band ball, which is pretty unusual and funny.  He also got some t-shirts and a Studio Ghibli box set, which was very cool.  Mommy had hot apple cider, brain cupcakes, and pumpkin spiced cream cookies - all kinds of goodies!  We opened presents and ate our sweets, and soon it was time for our brave adventurers to set forth!

Everyone was ready to go, which we certainly did.  Some houses went completely overboard with decorations, which was amazing to see.  Everyone was friendly to Madison, who was quick to let them know that she was Catwoman.  She was very polite, nearly singing "thank you" every time - and unless told otherwise, she stayed on sidewalks and driveways.  Daddy has a bag in his hand for emergency storage, just in case things overflow.  Which, they did.  Madison completely filled that orange pumpkin, which Daddy wound up carrying most of the way.  Meanwhile, Mommy and Nana watched over the house back home.

We had a lot of visitors.  But Mommy had a lot of candy too - and pins as well.  Down the road, Ye-Ye was watching over his house, giving out candy there for the visiting kids.  He said there were a lot this year, but didn't expect these visitors!

When we were done with our adventure in the neighborhood, we drove down the road to Ye-Ye's house for a quick visit, and a quick trick-or-treat!  By this point, everyone was tired, and pretty much ready to turn in.  The neighborhood is always bigger than our ability to walk it all.  We even started early this year - around 5:45 or so.  It was still light outside, and we were the only ones down our road to begin with - but the idea was to get out early and end early (especially with the threat of rain).

Which brings up another thing to be grateful for:  no rain.  We were watching this forecast for the past ten days, and rain was going to happen tonight.  The wonderful thing is that we watched it get pushed back - first it was going to be at 9:00 pm.  Then it would start at 10:00 pm.  Then it moved to 11:00 pm.  In the end, the rain did get here - but somewhere around 2:00 am or so.  It didn't affect us at all!

Everyone was pretty tired as we went to sleep, and no doubt we'll be acting like the walking dead tomorrow a bit.  The sugar from all the candy will help, won't it?  We have a LOT of candy.  But we had a LOT of fun tonight!

Earlier in the day, we were at the school, helping Madison at school.  Mommy had a station setting up a creepy ice cream snack, and Daddy was teaching the students about estimating (just guessing how many popcorn pieces can fit on a picture of a pumpkin).  Madison was happy to have us at school.

And Daddy picked her up after school for her flu mist.  That's so great, isn't it?  Now, instead of a flu shot, there's mist.  No pain, just something getting stuck up your nose and sprayed.  This is a much better alternative!  Even the nurses were dressed up a bit for the kids, so the atmosphere was fun there.

The rest of the day was preparing for the big night, and oh what a night.  It was a memorable one, a spooky one, and one filled with candy and fun!