Tricks or Treats

And so here we are once more at another Halloween, and you can see from the picture a great many things.  For starters, Madison is dressed as Jyn Erso, the lead character from "Rogue One."  During trick-or-treating tonight, she told me she liked this movie more than "The Force Awakens" or "The Last Jedi."  She was quite happy walking around as Jyn Erso today, and in fact had worn this to school - the kids were allowed to wear costumes for a certain amount of donation.  This costume was rather comfortable, and in fact warm as well.  

Another thing you'll notice are the pumpkins we have set out.  There were a few survivors from our pumpkin carving party, most notably the Winnie the Pooh one and the decorative skull one that Madison created.  Daddy held over the Hades one, and the Maleficent one is doing just fine, as is the VFD design that Madison made.  We had a lot of commentary about the pumpkins tonight.  A trick-or-treater recognized the VFD logo right away, and there were lots of compliments on our pumpkins. You can see Mommy at her station where she sits each Halloween, ready to distribute candy from her little cauldron there.  The wreath on the door was something we picked up a few years ago, and it adds to the look tonight as well.  It says, "EEK!"

And here's what Daddy wore once more.  The David S. Pumpkins outfit does not get old!  You can see Daddy posing with the pumpkin he most recently carved, waiting around on the front porch.  That's the thing I wanted to point out most:  the weather outside.  It was just perfect for this sort of thing.  It wasn't hot and it wasn't cold - it wasn't' windy, it wasn't rainy, and it wasn't foggy.  It was just the perfect sort of night for trick-or-treating!

You can see Madison was ready to go!  She had a good day at school today, and even though the bus got home a little later, she was able to eat and get ready for a night of collecting candy.  Daddy and Mommy had a good day too.  Daddy was working a little, but all from home.  We were listening to the record of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and already clearing out some areas for a Christmas tree, maybe tomorrow even.  But tonight was all about Halloween!

Here's a picture of Madison, all ready to go.  We went with our neighbors across the street, walking down throughout the neighborhood.  At times we met others from school or in the neighborhood that we knew.  But there weren't as many people in the neighborhood this year.  The reason for this was simple:  there were Fall Festivals at churches all around us.  Our own church had a Fall Festival tonight, although we skipped it in favor of staying home to trick-or-treat.  Madison made that decision, and Daddy wanted to go with her.  Being his birthday, he's able to take off today.

It was daylight a little longer tonight, and the kids were a good ways down the streets before the sun started really sinking over the horizon.  But the parents were out on the porches and there was a whole lot of running up and down lawns to yell "trick-or-treat" and grab some free candy.  Madison took an old bag of hers, one with her own footprints on it from long, long ago.  It's a good, sturdy bag, and it was able to hold a whole lot of candy.  You'll see in a bit.

In the meantime, there were plenty of great costumes out there tonight.  Look at this family of sharks!     Also, there was a pretty amazing Jack Sparrow walking around too.  Madison and our neighbors hit the streets, running up each lawn to yell "Trick or Treat!"  These are the wonderful memories that won't be forgotten, our little girl having a great time on Halloween.

And again, the weather was just right for this sort of thing.  It was lighter out a little longer than last year, which might have something to do with the proximity to Daylight Savings Time.  This was okay though.  It was also okay that Madison is in Middle School this year, and she doesn't have to get up early tomorrow.  But most of all, it was nice just to go for this yearly walk together through the neighborhood.

You can see here it was getting darker eventually, of course, by the time we reached the end of the main road where there's a cul-de-sac, and all the homeowners sat in the middle of the road with a bonfire there to keep warm.  There were plenty of bonfires this night.  You can see them all lined up so that kids could walk by and collect candy as they went.  

And as always, the decorations were insane.  This house above is just loaded with things in the front yard, or should I say, "Yaaaaaaard!"  This pirate ship has been there a few years, and now there were plenty of other skeletons, graves, ghosts, pumpkins and more.  

Here's another house, just one of so many that go so overboard with the decorations, just like Christmas decorations.  We drove through the neighborhood last night and saw these and more, and were really looking forward to touring on foot.  Each year we do that, and play some spooky music as we drive along.  But some of these houses had spooky music of their own to play!

We came back when Madison was ready to, and you can see above that she did really well.  It was a bit more quiet on our street this year, although we did have a lot of visitors.  Daddy was on the porch for a few trick-or-treaters, but for the most part, things were done for the night.  Mommy said there were a lot of people coming by, and that was nice.

It was a beautiful night, just perfect for trick-or-treating.  And it was a very nice birthday too.  Madison gave Daddy a birthday present, a Tusken Raider and a bantha as well.

Isn't it great?  But for his birthday each year, there's not much more to ask for than a remarkable week like this:  a pumpkin carving party and a great night of trick-or-treating.  These were the most wonderful, unforgettable gifts, and it was all just perfect.