Halloween 2019

Over the years Halloween has become my favorite holiday.

The neighbors gather for bonfires. 

The spooks come out around the cul-de-sac, with inflatables galore, giant spiders, skeletons crawling up homes... even a red balloon popped out from our neighbor's sewer this year.

Nothing can top it. Except for one thing: snow!

We spread newspapers all over the table and carved our pumpkins.

 Gryffin was invited to a carving party, so he brought his home.

 They were thrilled about pictures. Clearly.

 Mark made our traditional pumpkin seeds. Butter, salt & bake. Yum!

And of course we saved a couple of seeds, and planted them in our front yard, barefoot in blizzard conditions...

 ... so that baby pumpkins would emerge Halloween morning.

We brought out our favorite haunts.

 Including our first-ever inflatable, the pumpkin dispatch...

 And let's not forget the motorized ghost flying over our yard on a zipline, the tall pimp phantom Mark and the kids picked out by the front door, and the clown and coven of witches on the path to the door. Each time kids would come up to trick or treat, we got some blood-curdling screams out of them, and half never made it to our front door!
They have to earn their candy.
Mark and I did a lot of high-fives and heard from several kids that our house was the scariest one they ever saw. Aww.

 Gryffin went to a pizza party with friends while Lorelei and Ava started trick or treating with more neighbors.

They're about to set off from Sophie's.

Gryffin came back to collect his mask, then was off with a whole other crew of kids last-minute. And these girls all wound up here at the end of the night, dumping and exchanging candies. 

 Who says middle schoolers are too old to trick-or-treat? So grateful that they can embrace childhood fun a little bit longer.

 Here they are right before I tuckered out and went to bed.

And that's a wrap on Halloween, 2019!

Halloween 2017

Nothing brings out the spooks on 131st Place like Halloween. The cul-de-crew goes all out with decorations, and each year they keep getting better. We now have traffic and daily visitors venturing down "Halloween Place." And we kind of love it.

We began the whole shebang at the start of October. The Beissers had the kids over to their pumpkin patch to paint pumpkins...

... we gathered round the firepit for chili...

 ... and took in a driveway movie.

This year the girls on the street decided to dress as pirates. Gryffin dressed up as his own character, Black Ash, from his books and future movies.

And of course, the cats and bunny...

 Don't they just look thrilled in their aquatic get-up?

Our neighborhood always puts on an awesome Halloween parade.

This year Lorelei was old enough to help pass out candy with Ava.

 Next came Night of the Living Farm.

 ... Complete with a haunted zombie hayride, everyone's favorite!

 Slumber parties...

 Pumpkin carving...

When Halloween night arrived, the neighbors gathered on the trampoline.

We took photos.

We set the bonfire aflame.

And as the dads took the kids around to gather loot, the moms stayed back and greeted trick-or-treaters with warmth and candy.

See that flying ghost? Mark and I rigged a zipline from the basketball hoop to the weeping spruce, and it was the highlight of the night zooming back and forth with flashing LED lights.

 This little coven was another new addition. Boil bubble toil and trouble--tee-hee-hee-hee!

 Our Slenderman (a gift from Mark and the kids) and our Pumpkin Dispatch.

 The kids were out for hours and came back all smiles to sort candy with their friends, while Mark joined me around the fire. I love that they're still into trick-or-treating.

Happy Halloween!