Well, Halloween night 2011 is winding down here. Things are so different for us now that our kids are getting older. Gone are the days of my cute little Disney characters and princesses, the classroom parties and parades, the wondering if your son or daughter would actually wear all of their costume or not, worrying about the weather, etc.... Speaking of weather, we did get lucky -- it was about 50 degrees, no rain or snow and not particularly windy. All good.
This is what I would call the first year that all three of my kids "costumes" were, for lack of a better word....lame! LOL! I'm not really complaining. Afterall, I am not buying any more wigs, makeup, costumes or props for my 14 year old daughter or even my 11 year old middle schoolers. Time to get creative. In fact, nobody had really talked much about a costume except this past week. They just want candy.
Also, our immediate neighborhood has kind of past its' prime when it comes to the ages of kids on our street. The majority of kids are in high school or older. Only a handful of kids are in elementary and middle school. We only had about 25 kids come to our door this year -- an all time low. When we first moved here in 1996 we had about 125 or more kids. Part of the reason is that our subdivision does not have sidewalks, and a newer subdivision next to ours does -- so that's where everybody heads because the houses are closer together and they have sidewalks.
As far as costumes, Kristin was "Fall", and her friend was "Spring", although somebody thought Kristin was "Mother Nature" which is fine, too!??
Megan was a "Queen" and her friend was a "Bee"....so they were...Queen Bee.
And, to my "horror", Jacob was a rugby player!! That one hit a little too close to home. My husband played rugby when I met him, so Jacob wanted to wear some of his old stuff. I wish I could say the facial bruising and bandages were not realistic...but they are very reminiscent of a typical rugby game. A sport I will not be allowing Jacob to play. I can deal with the fake blood on Halloween, but not in "real life"!
In the end, fun was had by all. Halloween on a Monday -- kinda weird. Maybe mandating trick or treating for Saturdays would be a good idea.
Either way, unfortunately, it's all about the candy for my kids now. Last year, we turned a lot of it in for $$ at a local dentist who sends the candy to the troops. I hope we can find something like that again this year...the sooner the better!! The kids are looking through their candy right now. They got a ton!!
Happy Halloween -- hope you had some fun!!
A Treat for Me from my friend, Alyce.... ;)
