Hallo hangover

It’s November 1st and I can barely keep my eyes open, my head throbs and I feel like I’ve been hit by an eighteen-wheeler. It may sound like the result of too many drinks, but this particular hangover cannot be attributed to alcohol. Instead, these are the residual effects of (a) hosting one hell of a Halloween house last night, and (b) trick-or-treating with a toddler.

Without exaggeration, we have close to 250 kids stop by the crypt last evening. We knew we would be busy this year but had no idea we would be quite that popular! Last year we were in friendly competition with one of the other houses on the street and I guess our enthusiasm stemmed to others this year. Almost every single house had some form of decoration and we the street was littered with kids! We also had a new housing development reach completion this year so I think the amount of kids in our vicinity doubled.

Last night was probably the highlight of 2011 for our family. It reminded me of Halloween’s of my youth where people actually made an effort for the kids. Oh course, we always go above and beyond the norm in our own house, but I was happy to see even simple single pumpkins lining the street. You could tell the kids were having a good time, as were the adults.

Taking Drew out this year was so much fun. He dressed as a police officer and was exceedingly happy about it. He had both a flashlight and whistle in his vest which pretty much sealed the deal as far as he was concerned. He wasn’t overly afraid of the houses because he is already accustomed to living amongst corpses and all manner of creepy decorations but he did get frightened by one of those creepy “Scream” masks that a child was wearing. All was going well until about the 6^th house in then BLAMO, he saw the mask and shrieked like I’ve never heard him shriek before. Poor kid.

We ended up going back home to continue answering the door, which Drew thoroughly enjoyed. My whole family dropped by, including my best friend and goddaughter. We are always a full house on Halloween and it’s a fun atmosphere. Of course, Andrew managed to butter everyone up and enjoyed his fair share of chocolate. He spent most of the evening yelling “Hi people!” anytime kids would come to the door, running around at warp speed or spinning in circles. It was full-on sugar rush and a good reminder of why we are typically fairly strict with his sugar consumption. He had a great time though and I figured no hard in one day….the chocolate drool stains on his mouth made for some lovely photos too.

All in all, the best Halloween I’ve ever had. It was chaotic and busy but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We plan this for months and it is always great to see the joy that our setup brings to kids and parents alike. The icing on the cake, is that Drew seems to enjoy it all too….minus those damn “Scream” masks.