Church-Crashing, Candy, and the Great Quest to Find Holly

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

(officially.)

We both worked today - you know, 'cause we're grown ups and have to contribute to society (like a couple'a suckers), but in the evening the ladies catted themselves up, I grabbed a camera, and we set out for sugary plunder.

Check it out:

The White Cat

The Black Cat

This is the only time of year when seeing something like this isn't out of the ordinary.  Of course, then again, this is Florida. . .

We hooked up with some friends of Kris' for Trunk or Treating at this random church that absolutely none of us attend (located somewhat near our old house, around the corner from the library.)  It was free, and our family is big on 'free.'

That's Sophia, one of Abby's friends from school.  You may or may not recall the girls recently were in attendance at her birthday soiree. 

(I think this lady's having a stroke.)

(This one, too.)

Making the rounds with a six-foot-tall Olaf.

Homegirls.

The Cannonball is not amused.

The church hired some food trucks to feed its patrons this year, which was very hipster-ly of them.

I dressed up as a disgruntled middle school teacher this year.

Note the kid sitting on the pumpkins. . . like you're never supposed to do.

The temperature was dropping fast, and all four of us decided it'd be smart to drive home real fast (as we were only a couple blocks away) in order to grab some light jackets before we started Trick or Treating througout the neighborhood.)  Of course, once we got back into Kris' van and saw the actual temperature outside, we all felt like a bunch of vaginas.

I left the SLR at home for the actual Trick or Treating, as I don't like being obnoxious with a flash around crowds at night.  As a result, what little pictures I did take didn't amount to much.  Not that me leaving the SLR at home really mattered, anyway- lots of people were snapping  away throughout the neighborhood.  Anyway, our kids were pretty exhausted from the onset, so we didn't do much candy-collecting this year.  Early on in the Trick or Treating, Alayna bumped into one of her friends, and after parting ways, that was all she cared about - finding Holly.

We drove over to our old subdivision in order to score more candy for the kids (where we were previously had some really awesome houses decorated, but they were few and far between.)  Sadly, the same situation awaited us in the new neighborhood, but the silver lining to this was that those people handing out candy wanted to be rid of it, and almost every house we stopped at dumped most of their bowls in our kids' bags.  After two or three houses, the kids were topped off.

We ended up returning to the original neighborhood in order to stop by Holly's house (Kris is friends with the family, we're not stalkers trust us,) if only to get Alayna - who was far past bedtime - off our backs.

The girls were dead on their feet when we finally got home, but they were stubborn about going to bed.  They wanted to watch a Halloween movie and eat some of their candy, and, being the festive lot that we are, we obliged.

The girls have really been enjoying Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas lately - which I'm 100% cool with.

So while they watched that, Yours Truly dumped out all their plunder on the floor and began sorting through it, searching for poisoned fruit, hidden razor blades, dirty syringes, and all those other urban legends that the media hypes up but that no one you've ever seen or heard of has ever witnessed firsthand. . .

Establishing a spooky atmosphere for our Halloween movie night (though I'm not sure if those lovely family portraits are helping the mood at all. . .)

I usually pass on pumpkin beers (they're waaaay overrated, if you ask me), but this one from Shipyard is really good.  Personally, I attribute this to its 9% ABV.

And so ends the Hough Family's Halloween - a king's ransom in candy plundered, cases of fall craft beers stocked, and legions of pumpkin spice candles burned.  If it's one thing this family does well, it's holidays. . .

And we all know which holiday is coming up next. . .

- Brian

Halloween Warm-Up Weekend, Pt. IV

And now for the thrilling final installment from this, Papa and Nana's Pre-Halloween October Visit.

Behold:

Kris and I were able to pass the kids off to Dad and Cindy for a second night at their hotel.  One of the kids' favorite next-morning activities when staying over at the grandparents' resort is feeding the ducks in the resort ponds. . .

If the ducks knew any better, they wouldn't get so close to these two.

Again - really, really cooperative girls for pictures. . .

Nana brought down some stamping supplies so the kids could have a fun activity to do in the hotel room.

Snuggles the Gender-Confused Bear and Abby engage in some serious stampin'.

Lions and Gadgets and Bears, oh my!

After watching the Detroit Lions seize victory (barely) from the jaws of defeat, we loaded up the kids and drove out to some random church down the road - that we've never once set foot in - to score some free pumpkin patch pictures (we learned last year that these churches gouge consumers over pumpkin prices, so we get our pictures for free and our pumpkins from Publix.  Take THAT, organized religion!)

With four people taking pictures of one, simple, 20-minute outing, you can see how we Houghs could be labeled a bit of an obsessive sort. . .

We got a new telephoto lens for our SLR - Kris put the sum'bitch to good use.

"Please do not sit on the pumpkins."  Whatever, church.

Snuggles as a dairy farmer, apparently sticking his 'hands' in a bowl of cow guts. . .?

Abby claims her prize.

See previous picture - my kids love following the rules.

Portrait time with Dad, Cindy and the grandkids. . .

. . . aaaaand here's the Houghs.  Or as good as you're going to get, with these kids.

Leaving the 'patch after having to argue with a crotchety old lady over paying for pumpkins we weren't buying.  I guess she thought the family of Mexicans we never once spoke with - or even stood remotely close to - were part of our entourage, and we were supposed to pay for the pumpkins.

Back to the van for a last-minute Publix run for pumpkins, supplies, and booze.

Getting to work on the back patio. . .

The Cannonball

Here's a gratuitous shot of my wife's armpit.

Dad tries out a new design for this year's pum-  oh wait, nevermind.

We're not stupid enough to give Abby a knife.  That chick has a hard enough time walking without running into doorknobs.

Alayna offers some friendly criticism.

Nana and Alayna work on one of the random small pumpkins we had lying around the house. . .

Here's Dad offering some really helpful advice.

Some people go ape-shit over pumpkin carving, and I guess if I lived somewhere where they didn't rot 24 hours after carving them, I might, too.  We don't use special tools or templates, either - just steak knives and a vis-a-vis markers.  Oh, and beer.

Watson ate his weight in dropped pumpkin guts this afternoon.  Hopefully that doesn't end up on my carpet later.

Taking another important call.

Against all notions of common sense, Alayna decided to give Papa a pedicure. 

Abby picks out the right color for Papa's gorgeous nails. . .

Each kid got to decorate a foot. . . 

. . . and the results are as could be expected.

Posing with the finished products.

Snuggles and friends.

Abby and her cat pumpkin.

Alayna and her whatever-the-hell-this-is.

Happy Pre-Halloween, America!!!

- Brian