All Hallowz Eve

What's up, gang.

So here at last we have pinnacle of Fall - what the entire month of October has been building up to, the last non-Christmas-ish day of the year.

Yours Truly had a half-day of work today - which was awesome - and Kris took the entirety of the day off so she could catch the girls' costume parade at their school and volunteer in their classrooms for their Halloween parties.  Most of that stuff went down in the morning, so by the time I got home around 12:30pm, Kris and I were able to drive around a few different stores and hunt for a pre-lit Christmas tree for this year (as you may or may not recall, we pitched ours last year as more and more strands of lights had gone out over the course of the last five years, and we eventually said 'screw it.')

After picking up the girls from school, we had a few hours to kill before taking them out around the neighborhood for Trick-or-Treating, which lasted about an hour-and-a-half, thereabouts.  From there, we just let the kids chow down on sugar and watch a few movies before forcing them to bed.  All in all a pretty run-of-the-mill Halloween.

Behold. . .

Start of the Costume Parade (here's Alayna and her class snaking their way through the Library.)

Alayna's teacher leads their class outside into the cold. . .

Next year the Cannonball should probably dress up as something warmer than a pirate.  Like a Wampa.

More of Alayna's class (that kid with the boombox definitely has some awesome parents. . .)

Abby's class passes by

That kid dressed up as a frickin' treasure chest has Halloween costuming mastered.  Kinda pissed Kris didn't get a shot of Abby and them together.

Abby and some friend of hers from school, who apparently dressed up as an Amish person. . .?

Ain't no party like a fourth grade party 'cause a fourth grade party don't stop.

And here's a couple second grade party shots. . .

I'm soooo glad I don't have to host Halloween parties for my 8th graders.  That'd be a straight-up train wreck.

Getting some reading in during the down-time between dinner and trick-or-treating.

. . . and some piano practice.

Ready to take these pirates out trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood.

The dog handled himself pretty well during our hour-and-a-half walking around.  He never barks at people, just other dogs, and there were about a half-dozen or so also being walked around.

We made it all the way down our road, crossed the street, and made our way back to the house, and even hit up a cul-de-sac within 90 minutes.  The kids' pace has definitely improved.

We could have probably stayed out later, but I wanted to turn on our house lights and pass out candy as well (seeing how we had bought a crapload to give out), so I kinda rushed us back.

Back at the house, ready to receive trick-or-treaters.

Warming up inside and preparing to dig through their hard-won plunder. . .

Moving furniture, plugging in lights, establishing Halloween-ish atmosphere. . . such is the Realm of Dad.

Our neighbors next door had prepared special bags of candy - full bars, larger items, etc. - for each of the girls, so they were definitely stoked when they finally had a chance to dig through them.

 

Starting our Halloween movie marathon off with this Tim Burton classic. . .

Abby approves.

Another Burton flick.  'Cause 'screw you, school night.'

I usually hunt down a special big bottle for Halloween - like this 9% ABV Imperial Pumpkin Ale from Shipyard (I've had it a few times before as my go-to Halloween beer.)

Happy Halloween, America.

- Brian

Snippets from October

Hi folks.

We have a ridiculous amount of trees on our new property.

As you can probably tell from all the many Halloween-esque posts, we've been pretty busy with the holiday this month (parties, outings, etc.)  I love this time of year, ranks right up there with the Christmas season, just more leaf-y.  Lots of time-occupying stuff outside of work, but it's a good time.

Anyway, here's this month's installment of random day-to-day crap from around the house.

Enjoy.

This is the kind of stuff Alayna takes pictures of.  We find a lot of this on her camera.

This kid's weird.

Falling asleep to Return of the Jedi.  Business as usual.

Trying on some pirate accessories at the Halloween Store in preparation for our costume party. . .

Kris and the girls' girl scout troop went out to a local apple orchard one Wednesday this month, and asked that I meet them out there on my way home from work.  Not sure if I mentioned this before, but she co-leads Abby's troop, and when they do stuff like this she usually brings Alayna along for the ride.

That dude there is Eric, the other co-leader's (Courtney's) husband.

I didn't realize they had so many different local varieties of apples growing in Michigan.  I figured there was just 'red' and 'Granny Smith,' but, then again, I'm not an apple-ologist.

The kids loved doing this.

Posing on a tractor.  Always fun.

The troop.

I really, really want one of these.

No idea where this was taken - I took off after a half-hour or so.  I think they went inside a kitchen or something on the Orchard property and the kids got snacks or something.  Who knows.  Ask Kris.

The girls frequently dress up in gymnastic suits and attempt breaking their necks throughout the house. It's a grand ol' time. 

This has been an eerily warm fall.  Thanks a lot, Global Warming.

Playing with Shopkins in Abby's room in a rare display of sisterly tolerance.

The Hough House, Fall Edition (note: Kris' Fall-ish display - she was very excited about that.)

The Study, all set up and primed for Halloween.

Yes, that's Abby sleeping under the kitchen table, the night before our Halloween party.  Just 'cause.

Alayna holds an impromptu dance party in the kitchen while her mom scouts Pinterest for last-minute party ideas.

Alayna and her BFF, Maddie, had a sleepover planned for awhile, and in preparation worked together on a list of possible things to do during the sleepover.  Maddie's mom sent us this picture of the list she found in Maddie's room.  Seems legit. 

This is where Watson hides out after I leave for work and the girls are all finishing up getting ready for school.  He's a lazy bastard.

Star Wars buddies.

- Brian