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