Halloween Warm-Up Weekend, Pt. I

Remember when holidays only fell on one day?  What the hell ever happened to that?

Seriously.  I won't even begin to go into the three or four months that now entail the Holiday Season (I'm sure I'll be bitching about that plenty in later posts down the road.)  Technically Halloween now falls in the earlier months of Christmas, and Halloween itself is now about a month and a half long, give or take.

Think I'm exaggerating?  Think back to when you first walked into a store and started seeing Halloween decor.  I'll tell you when you started seeing it - the day after school started in your particular, geographic location.  The second those composition notebooks and knock-off glue sticks were off the shelves, in came the processed candy (in bulk, of course, since we're all a bunch of Goddamn fatsos over here in 'Murica) and dollar-store, latex masks.

'Tis the Season.

We generally end up celebrating Halloween over the course of two weekends 'round these parts.  The first weekend is chock-full of activities and events, while the second revolves around Trick or Treating.  Back in my college days, this was also the case. . . except replace 'activities and events' with 'drinking' and 'Trick or Treating' with 'drinking.'

Knowing the Sausage Pad, though, this could've been some random Tuesday in April - lightsabers were frequently employed in day-to-day life.

So, like I was saying, this weekend is still seven days away from the real-life, honest-to-goodness Halloween, but you wouldn't know it by interacting in society.  People are already in costume, my family among them.  Sunchild Academy - where Kris works, Abby attends VPK, and Alayna goes for After School - held there annual Halloween Parade Fall Festival Costume Parade (sorry - I forgot some of you may not be pagan devil worshippers, my apologies.)

Check it out:

Abby morphing into White Cat

(I'm allergic to cats.)

White Cat and Black Cat

Lego break.

Dance party in Abby's VPK class.

The Clubhouse

More cats

Sugary snack time.

I never get pics like this with the kids. . . usually 'cause I'm camera bitch.

Panel discussion on the implications of foriegn involvement in the Middle East brought about by amped-up hostilities from the Islamic State.  Also, ponies.

Awaiting the costume parade.

In comes the Clubhouse. . .

Abby spots her sister. 

Abby and her friend Aubrey, freaked out by some of the older kids' scary costumes. . .

They had us parents walk with our kids through the Halloween Parade. . . 'cause you can NEVER have enough adult supervision when it comes wrangling hundreds of sugar-induced, dressed-up pre-schoolers. . .

Can you spot my kid?

Kris took a couple pics as the kids walked their way through the front lobby

Clearly, this Asian guy doesn't want to see my ass in his face.

Halloween Goodie Bags

Kris and other administrators

Coming up next:  monster weirdness with Papa and Nana. . .

- Brian

Halloween Pre-Season

Abby pouts her way through Halloween City.

What's up, CyberSpace.

We got an early jump on the whole Halloween thing this year.  I mean, really early.  Like, mid-September early.  After a month and a half of drudgery, we needed a frickin' holiday to look forward to.  Aside from Christmas and St. Patrick's Day, Halloween's the biggest thing this family of ours does.

So a week or so ago - since we're weirdos and 'cause it was Saturday and we just don't give a f*** on Saturdays in this family - we dug out all our old Halloween decorations out and began sprucin' up the ol' homestead:

Abby the Witch.

This year, they decided to utilize the big, vacant building next door to the Guitar Center I frequent to house a Halloween City.  They did a few years back, but haven't since, so this was welcome news, since it's literally a two-minute drive from our garage to their parking lot (I could jog there, and that's saying something.)

Of course, they're not getting a lot of traffic yet (we actually showed up before it was officially opened and were turned away by puzzled employees who most likely wondered why anyone in their right mind would want to costume shop in the middle of September), but we go back once and awhile to shop around for ideas and decor for the house.

Played with resin-molded cat skeletons.  Of all of the things in the store to pick up and obsess over, this is what my kids were interested in.  They threw a fit when we told them we weren't buying them.  I guess we've raised psychopaths, who knows.

Kids in a Halloween costume shop?  Utter chaos.

As it were, both girls want to dress up as cats for Halloween this time around.  Kris and I were really expecting both girls to want to go as Elsa from Frozen - because that movie, for whatever reason, is straight-up crack for little girls - but we fortunately were able to dodge that bullet.

Abby busts a move in the middle of the store.  Like usual.

Cat costumes are pretty cheap and easy to throw together:  buy a pack of accessories (ears, tail, maybe a collar or some furry gloves to wear), dress the kid up in a leotard or tights or whatever, and draw a nose and whiskers on their face.  Booya.  There's your cat.


Kris and I could think of many shittier things our kids could've requested this year.  We gladly pounced on the cat idea.

Anyway, I'm sure there'll be more to follow as Halloween season heats up (or cools down, whatever sounds more weather-appropriate.)

Stay tuned. . .

Abby wants to go as a white cat this year. . .

Alayna as a black cat.

- Brian