All Hallows Eve

Happy Halloween, America!!!

Abby the Vampire

This is it.  The climax of October, the apex of Fall. . . which is kinda weird seeing how the day after our big Halloween costume bash we're pretty much done with everything 'Halloween' around these parts. 

Today's social get-together over at the Johnson residence is definitely a more scaled-down affair that what we held last night, but it's still a hell of a lot of fun.  The kids go out Trick-or-Treating the 'horseshoe' neighborhood (compromised of Sweetbrier, Hanover, etc.) while us adults hang bang in the their driveway around a fire pit, drinking beer, passing out candy, and gorging on food.  Then, unfortunately, everyone's back to home by frickin 9pm so that we can all get up and go to work the next morning.

Seriously. . . who the heck schedules a Halloween on a Sunday night?  C'mon, America.

So yeah. . . here's this year's installment of Hough Halloween-ishness. . .

Getting ready to head out.  Alayna refused to get a picture of 'just her,' so this is what you get, folks.  Teenagers suck.

Settin' up shop at the Johnson's, with dads out in the driveway and moms touching up kid costumes indoors.  Like God intended. 

Some of the children of the assembled adults, posed in the Johnson's front yard.

Abby, in the back left, wearing her candy bag on her head. . . 'cause why not.

Alayna had nothing to do with any of this evening's activities - Kris dropped her off at her friend Christina's house so that she could Trick-of-Treat with her friends instead.  You know, like a cool kid.

These are all anime characters.  This is seriously the nerdiest shit ever.

Abby runs out to meet her mom (in the distance), who is bringing along a zip-up fleece she told Abby not to forget at home.  Kids are awesome.

Assembled children, ready to head out.

I'm not huge on ciders, but this one was pretty awesome.

Hours later, Abby and Sophie come stumbling in, weighted down with pounds of sugar.

Dividing up the spoils.

Good to know kids are still just as cut-throat with trading collected candy as they were in the '80s.

A little while later, Abby and Ella passing out by the driveway fire.

Mitch and Ryan showed up towards the end of the night and joined Erik and I hanging out in the Johnson's garage. . .

. . . aaaaand they brought their wives.

A whoop-ass nightcap at the end of the night.  Happy Halloween, jerks.  

- Brian

All Hallow's Eve (Now in Michigan Form!)

Seriously?

Well, this Halloween sucked.

Seriously.  What the hell was up with the weather tonight?!  Low-50s and pouring rain?  Thanks a lot, Michigan.

Ghastly weather be damned, our kids were determined to venture forth into the crappiest of weather in order to Trick or Treat.  This was their first Halloween in Michigan, after all, and they weren't about to let a bunch of rain ruin it for them.

They wouldn't have much company out on the streets, though - we had been expecting hordes of trick-or-treaters to assail our house tonight, seeing how family-friendly our neighborhood is, and based on the testimonies of many of our neighbors - but the rain kept most kids at bay, and a result we had about five bags of uneaten candy that had been purchased for trick-or-treaters.

That's going to my school, rest assured - I don't want my kids feasting on that for the next couple of months.

Anyway, here's how Halloween 2015 went down. . .

Alayna inspects some of the candy we had on standby for trick-or-treaters.

How to NOT use an Imperial blaster.

Some Halloween-ish pictures of the inside of our house for you. . .

Enjoying a sucker, wearing Kris' witch hat. . .

Me and Kris' pumpkins out on the front porch, lit and ready to roll for the evening's soggy festivities.

Mom and John swung over about a half hour before Trick or Treating started in order to snag some pics of their grandkids in costume, which went HORRIBLE this year (yet another reason why this year will go down in history as one of the worst ones we've had.)

They were incredibly uncooperative tonight.  Moreso than usual.

(This is probably the best picture we have of the girls all suited up for Halloween this year.  Seriously.)

Showing off her vampire make-up.

Kris and Mom.

Papa John, the Cannonball, and the lone remaining Lions fan in Michigan.

I let Abby use one of my old Star Wars blasters from college to accent her Princess Leia outfit.  She used it for about half the night, then switched it out for an umbrella (can't say I blame her.)

This was the first Halloween we had in a community where most houses give out Halloween candy, so I stayed back to pass out candy while Kris took the girls around the block.  Then, afterwards, she came back to pass out candy and I took the girls around the other side of the street.

Venturing off into the storm. . .

Abby's pumpkin.

(You'll note the absence of trick-or-treaters. . .)

Appreciate this picture of our house decorated for Halloween, Internet - I got soaked taking it for you.

While Kris and the girls got drenched trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, I stayed in and watching the epic Kung Fury and passed out candy (to, like, twenty kids.)

Watson enjoyed barking his ass off every time kids came to our door. . . which got old real fast.

This was pretty decent, as far as pumpkin beers go.  Still can't wait for Stout Season, though.

Kris and the girls returned after about a half an hour, and we switched places.  We had them put on boots before going out again (the leaves were keeping the rain water from draining into yards, so most of the sidewalks were flooded), and I made them carry umbrellas as we set off to hit up the other side of the street.   

After about fifteen minutes, though, Alayna wanted to come home and warm up (and watch some Halloween movies.)  I tried telling her she could go and get more candy, but she looked at me and said, "Daddy, if there aren't a lot of trick-or-treaters going to our house, we have more candy at home than I'll get walking out here in the rain."  Touché, kid.

Examining candy prior to mass-consumption.  No syringes this year.

One of our neighbors was giving out cans of Coca-Cola, which, when placed in fancy wine glasses, increases in tastiness.  That's science, people.

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.

Plunder

Watson bides his time. . .

Happy Halloween. . . I guess.

- Brian