Halloween...I think...

Halloween is not a big holiday here...at all. First it was hard to find costumes and second, it was even hard to find loads of candy to choose from. Third, we ventured out to go Trick or Treating but that too was a huge disappointment. Who doesn't participate in Halloween??? I mean really! It's true! We went to Lowry Bay (one bay over) to trick or treat about 4pm. We didn't realize there was a time frame on the event and that there were houses that weren't participating.

1st house - no one home

2nd house - not participating..."wow you're early" was the response

(when you have youngun's, late night festivities don't bode well)

3rd house - score! they got candy and the people were nice!

4th house - score! they got candy but again we got the response "wow you're early"

5th house - score! they even got chocolate at this house.

6th and final house - the gal that answered the door, to put it in a NZ phrase, pretty much "told us off". So not to harp on the negative, she basically let us know that we were too early and that only houses with balloons were participating in Halloween and that they were NOT participating.

So, we decided to drive to Eastbourne to see if anything was happening there but after that little incident, we got discouraged and decided to just go home and play some Halloween games. I made a "pin the broom on the witch" game, we bobbed for apples, did the "candy hunt" and had a scariest pumpkin & ghost drawing contest. Then the adults had Indian takeout and the kids had cheese pizza. It turned out to be a fun, spur-of-the-moment Halloween party!

We had a wonderful time with Tanya and Steve and the girls, Amelia, Lily-Jean and Sofiya and the kids loved the games. Even though, the trick or treating was a let-down, the kids did get to dress up, get out and got a few nibbles of sweets. I have to say I didn't realize how much I miss this fun holiday, candy, costumes and all.

Thank you, cousin Patti, for the Halloween crafts! Patti is my dad's cousin from Munfordville, KY and she asked if the kids could be penpals with her Sunday School class. We received a letter from a little boy in her class and the crafts on Saturday. Just in time for the Halloween festivities!

Writing a return letter...what fun to have a pen pal!

Caroline even enjoyed reading the letter!

Finished! So cute!

Lily-Jean the witch, Amelia the devil, Mary Katherine the fairy princess and Calvin the football player.

Caroline working on her 1st apple and taking in the activities.

This was a "score" house. :)

Aw, man! Where's the loot?

The loot! The phrase from the 80's that comes to mind is "Where's the Beef?".

Maybe if I look a little further inside my bag, I'll find more sweeties.

They must be stuck to the bottom of the bag...let me just look a little further...

Ok, MaeMae, let's divide up the candy.

Playing "Sweetie Hunt" (aka "Candy Hunt)

Caroline and Sofiya are such sweeties together...here they are just a swingin' and eatin' their apples. I believe they each had at least 3 whole ones last night!