Hallowe'en Live Blogging 2010

Many of you know I love Hallowe'en. I love seeing the costumes, love living vicariously through the joy of the children out in the streets. I love the sense of danger, usually sanitized enough nowadays to keep kids safe. But we've had a very tough summer and fall, and just returned from a family funeral so we're both a little subdued. Our financial situation means that we got much less candy than last year, so despite it being a school night I fully expect to run out long before the night is quiet.

We actually got our first trick-or-treaters very early, at 11:40 am. It was Cookie-Girl and three family/friends. Cookie-Girl was dressed in a cheerleader outfit, there were two zombies with her, and a cat (well, he had cat makeup on, but regular clothing). I have a suspicion that they are headed out of town again to ToT in one of the larger cities, so I'm not too surprised to see them early. But... before noon? Well, Eric and I scrambled to open the candy, then gave it out, and now I'm getting serious about putting up decorations.

Update 2:20pm: Got the decorations all up. Lights, Hallowe'en flag in the window, signs that say "No costume no candy" and "No disfraz no dulces", neighborhood map, bowl of candy by the door. The weather is being entirely too nice, it is bright and inviting out there. Clouds are set to move in tonight, so it won't get freezing. The only difference between this and last year is this is a school night.

2:43pm: After reading last year's entry, I counted all the candy we have. Including the four pieces we already gave out, 521. In my notes for next year I mentioned that I thought 500 pieces would be enough to get us through this year. Let's hope I'm correct. Unfortunately, we did get Whoppers, which were NOT a hit last year. *sigh* I needed to read that note before we started Hallowe'en candy shopping.

4:28pm: Five more, in a wave of three followed by two more. Rang the doorbell over and over, and were reading the signs to each other when we got there (we were in the living room watching TV). More are coming.

4:32pm: Two more, with their mom. They didn't know the words to say, too young and shy. I think another couple bypassed the house, but I'm not certain. Maybe they weren't wearing costumes and saw our signs, I couldn't tell.

4:36pm: Superhero with hover-mom. Turned on all the lights even though it's not really dark yet. Figured we'd give the recognized sign that we are accepting ToTers.

Sunset here is 5:47pm, twilight will end at 6:18pm, then it will be full dark.

5:02pm: Three more with hover-mom. Cute girls in hand-knitted outfits, and a little boy in a plastic fireman's hat. I see teenagers that appear to be dressed as "High School Students". I hope they take my sign seriously. And don't decide on tricks instead. Running total = 15 kids.

5:12pm: Very little girl, princess, with two hover-parents. She was a cutie.

5:16pm: Argh, noticed a typo in my monster sign when I went out to take a picture. *sigh* No time to fix it now. I guess I'll just look illiterate to my neighbors.

5:24pm: Eric is watching an Addams Family marathon, but a wave of seven just came up. We asked the young man in his mask if that was his real face or a mask. Running total... er... 23 kids.

5:26pm: Lost count already in a giant wave. Five? Ten? Fifteen? Lots of hover-parents as well. And they are still coming to the door and Eric is handling the crowds. Very cool. Whew... two minutes later the string of kids stopped. Still 20 minutes to sundown.

5:30pm: Another wave, another lost count. They weren't sure if their outfits counted as costumes or not, but they had made an effort, and that's what counts.

5:32pm: Little baby in pumpkin outfit. Another total cutie!

5:33pm: Two Iron Man costumes. A bunch of teenagers passed the house, but they had costumes on.

5:36pm: We got our first Dorothy! And lots of hover-parents, including some in costume. A great hover-dad in Dracula get-up! Pictures were being taken.

5:40pm: Cute little cheerleader and Wolverine. I wish I had comics to give out this year!

5:42pm: Spider-men! Two of them. And a pirate who didn't come up the walk holding dearly to his hover-mom.

I believe the "No Costumes No Candy" sign may be backfiring. Some kids are bypassing us, clearly daunted.

5:49pm: Three more. A little zombie that came right in when the door opened until his dad called him back. Eric acted scared and amused them. Then another group, asking if they were in costume. I said, "we're trying to stop kids dressed as 'high school students'" and the hover-mom laughed. YAY!

5:53pm: more little ones, and a little boy dressed as Spongebob. Two hover-moms have said they love our "No Costumes No Candy" sign, so maybe it's not all bad. Another wave after that. Not sure how many, but one teenager who wasn't really dressed up, but still got candy because she was with a little one. Two boys came up who appeared to not have costumes until they smiled, and showed fangs. That counts.

5:57pm: A group passed that didn't have costumes, then a little girl carried by her mom. Another group is approaching... One girl saw the sign and read out loud, "NO CANDY!" and started to pass until hover-dad called her back and said that she had a costume, so it was ok.

6:00pm: A couple of Buzz Lightyears, very young. And more. Another large wave.

6:03pm: Wow... that was a long string. More coming. So nice to have Eric home.

6:06pm: More... already through the first bowl... We didn't close the door for over ten minutes... Yikes.

Seems the crowds are out right at dusk.

6:13pm: Waves of kids. Eric went to start dinner. Wow... lots of kids. The Thing, Batman Beyond, lots of Supergirl, Wonder Woman, ...

6:22pm: Another long crowd, more coming.

6:26pm: So... many... kids...

6:30pm: Skeleton on crutches tried to get up on our step, nearly fell over. I got to show off my Aquaman hoodie to an appreciative hover-dad. Very cool. More coming... So... many... kids...

6:39pm: A moment to breathe.

6:46pm: Down to the last bowl. We aren't going to make it until late, are we?

6:50pm: Lots more, but I think we'll make it until 7pm at least. I think next year's signage will have to be a little better.

6:59pm: Nope, we didn't make it to 7. Sad.

7:19pm: All the lights are off, all the signs are down, and a couple of kids had to be alerted that there wasn't any candy left. We had 521 pieces, and we got through them in less than two and half hours. I hope we can get more candy next year... *sigh*