Hallowe'en as posted to Facebook

5:13 p.m. Four kids so far, including two ninjas, a baseball fan and a very cute Batman. It's not yet dark.

5:23 p.m. More kids in drips and drabs... It's still not quite dark, but it's getting busy already.

5:31 p.m. Two incredibly cute little pirates... complete with face makeup. (The little girl was very shy)

5:34 p.m. Lots of superheroes so far.

5:49 p.m. Lots of kids now, traffic jams on the front walk.

5:51 p.m. Tons of Batmans. Batmen. Batguys. And Batgirls. And Supergirls, but no Supermen.

5:57 p.m. At least 30 kids so far. I lost count at a dozen. I suspect it's been more like 50.

5:58 p.m. It's just now getting to be full dark.

6:02 p.m. Finally a Superman! And about 20 other kids.

6:07 p.m. And now we've had a run of Supermen...

6:09 p.m. I just tried to capture a Pikachu on my phone... only I don't play Pokemon Go... (we had at least three kids dressed as Pikachu, but no other Pokemon that I recognized).

6:15 p.m. A family dressed as the Incredibles... and a young man without a costume who I convinced had to be a teacher on his day off. I also gave him a bag, since he didn't have one.

6:20 p.m. Starting to open more bags. We had a large bucket of candy to start the night.

6:29 p.m. They are coming in runs. One group approaches the door, then a bunch of others see them and say - oh, that house is open! and run over and join.

6:31 p.m. People are thanking me for the map of the neighborhood I put out under the house light near the garage. (one girl said she was so glad to see it because she was lost)

6:36 p.m. Got our first Olaf. I asked if he likes warm hugs. He looked terrified.

6:43 p.m. Finally! A Flash! His dad was dressed as Green Arrow, so I gave him two pieces and told him to share.

6:45 p.m. I just asked a group of zombies if they wanted brains or chocolate. They said brains. I said, no brains in this house, they have to take chocolate. I should have thought that one through first.

7:00 p.m. A few clowns. One was really good, so Eric and I both screamed loudly. I just had to frantically open a bunch more bags of candy.

7:05 p.m. Standard response to a mask - "Hey, next time wear a costume! Even if it's just a mask!" (sometimes the kids lift their mask and say, "Look, here's my real face!")

Aside: A girl came up dressed as Anna from Frozen and Eric said, "let me guess, Anna?" She smiled and nodded and Eric turned to the girl next to her, dressed as Elsa, and said, "You must be Olaf!" The hurt look on that girl's face was amazing - though she quickly figured out he was joking.

7:09 p.m. It's been busy, but not as bad as some years. The rain is still holding off. Lots of people in the neighborhood.

7:14 p.m. Lots of very little kids dressed as Scooby-Doo. I offer them "Scooby Snacks" and they always look to see what I put in their bags. (as a kid I always wanted to know what was in Scooby Snacks, so I feel for the kids).

7:15 p.m. A bunch of teenagers without costumes just read my sign that says "costumes are required for candy" and left.

7:15 p.m. We've given out candy to "little brother who was too scared to come" at least four times. (Why is it always a little brother? And what is the likelihood we're getting "scammed" by these kids?)

7:21 p.m. One little girl just said "Truck or Cheese!" Eric said, "I'll go get the cheese!" as the girl's parents laughed.

7:24 p.m. Eric just terrified some little kids by opening the door and saying "WHAT?"

7:27 p.m. I just gave a candy bar to a grandma who doesn't speak a word of English. (She was with a group of children who were helping her along. She looked delighted.)

7:29 p.m. We've had a few hundred kids tonight. It's been pretty slow.

7:34 p.m. Cars going very slowly through the neighborhood with their blinkers on, following the kids. Sigh. I wish more parents got out and walked with their children. As it is, there's a massive traffic jam out there.

7:41 p.m. A surprising number of clowns, all things considered. (Two or three Harley Quinns, but the rest were fairly traditional clowns. Considering the clown scare I wasn't really expecting any. In addition to multiple Harleys, there was a single "Suicide Squad" Joker. Eric warned him about all the Batmen out and about.)

7:53 p.m. Wow. It's really slowed down. There's been nobody for almost ten minutes! That's unheard of! It's not even 8 pm yet!

7:59 p.m. A kid with a Superman costume on with a Clark Kent shirt and glasses. Very cute. He was just older than toddler.

8:01 p.m. Both Eric and I have eaten pieces of candy. THAT's how slow it is.

8:12 p.m. Best costumes of the night included a gumball machine walking around with a quarter. There was also a jelly donut. Lots of face makeup, which at least took *some* effort. (actually, there were some amazing skeleton face designs. Some kids borrow from Day of the Dead celebration traditions and the result is gorgeous).

8:15 p.m. I have not seen any political costumes at all. This makes me happy.

8:24 p.m. In addition to candy, we have a supply of shopping bags that we give to kids that don't have one. I would love to buy a bunch of pillowcases to give out... Let's face it, if I were rich, the kids who visited my house on Halloween would get a ton of stuff.

8:44 p.m. It appears that most of our neighbors have turned off their lights. Only a few cars left in the neighborhood... things are stopping for the night, it appears. I guess it's about time to let the sulky cat out of the bedroom and close down for the night... Another Hallowe'en gone. *sigh*

We released Inkwell from the bedroom and allowed him to sniff around the house. He wasn't as sulky and upset as I expected him to be. Perhaps listening to the visitors made him understand why we locked him up? He wasn't in the window most of the night, but he did get up there eventually to watch the crowds.

8:57 p.m. A quick count of unopened bags of candy (!!) leads me to believe we had about 700 kids tonight. That's probably the smallest number since we moved in.

9:22 p.m. Four last teenagers... I hope they are the last... one wasn't wearing a costume, but had a quick reply when I asked what he was dressed as: "An undercover spy!" They all got a handful of candy.

9:46 p.m. A couple of very small bugs flew into the house during times we had the door open. Inkwell is now hunting them, delighted by this gift his humans have provided.

9:56 p.m. Lights are out, but doorbell rang. Two teenagers - dressed up, but I notified them that once the outside lights are off, they shouldn't approach a house. They turned to leave and I said, "Hey, get your candy first! Just remember my rule for next time."