Halloween

Halloween is a favorite holiday for the kids and it was the first "trick or treating" that Wren has participated in as anything more than a cute accessory.  Tonight trick or treated with Isaac and Alex and their families.  Its been relatively warm this past week, the warmest Halloween since I came to America nine years ago.  We had no trouble wearing our costumes without coats and set off at dusk to trick or treat the neighborhood.

Frost and I were dressed as zombies while Wren was a skeleton.  Alex was a hobo and Isaac was a Warhammer Dwarf. 

Wren and I being Dead

But we can't keep dead for long...

Frost says I am too happy to be a zombie

Wren being scary

Alex - down and out

Wren enjoyed the trick or treating but was concerned that things might be too spooky or scary and wanted me to hold his hand to every door.  That meant he couldn't keep up with the posse of big boys and was torn between wanted to drag me along and to leave and rush off.  As a result he stayed with me but kept shouting "BOYS, BOYS" hopefully when he was given candy.

He was given a lot of candy.

Trick or Treat the Spider
There was one house in our neighborhood that Wren had been waiting to trick or treat.  They had a purple inflatable spider posed on a shrub and Wren had decided that this house, out of all houses, was his destination on Halloween.

The Spider House we had to visit

Unfortunately, when we knocked at the door there was no answer.   Wren was very upset.  A few hours later (on the way home from dinner at Trina's) he was upset when I told him we were done trick or treating.

"What about trick or treating the big spider?" he asked.

I agreed to stop one more time at the big spider in case the family had come home.

I stopped the car and Wren rang the doorbell.  The lights were on inside and big spider was still glowing but nobody answered.  I told Wren that they must be out and he said "no, they are in!"

He walked back to the car in tears.  While I was buckling him back in Frost noticed two children peeping out the window to see who was outside.  The kids decided they would "try again" in case the people had only just noticed them.  Clearly, they were home and hiding but Wren was obsessed.

Wren rang the doorbell again.  Just to complete the picture you should know that Wren was now in his pajamas without any basket and it was 8.45pm.

They answered the door and Wren said "TRICK or TREAT" and looked up expectantly.  The man was very apologetic.  He explained that they had no candy left because they had left a full bowl of candy outside their door while they went out with the kids and when they came back they found it had been stolen - the candy AND the whole bowl.

Wren was not gracious about this news.  He burst into tears in front of the poor guy.   I apologized and explained he was particularly keen on this house because of the big spider but he had plenty of candy.

Wren walked off into the darkness, a picture of dejection.  The door closed.

Just then, the door opened again.  We were called back.  The little boy who lived there brought his big pumpkin basket and offered Wren one of HIS candies.   Wren was thrilled, joyous!  All was now right with the world.  He had trick or treated The Big Spider.

I thanked the child profusely :)

Frost trick or treating at a neighbors

Wren didn't find this house too scary.

The Big Green Zombie [who ate the leftovers]
The most scary part of the night was at Trina's.  We had almost finished eating when someone came in through the front door laughing like a maniac and making a growling sound.  He pounced around the corner into the living room - it was Mike dressed as a bright green mohawked zombie.  He had bloody wounds, blackened eyes, three stubby teeth in a mouthpiece.  He was so bizarre that I didn't recognize him.

He had been to the Sounders FC playoff game with some friends all dressed as Sounders' Zombies.

Mike is the one on the right. 

Wren was horrified.  Mike had to remove the teeth, mohawk wig and some clothing to prove to Wren that he was a person, a known person.  Wren clung to me and wanted to go home when he heard the front door opening a while later.  He said he thought that more zombies might be coming.

Other than that, and the fact that the Sounder's lost the game, the haunting was a great success.