Hallow’een has become like Christmas for the kids.  In the run up to the day, they talk about it non-stop and pour as much energy into the celebration as they do into writing their letters to Santa!  They drag me around the ‘Hallow’een sections of the stores, trying to sneak in at least one of each ghoulish item on sale!

Luckily, this year,  Hallow’een fell during half term.  Their ‘trick or treating’ hours could be extended.  My Ninja, Pup and Pirate were joined by their good friend the Hallow’een Pumpkin, and at 6pm, off we set on our candy tour of the neighbourhood.

A full moon.  A cool night.  It was perfect.

Many in our neighbourhood embrace this evening with gusto.  Cobwebs sprawl across front garden bushes and doorways, jack-o-lanterns light up the pathway to candy (or a scare from the occupants of the house!), seriously freakish skeletal figures guide one to the door of the owner.  One household transformed their front garden into a cemetary!  Another hung bulging plastic pumpkins from every branch of its impressive flame tree.  Another had decapitated heads of humans, and what appeared to be werew0lves, line the path to the front door, as if on parade.

Thankfully the kids are too young to appreciate the scare level of some of these efforts….but Mums and Dads enjoy it!

Excitement bristled through the dark night.  The kids skipped from house to house, filling their Hallow’een booty buckets with enough candy to last them till next Hallow’een.  After 2 hours on the vampire trail….I was shattered!  My knees were screaming for mercy (mental note: flip flops are not appropriate foot attire for a 2 hour candy trek!).  Thankfully DH was on hand to help carry the sugar laden bounty back to the ranch.

Fizzling excitement meant the kids needed to ‘count’ their candy haul before they went to bed…..it seemed to take forever….I swear they were eating every 2nd one!  And, with each sweetie, they recounted tales of their scary adventures that evening, which saw them run the gauntlet with skeletons dangling from porch rafters, screeching, devil-possessed cats, and shrieking, wicked witches!  As a rule of thumb, the amount of candy booty seems to be directly related to the level of bravery shown in the Hallow’een ‘trick or treat’ field; of course.

Their tales of bravery warm my heart, and spur them on to an even creepier Hallow’een next year!