Trick-or-Treat ~ From Sunny to Spooky

Well, I just finished another fun year of handing out treats to the kids. I could still happily be out there, but I have to admit it was getting cold. We had a pretty good turnout - I'd say about 80 kids came by.

I had a good mix of candy, good as in, I planned to happily eat what was left over. There is actually very little left over, though!

We were so lucky to have nice weather today, especially considering what we have coming later this week (Snow!) But for today at least it was sunny and warm. And by warm, I mean 50-60° on the sunny part of the porch.

So I busted out the Halloween tunes on the CD player and happily sat there from 4:00-7:00 PM. I like that the trick-or-treat times were changed to be a littler later. In part I like that because then I can use lights and candles out there in the dark, but also the dark makes for a spookier atmosphere. I unintentionally spooked a few people, as I sat out there in the dark. I was out there in the shadows of the porch with my witch outfit on and a couple people thought I was a prop!

One of those people was an adult woman and the other was a little girl who didn't even see me until she was almost to the door. And then she shrieked and clutched at her heart! She was saying "I didn't see you there! I thought you were a prop!" So I was quickly saying "No, no! I'm alive! Here's some candy!" A person really could scare people from their dark porch if they wanted to.

So overall what I remember from today was:

The popular costumes this year appeared to be clowns/jesters, Spiderman, and ninjas. There were a few other superheroes out there too.

My skeleton rat got a lot of attention and compliments. One kid said "I like your rat, but I think he had too much candy".

There was a girl who did this sort of elaborate staging of falling all the way up to me, to the point where I was afraid she was going to get hurt. I asked her if she was just being dramatic and she said yes.

As it got dark, a group of kids came to the door. One of them was dressed as a Whoopee Cushion. I've never seen that before. So I said "Oh, a Whoopee Cushion" and the kid just stands there staring at me before making well... the noise a Whoopee Cushion makes and a really loud one. Now, I'm 90% sure he pushed a button or something to make that noise. At least I hope so, because I was like "Whhhaa! Eww!" and the kid just kept standing there staring at me. So I said "Happy Halloween" and he left. And what was so weird was that the other kids who were with him just quietly stood there watching this and weren't laughing. Yeah, this all took a certain kind of confidence.

Speaking of "confidence", I gave candy to another kid but then he asked for more. He was asking for "other kids" who were maybe on the street and was being bratty about it. So I gave him one more piece for what I assumed was his sister and when he asked for more, I said "We're done here" and it was like this bizarre stare-off for a few seconds. But he did eventually go. That was a weird one. I overheard a neighbor talking about a kid who was digging in his candy bowl just taking a bunch of it, and I think I knew who he was talking about. At least I hope it was the same kid. I don't want to think there were two of them, pulling that sort of thing!

But the kids were mostly all very nice and polite. In fact, I'm struggling for stories here because they were so good. I mean, one farty kid (?) and one bratty kid isn't so bad for having 80 come by. All the rest were wanting to share what they were dressed as and had good manners. I think it's so cute when a kid walks up and just announces "I'm Ironman" or whatever they're dressed as.

So, have you guys had trick-or-treat in your neighborhoods yet? I hope you get some nice weather like we did. I'd be interested to know how many kids came by where you live. I remember last year was notorious for no kids coming out. I remember listening to the radio and hearing local people from surrounding communities call in and they were saying how they had all of two kids drop by. Leftover candy is fun, but not that many leftovers!

The remnants