Boo! It's Halloween 2011!

Our neighbourhood takes Halloween very seriously, and this year, even more households got involved...check out those ice sculptures...

Boo! It's Halloween 2011!

Of course, Nathaniel and Carter are still little guys, and got a little overwhelmed by all the excitement: Nathaniel got spooked by a dry-ice cannon a few doors down, and Carter didn't like a werewolf mask one of the trick-or-treaters was wearing, so we pulled the plug sometime after nightfall. While the boys enjoyed their gadgets and "A Hard Day's Night" in the kitchen, Pops, Karren, and Michael continued to hand out treats to the unending horde...

Boo! It's Halloween 2011!

Mom and Pops managed to duck out of work early, just as the neighbourhood was coming alive. Our neighbours across the street lit their jack-o-lanterns, the Pirates Of Garrison Creek hoisted their ship's sails, and "Monster Mash" could be heard booming from a few houses down. We took our little superheroes to a few homes but they were more interested in the school buses parked in the nearby lot than any supernatural shenanigans...

Boo! It's Halloween 2011!

With Mom and Pops working (a Monday, after all), there wasn't a lot of time to get the front yard ready for the inevitable onslaught of costumed toddlers. But since we've been doing this for a decade now, everything is pre-fab'd and ready-to-go: Pops can erect gravestones and severed limbs in seconds-flat. Plus, we had the help of our ever-reliable neighbours Michael and Monique, plus, some new contributors a few doors down...now all we had to do was wait for night to fall...

Boo! It's Halloween 2011!

In a reversal of the boys' first Halloween, Carter was clad as The Man Of Steel and Nathaniel opted for the cowl of The Caped Crusader. While veterans of two previous All Saints Nights, this was the first year in which the boys knew something major was going down...

Mom and Pops resurrected the pumpkin carving duties--a cat and a scary face, as per the usual--and Halloween officially began (after a dry run at Alex's birthday party) with a costume party at Shelly's Drop In. Our block is definitely Halloween central for the downtown core--even the neighbourhood pooch was in on it--I think next year we deserve some major media coverage...

Alex's Birthday 3rd Birthday Party

Saturday provided us a test run not only for the boys' second Halloween, but for the nuances of third-birthday pageantry as well. Just a few steps out back, Carter and Nathaniel joined Alex and a select group of VIPs (namely, Kya and Gabriel) for a Halloween-themed birthday blowout. After cookies, spider cupcakes, and some strange Plasticine creations (oh, and more than a few cheese doodles for Carter) everyone went home for naps...pretty sure we've got this costume thing down for Monday night...