Halloween fun?!

Nicole's wig sort-of worked(?!), and Jared decided he needed some make-up too, in the form of scars....so I guess that means he switched over to a not very good ninja for his costume! :)

I have to admit...I've decided that Halloween on Saturday is not my favorite. Because it means two days of Halloween, which means two+ days of cranky, overtired, and sugar-wired kids. Between school in costumes, class parties, parades, a family party last night, and the joy of trick-or-treating tonight....yeesh! I'd had it today, and I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be dicey as well before we have a full recovery. :)

But on the bright side of today, we got the pumpkins thawed, gutted, and carved with plenty of time to even get to Costco this afternoon - because no Saturday is complete without a trip to Costco. The weather warmed up nicely, and more than we expected, so the kids just had a warm layer on underneath their costumes and didn't have to wear coats like I thought would happen. We trick or treated ourselves silly, and ended the evening at the "Haunted Creek".

We have some neighbors that back up to a creek that runs through our neighborhood, and for years they have spookified-up their backyards and the creek-bed that is dry this time of year. They place candles around to light the path, and build a few campfires for warmth. The big trees and fallen leaves add to the ambiance and they include some of the older kids and teens in the neighborhood to help out. Ron had been with Riley a few years ago, but I had never gone. This year, we asked the younger kids if they were interested in checking it out and they were feeling enthusiastic about it. As soon as we got there Ellie was freaked by the strobe lights and spooky music at the entrance, so Ron took her home. Jared got nervous once we got in the backyard, but stuck it out. They even freaked me out a bit with the box that was buried in the creek-bed....with someone in it frantically screaming through a plexiglass window to let them out....ugh! You had to walk right over it on top of them! I was feeling some serious sympathy claustrophobia with that one. The very end of the experience ends with walking through the tunnel under the road that the creek normally flows through. They have it boarded up and say it's an abandoned mine. Then you are asked if you want it to be really scary, a little scary, or not at all....Jared was ready for not at all, so we just walked through the dark passage with a strobe flashing and found a guy at the end with a "Jason" mask and a motorcycle. I found out that if you want it really scary, the guy actually starts up and rides his motorcycle right at you in the tunnel! Nice....glad my kid was with me and he chose not scary! :)

Here's a couple of little video clips Ron took of our night....one is of the kids as we were leaving, and the other is our hilarious and fun-loving neighbor really getting into Halloween....he challenged Ellie to a "dance-off" since they were both ballerinas and this is what we got:




(He only let Ron video this after we told him we wouldn't put it on facebook....we didn't agree to anything about twitter or blogs! BWA-HA-HA-AH-HA!!!!)