Halloween 2009

We started the morning with breakfast at Lula. There was a long wait, but luckily the boys had their DSi's and a good space on the floor.



Risotto with brussels sprouts, wild mushrooms and crispy parsnips.



Lamb tortilla with scrambled eggs, avocado, mole, black beans and spaghetti squash. It was really amazing.



We went to the Botanic Garden for the Spooky Pooch Parade. We didn't find them to be spooky so much as we found them to be cuties. But it was fun.





We gave treats to one particularly sweet doggie.





Astro dog.





There are over 300 mum plants in each of these towers.



We loved these berries, and it seemed especially appropriate for Halloween: don't they look like a bunch of tiny pumpkins?



Back at home, we did some more decorating. We realized we had a bit of a lost opportunity, seeing as our downstairs apartment is still empty. We could have had a "haunted apartment" set up down there, we could have had a little Halloween party in it, or we could have at least to put up some spooky decorations and hung out there while we passed out candy. Alas, it didn't occur to us until we were putting up our last minute decorations in our upstairs apartment.

Max tried to play a spooky song on the piano.



We made our own witch houses.





We spooked up the porch a bit.



Due to the construction project, our front stairway still has no light, so it is already pretty spooky. We put candles all the way up the stairs to give us a bit of illumination, but it was still pretty dim. We also hung strips of crepe paper in the doorway (think 70s beads, only these looked more like a mummy's rags). And hanging from the screen door, there is a little witch whose eyes light up, whose legs kick, and who cackles loudly when you open the door. In the background, we played a Halloween mix which features some pretty creepy laughs and some very eerie tunes. It echoed nicely through the otherwise empty stairwell. We wondered if it was almost too creepy, since our porch light is also out. We had to rely on the flickering lights from the jack-o-lanterns. But since we went out trick-or-treating in the early hours, we were only home to pass out candy after 8 pm, and most of the trick-or-treaters we got were a bit older. They seemed to think our decorations were appropriately scary.





But I suppose that is getting ahead of things.

First, we did our own bit of trick-or-treating. We realized it was the first time we could remember being out before dark. It was great to have Halloween on a Saturday, to have Martin with us all day, to be able to go out so early and be home for lots more fun in the evening. We also managed to have the longest session of trick-or-treating we have ever had.





Some of our favorite scenes.







The goodies.



And now, we're eating some of that candy and watching Harry Potter, which seems like a good way to end the evening.