Happy Halloween!!!

It seems like Halloween 2009 happened just yesterday. That was the year of the Wizard of Oz and NHF's Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Even though we didn't go trick-or-treating that year (we partied with our extended bleeding disorders family at the SF Marriott) Halloween '09 will go down in "lion den history" for being THE BEST Halloween we've ever had.

Halloween 2009

 The Oz kids ;-)

Halloween 2010

This year was a little different. *Technically* this year was Niki's first "real Halloween" because she could actually partake in trick-or-treating. Needless to say, I was very excited to take the cubs out. Especially since we didn't get to trick-or-treat last year. Unfortunately, Game #4 of the World Series was also happening during prime trick-or-treat hours. Even though "Halloween/Trick-or-Treating > World Series" in my book, not all parents feel this way. I shudder at the thought of how many parents opted to stay home to watch the Series instead of taking their kids out to create magical memories.

So where am I going with this? You guessed it -- John stayed home.
 
The fact that the Giants made it to the World Series is awesome, but I'm not going to lie and say that I wasn't disappointed that he stayed home to watch the game. After all, you can replay television, but you can't replay life. I wanted to watch the game too, but I knew that trick-or-treat time would be over by the time the game ended. John's a guy -- I get it. He had complete confidence in my ability to handle Halloween duties for the night -- swollen belly and all!

It was I that took the cubs, SILs, and CIL out for an evening of tricks and treats.

I decided to switch it up bit and took the kids to Colma's residential area first. The city is practically a cemetery itself so I knew that it would be the perfect place to trick-or-treat. And...I was right! Being in my old neighborhood brought back so many memories. There is something spectacular about trick-or-treating right next to a cemetery on All Hallows Eve. I know from personal experience, and I was happy my kids experienced a piece of my childhood. :)

Halloween has changed a lot since way, way back in the day -- it's slowly dying out -- but Colma never loses its spirit.

A cemetery was right over that wall. The kids were weirded out at first. LOL!

 Everybody had the game on as they passed out candy...

 Niki was really enjoying herself. :)

 The boys got used to the spookiness.

 I couldn't quite figure this pumpkin out. ;-)

 

 Ironic, isn't it? A fake graveyard just a few hundred feet away from a real one.

 Only in Colma. :)

 I love this town.

 And this house...

 The cubs, my SILs, and my CIL "J"

The cubs. :)

 We don't care about no law 'round these parts! ;-)

The streets were packed with trick-or-treaters which meant that the houses tried very hard to conserve their candy. After spending about an hour in Colma, the older kids grew impatient as they continued to get only 1 or 2 pieces of candy from each house. It took a lot work to accumulate their loot so they collectively decided that they wanted to try a different neighborhood. I was hesitant to leave at first (finding parking was a nightmare) but it was their Halloween, not mine. We had only gone about up and down three blocks, but I was overruled. On the upside, all of the kids were completely desensitized by the idea of the cemeteries being so close by. (The boys aren't afraid of the cemetery at all thanks to Ethan.)

You can't see it in this picture, but there was a bunch of mausoleums just a few feet behind them. Aren't they cute? And brave? :-D

Unfortunately, we had to work even harder after we left Colma. We went to the TerraBay neighborhood thinking that we could end our night there. We've been going to TerraBay (with my SILs) since Boo was 1-year old because the rich folks that live there always give handfuls of candy.

This year? Not so much.

The streets were completely dead, and I blame it on the World Series. We tried some other local neighborhoods with no such luck. The World Series officially killed Halloween. Suddenly, everyone realized that we probably should have stayed at Colma. But...it was too late. It was close to 9:30 on a school night so we turned in for the night. Nevertheless, my cubbies had a blast that night, and so did I -- swollen uterus and all. 

P.S. I'm secretly happy that the cubs didn't get much candy this year. ;-)