To start out, both Sarah and Emily were invited to parties and sleepovers, which included trick-or-treating in other neighborhoods. Sarah and her friends trick-or-treated for the Troops; Emily and her friends for themselves. :-)
It seems that all the teenagers in our neighborhood took off for places unknown. All we saw last night were young kids. As a result, it was an early night. Things started hopping around 6:30 and went non-stop for about an hour or more. By 7:45 or 8:00, it was all over. We went through a lot of stuff in that period (we give out trinkets instead of candy); next year we'll have to start fresh.
Sarah resurrected her Hogwarts uniform that she put together for the Harry Potter convention, and went as a student from Hufflepuff House, complete with robe and wand.
Emily, always on the quest for inanimate objects to dress as, went as a gumball machine. It was quite the challenge to make, as the concept was for the bag to inflate to give it that round appearance that a good gumball machine should have. We layered two clear garbage bags together, cut arm- and leg-holes and taped those openings together. Emily blew up several dozen water balloons with air and placed them inside the layered bags - instant gum balls! We taped the top of the bag, and turned it down to make a casing that we put a drawstring through, thus allowing it to be drawn in at the neck. Next, we devised a valve and placed it on her shoulder, so that if the bag needed reinflating along the way, it would be easy for her to get to. The result, though not as perfectly round as would have been ideal, was pretty cute!
We carved our infamous jack-o-lanterns - two this year - and were quite proud of the results.
We had a spooky tree...
... and a haunted house.
All in all, a success - though we don't have as much candy around here as usual! Whatever shall we do?!
