Happy Halloween, everyone!
I’m sure that there are lots of scarier places to spend
Halloween than Witch Falls – like a castle in Transylvania, one of those
amusement park Halloween nights, or New York City any day of the year (just
kidding!); but I love how we celebrate Halloween in our hometown.
Before I get started on the report, we – the kids and teens
of Witch Falls – need to give a big shout out to Mother Nature for stopping the
rain we’ve had going on for nearly three full days now just in time for us to
go trick-or-treating. Things weren’t
looking good for us when it was still coming down fairly steadily when we were
set free from school, but then it pretty much just stopped; and we were able to
go out and have our fun without getting more than a few drips on us from sodden
trees and porch overhangs.
The rain kept us indoors for Tai Chi again, though we may
not get many chances to exercise by the river again between now and spring
anyway. Michael stayed for breakfast because
Ethan and Ehlana used their dimples, hugs, and kisses on him; so we both needed
to rush around to get ready for school once he headed home again. Our morning classes were just something to do
while waiting for the Halloween parties and Haunted House; and then the fun
really kicked into high gear.
Mom brought Ethan and Ehlana over to the school for the
first part of our Halloween party so that Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I had our
Ewoks with us; and we were able to take them to the Haunted House while the
kindergarten class was doing that in the gymnasium – and the teen ‘scarers’
were under strict orders to be on their very best behavior with the little
kids. The fright level of the Haunted
House went up as the afternoon went on; so we went through again when it was
our class’s turn to be scared by the teens – after Ethan and Ehlana had moved
on to their own Halloween party at KidZone.
While our costumes didn’t win any prizes, Ethan and Ehlana
definitely stole the show with their Ewok outfits and act. They’d put a lot of effort into mimicking
their characters; and were adorable as they waddled around and babbled nonsense
at everyone. Ethan was particularly good
at ‘angry Ewok’ the few times some of the guys tried teasing them – or picking
on me again for not dressing up as ‘Jabba the Hutt, slave-girl Leia’. I’m glad that my friends had so much fun with
those jokes, but I plan on being more careful with my costume choice next year.
Playing with Ethan and Ehlana and the Haunted House in the
gym were the highlights of the afternoon for me; but the party in our classroom
was fun too. I’d like to say that the
snacks were good, but Rowen and I didn’t get to try very many of them; partly
because the guys had demolished a lot of them while we were doing the first run
through the Haunted House with Michael, Tim, Ethan, and Ehlana. The games that Uncle Nick – Mr. Ayres – had
for us got razzed about by the guys, but we still had fun; and I didn’t see
anyone turning down the little bags of Halloween candy that he gave out for
prizes.
We had no homework to do tonight, but Michael still needed
to help out at the Inn before going trick-or-treating with us tonight; so he
went straight to the Inn after school while
Tim and Rowen came home with me. I would
have gone to the Inn with Michael, but Mom was
busy today; Alicia was taking the night off; and I needed to help out by
watching Ethan and Ehlana. While Mom
popped over to check up on Aunt Leanne and Zack, we mostly played video games
in the lounge. Ethan and Ehlana told us
about their party at KidZone; we had some Olde Bakery Halloween snacks; and Tim
helped Ethan regain some video gaming credibility by winning every match they
played against Rowen, Ehlana, and me. To
be fair to Michael and Ethan, though, Tim wouldn’t agree to play any ‘girly’
games; so they had an advantage that Michael didn’t have on Monday night.
Mom went with a quick and easy dinner night, so it didn’t
take long to cook up pans of smiley-face fries and pub-style chicken
strips. For the record, teen guys can
make fun of smiley-face fries all they want, but they’re not fooling anyone – especially
a girl with very strong empathy. It
really wouldn’t ruin your reps to admit that you love those fries, guys!
Even with the easy-meal we still needed to rush around a bit
to get back into our costumes – and for Rowen and I do touch up our hair while
getting back into warrior-princesses mode.
Michael joined us with enough time to get into his costume too; and then
Dad took a bunch of pictures of us – first in the living room; and then
outside, where we were surrounded by the Halloween decorations and
jack-o-lanterns.
The biggest change this year for trick-or-treating was
having a lot more places on our collective must-visit list. Having Grandma and Grandpa home for Halloween
this year, and getting to stop in at their house, was one of the best moments
for Ethan, Ehlana, and me; but then so were the visits with all of our favorite
people tonight. It’s a good thing that
we took the stroller with us, because even Ethan and Ehlana would have run out
of steam if they’d tried walking for the entire two hours we were out and going
from door-to-door. Tim especially liked
having the stroller along for storage of our loot – and he’s also convinced
that going with Ethan and Ehlana earned all of us bonus treats. He’s probably right about that, but then we
also ended up going to more houses than Rowen and I ever have visited in any
other year since I moved here.
We had a lot of fun as we wandered our way around town. Michael, Tim, and Ethan regularly needed to
have lightsaber battles, and while Rowen, Ehlana, and I occasionally took turns
doing that too; we mostly left the displays of derring-do to the boys. It was fun watching Michael and Ethan apply
Tai Chi to their lightsaber battles; though only a handful of people in town
would even realize they’d been doing that.
The three of them might make the town intranet news tomorrow –
especially if some of the pictures that were taken of them get posted. There were at least a half-dozen taken of
Ewok-Ethan ‘winning’ two-on-one battles against both Jedi Knights.
While spending Halloween night with my boyfriend was number
one for new experiences tonight, trick-or-treating in the new section of town
was cool too. Even though there were
only three houses to visit so far, I wasn’t surprised to see that a lot of kids
made the trek – even though it was a lot of extra walking. Of course the fact that the new doctor, the
owners of the Olde Bakery, and one of our favorite teachers lived in those
homes influenced those decisions; and we were not disappointed.
Okay, I’m related to one of the couples and Ethan and Ehlana
are best friends with Naomi and Aiden, so we might have gotten special
treatment; but Tim’s probably right that our Ewoks earned us some bonus treats
just about everywhere we went tonight.
Munching on way too much candy over the next few weeks won’t actually be
a problem for me, but Rowen and I will probably both take Tim up on his offer
to help us out with any candy we don’t want to keep – or get sick of having
before we run out. I’d suggest that Dad
would want some too, but Ethan and Ehlana have enough to keep the candy jars at
the law office filled at least until Thanksgiving.
Moving along, we hit our end of town – and the new section –
first; moved south to do a loop that included all of our relatives in that
area; continued into the southwest corner of town; and wrapped up with a stroll
along Witch Falls Road that included a stop at the Inn to see Michael’s
parents. By then, the dinner rush was
over, so Miranda and Jacob both had time for a little break with us that
included more pictures before we headed home for the night. Rowen and Tim only stayed long enough to help
with our trick-or-treating recap and to grab their computers and book bags
before leaving; but Michael stayed and helped me with getting Ethan and Ehlana
ready for bed while Mom and Dad stayed out on the front porch and handled the
last few kids and teens still trying to make the rounds of the entire town
before Halloween was finished for another year.
We ended up doing the bedtime story and hot drinks on the
front porch too, and Jacob and Miranda caught the tail end of that after
finishing up at the Inn. Michael went home with his parents, but I
took him inside for our goodnight kiss first.
We still got teased about that, but at least Miranda couldn’t do a
play-by-play commentary on our performance.
Dad had work to do in the office, so I helped Mom with getting Ethan and
Ehlana tucked into their beds; and then we did my Magi lesson in the office for
nearly an hour before I was set free and came up to my room.
I wasn’t planning on doing any major work tonight, but it’s
taken a while to wind down; so I did my archive homework instead of just laying
in bed and staring at the ceiling for an hour or two. This was yet another really great day, and
though I seem to repeat this a lot; a big part of the great comes from sharing most
of the fun with Michael – and with Rowen and Tim. Now that Halloween is over, and because I
really want that fun with my best friends to continue; I think that it’s time
to spend a little more time concentrating on getting Tim and Rowen together in
a more serious sort of way. It’s
officially November first now, and I think that a goal of getting them dating
by Christmas is definitely do-able.
Maybe Rowen and I can talk about that tomorrow night while Michael and
Tim are away at the football game.
That might even count as getting more involved like the Magi
Council wants me to do; though that probably isn’t what they had in mind. ;^)
We’d normally be in for some quiet time during the first
couple of weeks of November before gearing up for Thanksgiving and Christmas,
but I don’t expect that to happen this year.
That’s mostly because we have a new baby in the family; Michael and Tim
will make sure that Rowen and I are much more involved with football this year
– especially the high school playoffs; and we have new activities – like band –
that we haven’t had before. Maybe
Michael and I will even manage to find some alone time now and then while
dealing with everything else we have on the go.
Don’t laugh – it could happen!
Since I can get a bit of extra sleep tonight, and just in
case Michael and I do get an opportunity for some quality time together
sometime this weekend; I’m going to wrap this up, put my computer away, and
hopefully have a few happy dreams that include Michael in a starring role.
Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
