I’m finally getting good at this whole Halloween thing. Phew. Took me long enough!
For instance, now I know it’s not a good idea to shop for a costume on October 31. Canadians take Halloween seriously and the aisles will be either empty, either already full of elves and Santa Claus—Christmas takes over the moment the first Halloween candy is eaten.
I also learned that with typical single-digit temperatures on Halloween night, a jacket, hat and maybe mittens are not optional. That a thirty-minute trick-or-treating tour will yield more candies, chocolate bars and chips you will want to eat. That some suburban houses have better decorations than any fair’s haunted house. That sometimes, it’s not decorations but an actual crime scene.
This year, I shopped for Mark’s costume early in October. After checking out a few options in Halloween stores—these giant seasonal party supplies warehouses in business for just a few weeks—I bought a hooded top and pants with a skeleton print in white at H&M. For $30, it was a great pick. It’s soft, warm, and unlike most traditional Halloween costumes made of cheap, flimsy fabric, Mark can actually wear this one to lounge around at home. He loved it, especially the hood.
We went trick-or-treating at my in-laws’ place, in far, far away suburbia, where houses are new, big and where people are really into Halloween. Of course, I caught a virus over the weekend and I had a fever of 40°C so I can’t say I was really able to keep up with Mark’s sugar-fuelled enthusiasm, but we had a good time.
And now, we had a giant bucket of treats to eat.
What a cute little skeleton 🙂
It’s fairly quiet around here, though a few people did go all out with the decor. I think it’s one of these holidays that is more enjoyable when you have a kiddo though 🙂 (or when you’re 20 and want to go get drunk at a dress up party)
And I totally stocked up on chocolate bars for the year yesterday, it all went on sales lol
Definitely more fun with a kid! Before Mark, we would just leave a basket of candies outside and go see a movie 😆
These houses look VERY familiar, Mattamy in Barrhaven ?
Some people went overboard with halloween decoration, Disneyland has some serious competition !
Yes, we were at my in-laws’ in Barrhaven. Not sure about Mattamy but around Half-Moon Bay (I’m forever lost in Barrhaven, all these new developments look the same!)
Do you live around there?
Yes, I live in Half-Moon Bay. Indeed, all houses look the same…
Halloween is great here because there are many families with young kids. We ran out of candies before 7…
This is so funny, you must be a block from my in-laws, then. Eh, maybe we saw you! Did you have any decorations?
I bet when you were a teen in France, you never imagined that one day you’d have a hand sticking out of your car trunk…
I definitely choose my costume based on whether it’ll be warm enough for walking around outside!
Hope you’re feeling better!
NE-VER 😆
That would be my next step: actually dressing up for Halloween. I was going to buy a mask but I didn’t get the chance this year!
It looks like you guys had so much fun! This was our first year having trick or treaters and I loved it! Although I did get tired constantly standing up and sitting back down to go to the door so by 7:30 I turned off the lights and went into the den with the leftover sweeties!
It can be brutal sometimes! I remember, some years we had hundreds of kids… then it tapered off as most families moved to bigger houses in newer developments.
Mark looks adorable
Aw, thank you!
The concept of Halloween, even considering the fact that one can only trick-or-treat on willing houses, is disturbing. Basically, it is racket, requiring candies under the threat of retaliation.
It is super weird. I thought the same when we did it this year. You basically keep on telling your kids to avoid strangers and never eat food a stranger gives you and then one day a year, you do the exact opposite.
ha ha; Mark looks cute, the photo with hand out of the car trunk is pretty awesome 🙂
We didn’t suit up but we carved a pretty mean Pumpkin 🙂 I find Halloween quite interesting, it’s fun
Oh cool! Picture of the pumpkin?
Great pumpkin pictures. I especially liked the cat. Cool costume for Mark.
Did Mark say “Trick or Treat” or “Halloween Apples”? I know the PC crowd thinks that “Trick or Treat” sounds too much like extortion.
Really?
“Give me your money or I’ll break your kneecap!” It is not extorsion, it is just that I need money.
Never heard of “Halloween Apples”! All the kids (including Mark) used the trick-or-treat line.
OH EM GEE…Mark is the cutest skeleton I ever see!
I don’t get some people in Jakarta “celebrate” this event too…like the decorations in big shopping mall. I wonder why…out of 200+++ countries in the world, they eagerly adapt USA culture.