Happy Halloween 2005!

Happy Halloween Past! If last night was any indication of what is to come once Alyzabeth is here then we have some fun, fun, fun, coming our way next year! Not to mention – tired, tired, tired! My sister Mia is visiting along with her husband Mike and children Matt, Michael, & Madison. They flew in to Miami earlier this week so Mike and Matt could attend a University of Miami football game. The “Canes” won so smiles abound (I need to add here that the Gators also won this past weekend, beating the Georgia Bulldogs in a game commonly referred to as the “worlds largest outdoor cocktail party”.) Go Gators! I digress – back to Halloween. My sister is HUGE into celebrating any holiday that Hallmark has designed a card for. She comes by this naturally – Mia and mom were well known for decorating everything including the dogs to give a home that “festive” look and feel. It was always a spirit raiser to be sure. So, it was no surprise that she wanted to celebrate Halloween while the kids were here in Florida. This was also to be Madison’s first Halloween. No problem - we all loaded up and headed south to our daughter's home in Palatka, Florida. Leaa D & husband Jesse are expecting their first born in April. Some of Leaa’s teacher friends told her that the place to go was a local church that hosted a “trunk or treat” festival. Aly and I talked this over with Mia and Mike and the decision was a GO! Part 1 of the great Halloween Boo Bash was set. Next came finalizing plans for Part 2 of the 2005 Halloween Boo Bash with our son Justin, who also lives in Palatka. For Justin and Kelly this would mark our granddaughter’s second time out trick or treating and they had an idea about what we needed to do! Last week we loaded up our trailer and took down some lawn equipment and a pressure washer for Justin and Kelly to use. We left the trailer with them. It was during that time that Kelly envisioned the trailer as making a great HALLOWEEN HAY RIDE for the kids. I admit I was more than a little nervous about the hay ride thing. With kids and adults hanging off a trailer being towed behind the truck; creeping ever so slowly through neighborhoods swarming with big kids and itty bitty teeny weenie kids, I kept having this horrible nightmare of hearing “squish”. Let me tell you, things went great. The church festival was a hoot. They were serving a sit-down dinner out on the church grounds. They had a stage with music and tons of games for the kids everywhere. The neatest thing however, had to be the “trunk or treat” thing. It was awesome. A bunch of the church members had backed in their cars and trucks in a huge circle around the activities and on a cue from the stage the kids all lines up and began trunk or treating. The car trunk lids were open and truck tailgates were down and the whole thing was just so well organized. It was nice not having to worry about the kids running out into the road and you felt more relieved about not having to worry about “bad things” in the candy. It was great. Thanks Leaa D… Then we headed over to Justin and Kelly’s and loaded up for the Hay Ride! By this time it was dark and I kept imagining every horrible thing that could go wrong – everything from being ran over from behind to kids falling off under the wheels. You name it I was worrying about it. Justin and Kelly had the trailer decorated with the hay bales and a glowing pumpkin, we hooked up to the truck and off we went with Justin following behind us for “protection”. Folks, things could not have gone any better. The neighborhood Justin and Kelly picked out was perfect. Everyone who walked by kept pointing at the “hay ride trailer” and saying what a great idea it was. Little kids wanted to climb on for rides. (Sorry, we had to say no). We crept up and down the streets with the kids and adults climbing off and on so they could run up to a group of homes and then it was on down the street to the next candy tart & chocolate bar we would go. The kids had fun, the parents had fun, the grandparents had fun and NO ONE GOT RAN OVER! (Ok – so I worried too much, I confess). Thanks Justin & Kelly… Needless to say, the kids were all tired along with the grown-ups by the time we got back to Justin and Kelly’s place. I’m sure the kids slept well last night, I know we certainly did. Something tells me that as the “candy sugar rush” kicks in, a lot of hyper kids will be the norm for the rest of this week! Happy Halloween Past Everyone !!!