Halloween in the arctic

My son, my sister and I headed out for a little " trick or treating" tonight. Before doing so, we had to prepare with our gloves, hats, long johns, handwarmers, etc because it was around 30 degrees. Here, it seems tradition to be pretty darn cold on Halloween. 3 years ago, there was a thin layer of ice on the ground which made walking from house to house somewhat of a scary experience itself. These are the time I miss East coast Octobers...... and wish we had a fireplace.

The little boy went as the RED ranger from the Power Rangers. Being the slackers we are, my sister wore an old Fed Ex uniform and I wore one of her old lab coats, a stethoscope, and a ball cap. Nobody was sure if I was going for a doctor or a butcher, but I wanted the ball cap for warmth.

The folks in this neighborhood are awesome about this time of year. Scores of homes were participating and many had decorated their homes with either Halloween or fall decor.

2 of the houses we visited had a scary scene set up. In one, they had their garage open, draped with black sheets and things glowing due to a black light. 2 witches were there and were rather friendly. They didn't scare the little guy at all. Sitting in a chair was a scarecrow with his head bent over and a bowl of candy in his lap. The witches told the kids to get the candy from the bowl. As they reached into it, the 'scarecrow' came alive. He lifted his head to show his pale lined face and grabbed the kids arms. Oh my. That sure took my guy by surprise. He wasn't even sure how to react - whether to scream or cry. It didn't help that his aunt and myself were cracking up hysterically. I don't think he ever put the "trick" part into the equation. He recovered fairly quickly. I hope he'll get the hang of the whole "scary" theme as we go on. He's not currently a big fan of either pranks or the blood and guts thing.

Another highlight was one of the adult costumes. There was a guy in a "real" storm trooper costume - white everything - and even a voice changer. That costume was impressive. There was a gentleman at one of the houses we stopped at that was joking saying that the adults get into more than the kids. He then commented on what the storm trooper's outfit might have cost. Funny where adult minds go. Regardless, it was awesome.

After about an hour of freezing our butts off and then possessing a plastic pumpkin very full with candy, the Red ranger decided to call it a night. It's much nicer when your kid says he's had enough than to cut them off.

We returned home where he then proceeded to give out candy to tricker treaters who stopped by. All in all, a good night. Totally worth a little frost bite. :-)