Happy Halloween! We have been celebrating the entire month of October. Scott decided to invite a few friends over for a small party on Friday night. He just had a few friends over which made it easy to entertain. Scott  set up scary movies outside with our projector and they also played video games outside on the big screen. Beforehand we spent lots of time decorating inside and out. The weather was pleasant on Halloween weekend, but we set up our bonfire in the driveway just in case it cooled off in the evening. I bought the kids lots of Halloween snacks and treats, including the fixins for s'mores. The problem was, the kids did not want to spend time around the campfire when they could be playing games or watching movies. Next year we will have to  move the screen over to the garage door so you can watch movies and enjoy a bonfire at the same time!

 Scott was also invited to a Halloween Party on Saturday night and they enjoyed a bonfire while playing games and singing songs. Before the bonfire though, the hostess planned a Murder Mystery game for the whole group. They had to search for clues in the woods behind the house, and then solve a mystery. Plus they all dressed up in costumes and they served dinner to all the kids. They had a great time. And Scott enjoyed another opportunity to dress up as Dr Who. He also wore his costume to the Boy Scout meeting the week before, and dressed as Dr Who for the Homecoming week. He and Tom have discovered the wonders of the BBC Dr Who show and usually watch a recorded session before heading out to school early in the morning. He also got to wear part of his costume to work at the roller blade rink. However, the rink was a bit slow over the Halloween weekend. I think everyone was out enjoying the beautiful weather.

I  decided to have the neighbors over for a dinner party. We skipped the whole Halloween theme party this year and went with an Ocktoberfest theme instead. Its just that there were not as many guests available this year. Most of our neighbors were out of town, so it was a small group. Still more people than showed up at our house for a Walking Dead premiere. That was a Sunday night, so it made it difficult for people to drop in. I had to sit and watch the terrible premier of my favorite show all by myself(one of the main characters was killed and it wasn't pretty). So I invited neighbors over for pork and brats with homemade sauerkraut for dinner. And apple pie for dessert! Before the party I picked up my mom and left her at the beauty salon to get her hair done while I ran a few more errands before heading to our house for dinner. She seemed to enjoy the meal and the company and so did the rest of the guests.

On Halloween Monday the kids were out of school. Scott had to work at the roller blade rink which meant Tom and I had to take turns dropping off and picking up from work. He decided to spend his evening passing out candy and playing video games online with his friends.  When he got home from work we were busy setting up for the trick or treaters(turning on lights and setting up scary music and carving his pumpkin). It made for an entertaining Halloween experience. As one trick or treater reported "I Love Your Stuff!". And it seemed to work. We had 150-200 kids at our house! We kept count by passing out large candy bars we bought on sale at Costco. Kids usually came in large groups-10-12 kids at a time. We kept busy running to the door from 6-830pm that night. And since it was so nice outside, I decided to dress Cookie up in her Hot Dog costume and take her for a walk around the neighborhood to check out all the costumes and decorations. Cookie just loves being out with all the kids, and they all have to stop and pet "The Hot Dog"! I also stopped in for a drink with our neighbors. They put out a 6 foot, sound activated Frankenstein on their front porch that moved his arms and his eyes and bolts lit up. Very cool. They dressed their dog in a Taco suit! It was funny to see a Hot Dog and Taco running around the house. We didn't have a lot of leftover candy, but my co workers are always happy to help us finish up the leftovers.

Allison also had a chance to celebrate Halloween at school. She and her roommates carved pumpkins and made pumpkin cookies. She then convinced her boyfriend Tyler to visit and she and her roommate double dated to a Haunted House. Allison is actually the only one who really enjoys the experience. We introduced her to a Boy Scout run event in Delaware when she started college. The Cemetery House takes you over to an old abandoned house via Hay Ride. You walk through the fields, an old bus and then make your way through several out buildings until you walk through the main house. Lots of scary people in masks, lights, smoke and noise which can be very annoying, scary and fun. The group got the whole experience! During the day they enjoyed an outing to the local Salisbury Zoo for a round of Pokemon Go. Looks like they had a wonderful fall weekend.