Halloween 2012- Gangnam style. Not really.

I'll have to admit that Halloween was hard for me this year. I missed my friends in Kansas so much. And I missed, well... Kansas! It just didn't feel like Halloween in South Alabama. I couldn't get in the spooky spirit when I was wearing shorts and T-shirts and there were only a handful of yellow leaves. I missed my girlfriends and our Halloween traditions. I missed my kids trick or treating with their best friends.

But, I rallied. I am Claire Dunphy Lauren Webster after all and I do love Halloween. So there.

Before I share pics of our Halloween, I will have to step back and describe the neighborhood we moved into. It is lovely and picturesque and wonderful. And for some reason it attracts every single trick or treater within a 20 mile radius. I kid. Kind of.

We were warned about Halloween here before we moved in, but we ignored the warning signs. I could go on and on, but let me just say that police block off the entrance to our subdivision so only residents can drive in. Everyone else parks at a business center and walks in. Or buses drop them off. Every resident has to have a sticker on their car to enter on Halloween and guests have to have their name on a list and they must provide police the address of the house they are going to. It is NUTS! It felt like a block party instead of a neighborhood night of trick or treating. We bought nearly $100 (I know, I know) in candy and were out by 7:20. And that was us giving everyone one piece of candy and we were gone ourselves for 45 minutes. I think we had 1200 people by our count and again we shut off our porch light at 7:20. The streets were still packed.

Okay, let me back up. Our neighborhood has a really fun festival at the park in the middle of our subdivision the week before Halloween. How cool is it that we can load up our wagon and walk to this Festival? I love it here!

Here is the vendor taking our peanut and cotton candy to the neighborhood Fall Festival

Another shot of our beautiful walk. I love all the houses here with white picket fences and front porches. Such a great neighborhood for kids.

The popcorn wasn't so sure about this. She needed a nap.

Wonderful afternoon

Except we had tired kids when we got home. Can I just say that I love this picture? It's a keeper.

We carved our pumpkins like we do every year. 

And roasted the seeds. Rob's favorite.

And now here's the tricky situation regarding future Webster Halloweens. My kids want to pick out their own costumes. WHAT? You mean dressing up with their parents in rolls of pink tulle isn't appealing? What is the matter with these two? I knew this day was coming. And it is just as awful as I knew it would be.

Fortunately this year, it was fine. Our family costumes were cheap and easy. Red bowties, aprons, white and red felt, pink tulle... and voila. I did order Will's peanut costume, but I did it with Amazon credit. So we were okay doing two costumes this year, but unless we can figure out a cheap idea for next year, Rob and I will force Lainey to be a trio with us, and the older two can do what they want. Tragic.

So, anyway, Bennett wanted to be Merida from Brave and Will wanted to be a horse. I convinced him that a cowboy riding a horse was just a little bit cooler. Fortunately they obliged. So here they are trick or treating  at their preschool in their preferred costumes.

Cutest kids ever!!! But I digress. The night before Halloween was so exciting. Most families do matching Christmas PJ's. Not us. Okay, so we do both. I have a problem.

And here is our new house ready for Halloween. Keep in mind I took these shots before Rob had the strobe light and fog machine going.  And it's not at night so you can't see the orange lights wrapped around the porch. And obviously you can't hear the spooky music playing from the upstairs window where Rob hid a Buzz Lightyear CD player filled with creepy music on our roof. Maybe he's the one with the problem.

Notice that our house fell on the Wicked Witch of the East. Fabulous.

Our plan was to have a quick dinner at 5, get the kids in costume, trick or treat ourselves for a bit, and then hand out candy to the masses around 6. Yeah, right. As Rob was just getting the fog machine into place at 4:30 he yelled inside the house, "Ummmm.... the first wave is coming." What? This is what the entrance to our neighborhood looked like at FOUR THIRTY! Let the madness begin.

Yeah, ummmm... change of plans. Forget dinner. Forget getting our own kids in costume. We started furiously handing out candy at 4:30 instead. But we managed to get the kids dressed and head out to do a little candy grabbing of our own in between waves.

Aren't the adorable?? I just love these little guys.

 Had to get this shot because they reminded me so much of my little Peter Pan and Hook from last year. And just compare these two pics for a second. Look at the throngs of people ahead of Rob and Will in the first picture and then look at our peaceful and quiet neighborhood in the shot from last year. I've never seen anything like it.

  

Candy, candy, candy

We got home and started furiously passing out candy to the lines of trick or treaters. My kids didn't even have time to take off their costumes before they had to help Daddy.

.

And it went on until we ran out of candy. The crowds never let up. 

Whew! But I will say that as crazy as it was here, Rob and I loved it. Every house was decorated to the hilt. Here is an example of just one houses that we went to. And I would say the majority looked similar to this.

Nearly every adult handing out candy was in costume. It was such a fun and festive atmosphere. And let me just say that Phil Dunphy Rob Webster has huge plans for our house next year. Theme and all. I can't wait. Happy Halloween!