All Hallows' Eve

"Cheesy."

That was Cayenne's reaction to the Haunted House at the Elk's Lodge on Friday night. Of course, her sweaty palms still clenched mine in a death grip and just moments before she'd been yelling, "Get me out of here!" I guess she thought we'd already forgotten that bit.

Lucky for her, ten minutes later we were at a party with another haunted house - maybe this one wouldn't be so cheesy? She stood, feet planted: "I am not going in there." I hate to admit that I forced her to, but I wanted her to be able to join in the excitement at school when the other kids would be going on about Sasha's haunted house. Her parents Kris and David did a fabulous job, and Cayenne was suitably horrified. She told me later she was glad she'd gone through it but at the time, when a dead David rose out of his coffin and she ran out screaming, I wasn't so sure...

But isn't that what this whole strange tradition is about?

The weekend started at school on Friday with a costume parade wherein Acacia was a figure skater and Cayenne the Goddess of Autumn.

Unfortunately I decapitated Acacia's great friend Claudia. I had to take the shot quickly before Cayenne's class paraded by.

The snake of kids winds through the school and passes outside where the parents await. Cayenne's class danced to the Monster Mash, and here Acacia's class is watching them boogie by. 

Little Bo Beep is one of Cayenne's closest friends. Behind Bo Beep is "An Open Book." Isn't that awesome? Her homemade costumes are always excellent.

But skates aren't the best footwear to run around in, and Cayenne forgot her leaves at school, so by the evening they'd morphed into a 70s rocker and the Goddess of Spring.

Two more parties on Saturday - including one where we went on a Haunted Hayride, passing tombstones and spiderwebs under trees lit from below by the tractor's lights - and it wasn't even Halloween yet. On Sunday at my hockey game a teammate mentioned he'd heard a senator was trying to pass a bill to make Halloween the last Saturday in October, so it wouldn't ever fall on a school night. I vote "Yea!"

On Monday we walked up to the Thomases' for their annual pre-trick-or-treating taco bar. Kristin made shrunken heads (baked apple faces with clove eyes) for the cider and loads of neighbours came to enjoy it. I love living somewhere long enough to be part of local traditions.

The girls trick-or-treated in a group of about 15 kids. Fun! See Cayenne? It's not all about blood and gore...

                                   

...right?...