Halloween

I do love Halloween. So much so that I started decorating the house on the 1st of October and It took the rest of the neighborhood a couple weeks to catch up. On the approach to the house visitors were greeted with these…

The porch itself looked like this…

Jane - rather wisely - gave me a budget, which I – rather surprisingly - came in well under. All I can say is that the dollar-shops over here are GOLD for holiday decorations. Most of the stuff in the pics was dirt cheap, and all of it is now packed away in tubs for the return to Australia. Next year will probably have the most decorated house in all of Canberra. Actually, Halloween next year may be a bit rough on the kids. They have really enjoyed these last two Halloweens. Lillian spent the fortnight after this year asking if she could put her costume on and go trick or treating again. I’ll have to try and arrange for *something* with the rest of Charlton st. Fortunately, it’s a fairly small street. And while we are on the topic, here is what Birmo has to say on the subject of Australia and Halloween…

Time-for-a-fair-dinkum-halloween-party-cobbers

Anyway, we started the evening by taking the kids up to the Governor General's (GG) park, where the GG - dressed as a pirate complete with tin-foil sword - was greeting visitors (that is him in the 2nd picture) before they embarked upon a scary pirate-walk to collect their bag of treasure. 

We ran into something at least as scary (and amusing ) as pirates on the walk home. Yep, Dame Edna.
















Upon our return, Jane and the kids went out trick or treating while I took door-duty. I gave out 8lbs of candy between 5:30 and 9pm, and would have needed at least double that if we had been closer to the main street. By the time it was all over the kids were exhausted, and Tom fell asleep in a chair downstairs before being carried up to bed. Of course now they expect candy after dinner every night. Sometimes they even get it.