Happy Halloween

The anticipated week of Halloween has arrived! The kids were so excited to be their favorite Japanese cartoon characters this year. Abby was Doikinchan, Connor was Baikinman, and Brayden was Anpanman. They are all characters from the Japanese kids show called Anpanman. All the kids helped me put up the final details with decorations around the house such as the giant spider web that covers the entire front door that Connor thought was real and completely freaked out. I caved and let the kids wear their costumes at home the whole week after school because they were just sooooo excited. I don't know what it is about Halloween but I think it might be my kid's favorite holiday... even above Christmas!

I also got roped into being in charge of our Squadron trick or treat event. Every year we get together as a squadron (usually on the Friday night before Halloween) and let the kids go from office to office in the squadron where the pilots all hand out candy. It's always a fun activity, and my kids love going from room to room till they finally find Kyle and help him pass out candy and eat all the left overs in his candy bowl. For some reason this year they announced that they were not going to be doing the trick or treat cause no one was heading it up to put it together or organize it. Of course I have a hard time saying no and got suckered into stepping up and was put in charge of the event so it would actually happen this year. Luckily it wasn't too difficult to organize. Everyone brought a treat to put in the squadron bar to share, and the LPA supplied the candy to hand out to the kids. I coordinated the time with the gate pick up for families and decorated the squadron hall with cob webs and pumpkin lights to create the "ambiance." Since it is our last Halloween here in Misawa I am glad I stepped up and made the event happen. All the other parents and kids were excited as well so it definitely got our Halloween weekend off on the right foot.

The very next night it was our Ward trunk or treat. So you know what that means, more candy! We purposely showed up late just so we could skip the chili cook off portion and attend only the trunk or treat part before leaving and putting our kids to bed, but they reversed the order of the evening and we barely made it at the end of the truck or treat! I am glad we at least made it cause my kids would have been hysterical if they missed it and that would of caused a long night of tears and screams that this momma was not prepared for.

Finally the night of Halloween came. We have hated living on base, but I will say the one thing that does make it fun to live on base is on Halloween! I love how we can just go up our street and see all our friends, everyone is out going door to door, and we can be back home all within 20 minutes. It's the best. Halloween on base makes me think of what Halloween must have been like back in the 50's. Kids just running around without parent's constant supervision, parents gathering in the cul-de-sack to talk, fire pits along the way where neighbors pass out hot cocoa and cider, it really is so much fun. I am definitely going to miss the close knit atmosphere of trick or treat on our north base street once we move to Arizona.

We took our wagon around like we normally do, and Brayden just sat along for the ride while everyone oohed and ahhhed over how cute he was. Abby and Connor enjoyed running up ahead of us to the next door, but often would get scared if it was a darker entrance and wait for us to help them. They also needed lots of reminders to say "trick or treat" and "thank you" cause they often would just stick out their candy bags expecting candy to magically fall into them. We are still working on the whole process, but we will get there one day. Happy Halloween from our Anpanman obsessed gang. It's crazy to think this time next year we will be trick or treating in warm, sunny Arizona! No more costume hunting for warm costumes, the possibilities are endless!