Its not just Halloween... Its a Marathon

Strap your seat-belts folks... this is going to be a long one! As most of you know Halloween is huge in our family... and I mean HUGE. We do a lot of Trick-Or-Treating and various other holiday fun to party hearty before the snow flies. I love all the creepiness around this time of year when the leaves are turning and the flowers are dying making the landscapes look entirely different. Over the past decade I have had the pleasure of handing this love of Halloween down to my Stepdaughter Kyra and she is buying into all the fun finally. So much so that she requested her mother and I switch weekends so that she could be with us for all the fun! I took vacation for much of the week before the holiday so I would not have that feeling of being rushed but as we all know... Miss Trina is in a perpetual state of hurry... I just cant help it--- there is always so much to be done.

The first of these creepy and cool days was on Friday the 26th. Originally the plan was to take the girls to Sweet Street which is an indoor trick-or-treating event near the stadium so they could brush up on their skills before we set out in the various neighborhoods. However this wasn't to be because number one our day started late, and number two I had a few things on the docket to be sold (again my addiction to online rummage sales both hinders and helps my family) but it ended up being okay because it was a relaxed morning and early afternoon. My dear sweet mother picked up my house which looked like a tornado had blown threw (named: Bella con Via) while Kyra and I spent a few hours going through the costume closets (yes that was plural) and quickly decided what we all would be sporting for the next few days. Kyra was off of school today so we got to spend it however we pleased... number one on her list: out for Chinese deliciousness for lunch. She also came up on some fake fingernails that she had gotten from her Grandma-Nana (Tim's mom) a few years back and desperately wanted to wear them (I got her to wait a week but then I caved in and let her glue daggers to her fingers--- not my best move but she loved it). Anyways, We loaded up the car and headed out to my parents after the girls and I met Karla, Sharon and Jeremy for a quick ice cream treat at the McDonald's right by our house. It was great to see them before our jam-packed weekend. The girls had ice cream Sundays while I being the busy bee that I am loaded up on iced coffee to attack the rest of my day (I don't like ice cream- I know... cRaZy). Anyhoo- we scooted our buns out to my parents home where my father was waiting to take Katie to ZooBoo. None of us had ever gone to the Zoo for Trick-Or-Treating but I figured Dad would have fun teaching Bella about the various animals and Katie would have a blast walking around begging for candy. She wore her 2nd costume which was a giant chicken that at the last minute she suggested a white boa for a more "feathered" look... and boy was she right! (Sidenote: the girls have been watching the classic Casper movies and our newly found vocabulary consists of "Oh Boy" "you don't say" "my goodness" Bella now refers to me as "Mother" and various other phrases that have long been lost over the decades... Sidenote #2 bella asked me to paint her face "dark" so that she could go Trick-Or-Treating as a blackface- whoops! which is not something that I would have expected but those old movies sure had their racial slangs and slurs... ahhhh more to correct) At any rate Katie had fun running around the zoo with my dad while my mom watched Via because Kyra and I were off on an adventure: Her very FIRST haunted house-woohoo! I promised her I would be kind this time and not purposely scare her like I did 5 years ago at Heritage Hill (ask me sometime--- the story is hilarious). I was trying to teach her all the tricks of a haunted house and along the way I must have freaked her out because she started balling... Sh*t! I recovered nicely though and as we stood in line some of her friends from school noticed her (girls that otherwise think she is "scum" her words definitely not mine) so I think she felt pretty cool and mustered the courage to continue forward. I must say I was pretty impressed with the whole set up they did out in Brussels, Wi (20 mins north into nowhere from my parents house) there was a corn maze, a creepy clown bus ride in black light, haunted forest trail and then the house itself which at first I had my reservations as to whether they could pull off a decent house. But I was wrong in my anticipation of this being mediocre for Kyra's first experience, because it was pretty darn good (being the haunted house expert that I am) and for only ten bucks! Good thing we wore our long johns (which she didn't know what that means---what?!?) because it was a chilly 32 degrees standing in line for over an hour. New on our list is to watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Shinning... we may wait a few years for those.

Saturday was met with great anticipation by all three girls and myself (my number three newly found favorite day of the year behind Halloween and Thanksgiving/Black Friday) where we go as a group to Trick-Or-Treat in a neighborhood right outside Appleton called Sherwood (40 minute drive). I have only fond memories of going house to house here with both my parents, the girls, AJ and Anna and this year even Timmy went along. The wagon my parents brought was a life saver this year because our little ghost and giraffe got tuckered out an hour and a half into it and elected to dive right into the Halloween candy to recharge their tiny batteries. Sweet sweet Anna went off with Kyra in their quest to get to as many houses as possible by the end of the two hour event. They actually run this sucker! Which has paid off year after year because the candy turnout is well worth the effort. Typically they think that Anna is Kyra's older sister so Kyra loves the extra attention she gets. However a few sporadic drunks make it a little uncomfortable for my 12year old stepdaughter who was dressed like a cheerleader (I am sure you can imagine) but she took it in stride and I hope she didn't understand some of the comments yet... I hope but in all reality she is a smart cookie so I think she did. Luckily she is smart enough to play dumb for me-ha! After our two hour hike we drove back to Green Bay and caught a bite to eat at 5 guys burgers and fries and had a blast sitting around visiting with AJ and Anna before they went home to Milwaukee. On the way home we stopped and picked out Timmy's new glasses and had Kyra's nose-piece adjusted on her glasses so they wouldn't keep sliding off her face. Tim watched the girls for the evening so I could go out with my girlfriend Jackie Fuller and get into some trouble. Originally this would be the night we go to our buddy Ben's Bar for a Halloween costume contest but this year we decided we were going to make the one hour drive up to Marinette (in the deep north woods---  literally nowhere) to watch our friend and his band at a show. I was a little disappointed that I wasn't going to be dressed up for a social and "spirited" (ie: boozy) get together but I didn't want to look like a weirdo int the middle of nowhere and take the chance of being beat up... Well funny story- it turns out that once we got up there we saw Peewee Herman, popeye and a dead nurse... Sonofabiatch... now we totally stuck out because we were the only ones not dressed up- damn. At least we had pretty teeth though, I tell you what- if you want to make a mint... become a dentist in Marinette Wi... they need one BAD. It was a fun night with cheap beer and a few fistfights (none that I partook in) and  great stories for the ride back home.

Sunday I slept in which was awesome that Timmy got up with the girls because my brain hurt. Shortly after lunch the three girls and I set out to my parents again to get geared up for our next Trick-Or-Treating adventure. This time we were headed to Luxemburg Wisconsin which is only a 20 minute drive from my parents home. It was a chilly and sunny day but my dad had a bit of a cough so we left him home and made it a girls only day. Bella was a little clown with a mustache and a tricycle that she picked at the last minute to complete her look (which actually made her look like the little puppet dude from SAW when she peddled but I tried not to picture that while we were out and about). Kyra elected for the dead clown look (pretty impressive makeup if I do say so myself  cough cough) and my mother and I were just plain old clowns. Baby Via was a tiny little flower with a fancy white tutu but I thought she fit into the group because clowns have those fake flowers that squirt water into your face... and little Rosalitta is just like that--- a fresh face-full of water- ha! We had a blast for the most part until they got tired and then we sent Kyra walking and would meet her at the end of the street and eventually I drove them door to door on the culdusacs and they would just jump out, run to the doors and then run back to the nice warm car (again I reiterate how nice seat heaters are... I cant believe I lasted this long in Wisconsin without them). Kyra had to go back to Jades house so we had a quick supper of many delicious favorites at my Mom's (scalloped potatoes, homemade buns, chicken breasts, tortellini soup and roughly our weight in Halloween candy... cant let it go to waste right?) As Kyra was washing all the makeup off her face she came back into the kitchen looking pretty bummed out which I didn't understand cause we had such a great day. SO I asked her what the problem was and she just pointed to her face where I noticed the BLACK eyebrows...uh oh... school tomorrow will not go well with ridiculous looking eyebrows. I searched and searched for nail polish remover and then tried baby wipes... yet another use for those amazing inventions! I scooted home with the girls and I pretty much turned right around and was out the door to a haunted house with Jackie and her boyfriend Kyle (super nice guy by the way) in Two Rivers Wisconsin. Man do these little towns know how to do it right!!! Splatterhaus was awesome and definitely in my top five for creepiness and scare factor- they did a really good job!

About a month ago Tim and I entered into a verbal agreement in which I bargained for a weeks worth of unlimited (within reason of course) social allowance... so I cashed in knowing that Halloween was going to packed full of potential. Monday night I went with Jackie to yet another Haunted House this time in Alaska Wi...yes Alaska. Now THIS is in nowhere Wisconsin... like you would freeze to death next to the road because nobody would be driving past for hours and hours. This haunted hose was not scary at all but the creep factor was through the roof! We drove the 30 minutes out of town to what looked like an abandoned motel with a bar attached to it...? This was it. We arrived at a seemingly reasonable time but as we approached the ticket counter a mousey little man scurried behind the desk. He was friendly enough but a little off if you know what I mean. We bought our tickets and were asked to go wait in the bar because they were not ready for us... really? We were the only people there and they had been open for hours. The only thing I could think is that I- am going- to- die. Either that or they wanted us to spend a few bucks in the bar- which we did. As we were waiting in the deserted bar that same man came darting in an out and would say "just a few more minutes and we will be ready for you." Okay mister whatever- we were having a good time anyway. SO finally it was time to start the adventure (which looking back had certainly already begun) and he led us through a creepy back room (creepy not because it was Halloween but creepy because it was plain ol creepy) and then back out to where we bought our tickets. We were instructed to wait at the desk. Then he walked around the corner and came back smiling. He greeted us again as a group "Hello welcome to the Alaskan Haunted Hotel." Ummmm- we have met before and had numerous conversations... WTF? Now its creepy for sure. Trying to forget it and move on we started into the dark and dangerous twists and turns and literally the same three monsters were rotating in each room... weird for sure but awesome at the same time. LoVe LoVe LoVe it!!! The whole point of going to these is to get freaked out--- mission accomplished- yeehaw!

Tuesday was a day off... I got laundry done and switched over the girls summer clothes to winter and fall clothing... Katie finally fits her little chubbers into jeans and she looks so cute! (thank you stretch denim for not giving my child a body complex at age 3 1/2).

Wednesday was the big day--- Its officially Halloween!!! We ran a few errands in the morning and then took our respective naps before meeting my inlaws out for our last Trick-Or-Treat expedition. Tim was not able to join us as he was working until 9pm but luckily I was able to handle them on my own and we met with Nana, Papa and Jeremy in the same neighborhood as last year and we started to make our way. Katie was only halfway out the car before she was scouting out which house was going to be the best to start with. She is totally in love with Mickey and Minnie so this year she finally fit into her Minnie mouse costume. Via went as a ladybug which was a hand-me-down from Bella but she didn't care and frankly she rocked that costume. I am so excited to share this holiday with all the people I love especially the two little ones... I think the "Halloween Gene" was passed to my babies and I am loving it!
The girls lasted a little over an hour before they were too tuckered out. Bella needs to learn to pace herself because her sprinting lead to jogging that lead to walking and finally stealing Via's stroller and had her Papa push her around. It was cold- really cold. So after we made it a few blocks and a couple buckets of candy we called it quits and headed back to their house to visit for a while. Bella had recharged her treating battery and we hit a few houses in Tim's parent's neighborhood. It seemed like they were just waiting for her to show up so I am glad we chose to do it. About this time I had the sneaking suspicion that in the hurry of getting the girls loaded up I may have left my purse ontop of my car when we were leaving... Sh*t. I checked my trunk- not there. So I was antsy to go and they totally understood. Now I was not a crazy driver but I scooted right quick back home and had visions of the contents of my purse being strewn all over the driveway: kindle, wallet, camcorder and all. BUT to my surprise it was sitting on my stove right where I had left it- Karma is in my favor I guess. Sloooowwww down Trina whoooosaaaaa.

Jackie Fuller (my Green Bay Jackie as opposed to Jackie Katers my Chicago Jackie) came over and we carved pumpkins with the girls in the evening. It was also a momentous occasion because Kaitlynn and Olivia watched The Nightmare before Christmas for the first time... twice. They had a blast pulling out the "guts" from the pumpkins Via going elbows deep and Katie being a little more particular using her scoop shovel (which she loaded with her hand anyway) Miss Fancypants.