Days 214-215: Happy Halloween!

Halloween certainly looked very different this year, but we had a blast! Our neighborhood usually sees about 300 rick-or-treaters and shuts the streets down. This year, though, the HOA didn't close the neighborhood since traditional trick-or-treating was not advised. Half of the neighborhood opted to stay dark, and the other half opted to set up tables at the end of our driveways with individual treat bags. With the two approaches, we were able to have a really safe, small Halloween in the neighborhood.

Because we knew it would be smaller and there wouldn't be the traditional neighborhood party, we opted to make our own Halloween feast. We also knew the candy haul would have to live in quarantine for a day, so we made extra treat for the evening. Issa and I basically spent the day in the kitchen:

We made gluten-free chex mix, Halloween puppy chow, cupcakes, and mulled cider:

Not pictured are the mummy hot dogs!

Our family costume was the four seasons:

They were relatively simple costumes that were a huge hit:

The boys did a little weapons training in the driveway while Issa and set up for trick-or-treaters:

And the kids were thrilled to head out:

The traditional first trick-or-treater pictures:

And they were off:

 I had two moms cry in our driveway because they were so happy their kiddos were getting to have a little slice of Halloween. Even though there were fewer houses, the kids still had quite the haul, and we ended the night with out feast and Little Shop of Horrors.

Like everything 2020, it was wildly different than years past, but we still had a fabulous time. I love how the neighborhood pulled together to do this safely--masked and six feet apart. It made this Halloween not so scary after all.