Tag: Halloween
Trick or Treat 2013
Without a doubt this was the most brutal trick or treat that I remember. The same rain the shortened the parade continued throughout the day and into trick or treat. Fortunately James was geared for the weather in his weatherman costume (he was a skeleton underneath actually so he was covered for both types of weather.
The day began with turning on the lights in the wee hours of the morning for James bus. The look of the house changes from morning to evening on Halloween night as decorations are added and some taken away. After James had his parade he came home with his parents and we began work on some pumpkins. Once the pumpkins were finished James was ready for trick or treat and was the first one on the block to do so (due to the rainy weather he was the only kid on the block for most of the night).
James made a pretty good haul considering the weather. The turnout was better as the evening progressed but would still be considered light.
Best Decorated Halloween Homes 2013
There are many houses near ours who do outstanding Halloween decorations so this year we went out a couple times throught the hood and snapped some pictures. Good thing we did this before Halloween because the weather really went bad Oct 31st.
The first trek into the neighborhood we took Aunt Peg with us so she got a chance to see some of the homes in the area. The next trek we took Mom (Aunt Peg ended up in the hospital for a couple days) so you may see a duplicate home (although we did check for duplicates, but not really hard).
Without further ado, the best decorated homes for Halloween this year in our neighborhood.
Manuels Taco Hut Halloween Display 2013
For the second straight year we visited Manuels Taco Hut a day or two before Halloween so I think that makes it officially a new Halloween tradition. We noticed a new talking skeleton that sang Thriller this year, it might have been there last year but if it was we missed it. The place was decorated from top to bottom and the line to get in wrapped outside halfway thru the parking lot. Several real cool animations and projections. The food was very good this year, Mom and Dad had the chicken burrito and James had his standby, chicken tenders and fries – the chicken tenders were shaped like dinosaurs which James enjoyed. Not a crumb was left on his plate when we left.
Manuels does a great job and one of the things they do is wall paper the restaurant in black so that no light is reflected (sort of like a black hole where no light escapes). This gives the restaurant a true Halloween haunted house effect without having any decorations so when you add the quality animations they have you really have a great effect.
For more about Manuels Taco Hut visit their webpage.
James Halloween Party 2013
James had his third annual Halloween Party and had a blast as several of his friends from Hoover and Tulane made it this year. We have the event from 2-6 pm so we never really got too crowded with folks coming in throughout the day. All together we had 20 guests and everyone got to chow on pizza and finger sandwiches along with cake and other things you aren’t supposed to eat (we did have a basket of fruit out as well). Kids played with Wii, pinball, novelties, and crafts.
We decorated the entire home including the new “zombie” room where the kids can go and play video games.
James is very proud of this event and did pretty well as host. He has already got the date for next years party which is the 18th of October. Thanks to all who came and all who helped out.
After Halloween Sale 2012
Each year Mom goes out and buys Dads birthday gifts at the After Halloween sale. People often ask where we get the Halloween props and the secret is to purchase it after Halloween when everything is 50 – 70%.
This year we went to the Halloween store the day before to see what they had left and decided on 3 new animations that we felt would fit into our display. The next day we got there about 50 minutes early to wait for the half price sale to begin (we were third in line).
Our 3 main items were “The Howler” werewolf to go with our other werewolf. The “Popping Goblin” which is really nothing more than one of those plastic pumpkins, except the back moves out and a Goblin pops out of it.
The Witch from the Wizard of Oz was the final one on our list. The Halloween store had two left and when Mary lifted the top one, another person immediately lifted the one below hers so it took about two seconds to sell out. Good thing we got there early and waited.
We also stopped at Jo Ann Fabrics and picked up some Halloween crafts and decorations at 70% off and Marshalls where Mary bought a bunch of stuff for $12.
James came home from school and one of the Hoover teachers (we don’t know if the teacher wants us to use her name or not) gave us a haunted house cookie jar!
Finally, KMart had one Jason left at 60% off and that concluded our after Halloween sale. Our next purchases for Halloween will be in the Spring when the garage sales come around again.
Hoover Elementary Halloween Parade 2012
James and the entire Hoover Elementary class participated in their annual Halloween Parade. James went as skeleton (as he did last year) because he figured there would be many Mario’s (which is what he is trick or treating as tonight).
The parade went into the residential area which was different than previous years. It was also held on Halloween day, Oct 31st, which I don’t think it was in the past. The parade stretched well over a block in length and was very impressive to see.
Great time by all and the weather, although 42 degrees and slightly wet, was good enough to get the event in.
Trick or Treat 2012
What a busy day this Halloween was for us. After a quick visit to see Peg we went to James’ school Halloween parade, grabbed a buffet lunch, got home in time to greet James coming home from school still in his skeleton costume, took some pics of him in his skeleton costume, gave him a bite to eat, took some pictures of him in his Mario costume, turned on the decorations, and it was off trick or treating for 2012.
This year we made it from Parker to Lincoln, not a whole lot of kids on the streets this night probably due to the weather but there were still enough to know that it was Halloween.
Probably due to the so so turnout, James ended with a lot more candy than he usually gets. He also got to interact with the people more since there were very few lines this year.
Mom handed out candy while Dad and James brought home the candy. Mom said the house got more compliments this year probably because you could see more (we did not put the inflatables out this year due to the weather).
Halloween at Manuels Taco Hut 2012
At James Halloween Get Together one of our guest tipped us off to this little gem of a place. During the year its Manuels Taco Hut, but they close for one week in the Fall and decorate the entire restaurant for Halloween. Its a great atmosphere with black walls, plenty of Ultra Violet lighting, and creepy skulls, ghost, and skeletons adorn the entire restaurant.
Mom and Dad had chicken burritos and beans while James stuck with his usual chicken nuggets and french fries. The food was great and nothing was left on anyone’s plate at the end. Mom liked the animated Michael Meyers best, Dad liked the talking sculpture best, and James liked the singing pirate skeleton in the treasure chest the best.
Manuels Taco Hut is on Ecorse road between Pelham and Allen road on the North side. We heard from their website that they do something similar for Christmas.
James Halloween Party 2012
James held his second Halloween Get Together in as many years on Oct 27th and he did a real nice job as host. The event lasted from 2 – 7 and we refer to it as a Get Together because there are no scheduled events or time frames. People can stop in and say hi and leave or people can stay for hours. No need for families to have to hurry to meet a time frame, simply show up and stay as little or as long as you like.
This year we decided to decorate the entire house for the party, even though the party was held mostly down stairs. Our bedroom became the “Exorcist room”, our office room became the “Bates Motel Office”, the kitchen became “Hades kitchen” etc.
The kids appeared to have a good time, playing games, making Halloween crafts, eating Halloween cake, etc. Big thanks to all who attended especially James’ teachers from Hoover Elementary. Grandma came by to help upstairs, unfortunately Aunt Peg could not make it but was there in spirit by providing a whole bunch of candy for the kids.
After the event, James continued to work on some of the projects and crafts in the Un-Living room.
The People Under The Stairs – Halloween Cleanup 2011
All the Halloween decorations are put away and the Christmas stuff is out and will be put on during the Thanksgiving holiday. We took some pictures of the Living Room returned to normal (with Mary posing as Frankenstein in one of the pictures). Taking down the scene setters was pretty easy, as long as it was on a standard dry wall or plaster wall surface. If it got into caulk (for instance around a door) it was more difficult to remove. It was also very difficult to remove from the basement which has concrete covered by Dry-Loc. Fortunately we did not have much in the basement. The scene setters when removed took up almost no space, so if you want a great Halloween look but do not want to spend much cash or store much away I would suggest going to Halloween City or Spirit Halloween and picking up a roll of scene setters.
Speaking of saving money Mary came home with an animated tombstone Saturday while I was taking down decorations. The cost – $2. Mary keeps her eye opened for things like this after Halloween and it has served us well the last couple years. Even if the prop is broken, odds are its an easy repair like this tombstone was.
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