Tag: Halloween
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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After Halloween Sale 2011
Once again Mom got Dads birthday and Christmas gift the day after Halloween. With 50% sales on Halloween items at Walmart and Spirit, Mary made out like a bandit, especially at Walmart where she got a ton of cool stuff half off their already low price!
We stocked up on Halloween garland and the stone dungeon scene setters that we used in the living room. Mary got a cup cake server (which has a small pirate skull on it in the picture) that she really wanted, especially since cupcakes went over well at the party. James got some shirts and a couple pirate props (James really liked Pirates of the Caribbean), and dad got his Christmas and Birthday gifts early again with several Halloween props and animated figures.
Trick or Treat 2011
The pics start with the outside decorations at our home, then go into James Trick or Treating and the fun he had. James met up with some of his friends on the street, and we did all of Vassar and Tulane from Annapolis to Dartmouth. Missing this year was Mrs Kerchen who is recovering from an accident and hopes to be back soon. Mrs Steel on the corner went out of her way to see James (as did most our neighbors). Allen next door had some great pumpkins and most of the homes were very well decorated. This might have been the best year yet as I would guess 1 out of every 2 or 3 homes had some Halloween decorations up, so I would have to say that it is closing in on Christmas as far as outside decorations.
The trick or treater turnout seemed light, really don’t know why since it was a nice evening. James was the only kid out on one block and it was around 7pm which should have been prime trick or treating. Tons of candy left at the house as well.
Hoover Elementary Halloween Parade 2011
For the second year in a row James and his classmates participated in the Hoover Elementary Halloween Parade. The entire school marched around the front of the school in their halloween costumes, led by their principle Mrs Springer, who wore the purple jester costume. The costumes seemed to be much more elaborate than last years, with Darth Vader and Batman seeming to be the favorites among boys, and witches and angels the favorites among girls.
Halloween Treats from Hoover Elementary 2011
Wow, it seems each year James brings more and more home from school for Halloween treats. This year he got so much it looked like Trick or Treat time. James got a flash light, vampire pen, pez, marshmallow Halloween meal, finger candy, candy corn, and even a pop corn hand with candy corn fingernails.
Special thanks to all who contributed to Jame’s loot and if he does this well at Trick or Treat he will be doing great. Also a special thanks to Mrs Jent and all of Hoover elementary who always go out of their way to make holidays special for the students.
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Best Decorated Halloween Homes 2011
We did this a few years back and thought it might be interesting to see how the Halloween decor has changed in the past few years. Most of these homes are a few blocks from James which makes for a real fun Halloween atmosphere in the neighborhood. James especially enjoys outside displays and as we drive around he picks out his favorites as he helps with the project, however there is a small fee for his services – a slurpy at the local Seven Eleven!
Is it possible that Halloween may someday take over the decoration crown from Christmas? Each year we see more and more Halloween homes like the ones shown here.
James Halloween Party 2011
James had a great time at the Halloween party and did a good job as a first time host. The party was well attended with about a 50/50 ratio of kids and adults. Even James’ teacher, Mrs Jent, showed up. The weather cooperated as well, although we did not plan anything for outside. Most of the time was spent in the basement and every kid got a bag of goodies when they left.
We did not take many pictures during the party, we were having too much fun. The majority of these pics were taken after the party (which we officially called a Get Together since we did not have anything scheduled for any particular time). Hopefully we can do it again next year.
Special thanks to Sammy’s mom for sending us some pics she took during the party.
Pumpkins for the Halloween Party 2011
What would a Halloween party be without pumpkings? James and Dad pondered this thought and decided to go out and buy a few pumpkins to carve for the Halloween party. Pumpkins usually last a week or two if they are not carved, but once you carve one they begin to deteriorate rather rapidly and you really only have a few days of being able to use a carved pumpkin (It also depends on the temperature, if they are kept cool they will last much longer, but if left in a warm house they will deteriorate quickly).
A quick trip to the store got us everything we needed and James was very creative with his carving of the pumpkins. Hopefully they go over good at the upcoming Halloween Party. James thinks so and so does Dad.
