Scenes from Halloween

We just experienced our first Halloween here at Rota. It's not like this is a Spanish holiday, but you'd certainly think they'd been celebrating it forever. Base housing saw both American and Spanish children (and adults) parading around trick-or-treating in groups, most in costume, but a few in regular everyday clothing as well.

Our oldest had planned months ago to make his own costume, going as his made-up character - the Duct Tape Dude. Hey, I didn't have to make the costume and it was an easy deal... let him wear some old clothes and cover them in duct tape. The mask he told me he made "randomly" at school. Go for it, big guy!

The little man opted to dress as a ninja this year, which was also an easy deal seeing as how the NEX sold this very costume. Sweet!

Prior to trick-or-treating, a "Li'l Munchkins" event was held at the school for kids 3rd grade and under. Our oldest handed out candy with his Boy Scout Troop while our youngest participated. We saw some great costumes worn by both young and old. Check 'em out... I didn't even recognize these kids. We were in the same orientation class with their parents when we first moved here.

I don't know this guy, but thought his costume was way cool, so I asked if I could snap his picture. He happily obliged.

I thought the two kids in the same shirt looking like some kind of Siamese twin monsters were quite unique, so I snapped their picture as well.

Awww... does it get any cuter than this? What a little angel... pun intended!

This little turtle was all tuckered out! Isn't he adorable?

We saw this character at one of the houses where we trick-or-treated. He/She/It (I don't know) used a voice changer and sounded very creepy.

This is my girlfriend's carport, looking all spooky. She had a fog machine going so you couldn't see very well when you entered. Her husband had on one of those "Scream" costumes, which always creeps me out. They got an A+ for creativity and spookiness.

This kid is one of our neighbors and I loved his costume! He looked like he'd eaten just a few too many of those cupcakes he was carrying.

The folks who live in our circle got together and pooled our candy so we could give out treats as a group and do a little partying of our own. A couple of people brought crockpots of chili and soup, someone else made brats and we just enjoyed the evening, even though it rained on and off. We had friends over afterward and sat around talking and laughing. I love the camaraderie that goes along with living in base housing! I hadn't realized how much I'd missed it until we started having so much fun here.

You can see lots of people walking the streets trick-or-treating. At times there were trick-or-treaters in droves! We weren't sure what to expect as we'd heard some stories about out of control people from past Halloweens. All in all, it seemed fairly tame and the kids were very courteous, with the exception of one or two groups that came back again and again for more candy.

As it turned out, our oldest didn't end up going trick-or-treating. I think he's decided he's outgrown the whole thing, which was a little sad for his younger brother. We didn't know this was going to happen, or we'd have arranged for the little man to trick-or-treat with friends. My husband and I went with him instead, and while he was happy to have Daddy around (Daddy is usually TDY for Halloween), it just wasn't the same without his big brother. I felt a little melancholy thinking about how much our boys are growing up. Soon enough neither of them will be interested in trick-or-treating. I know, I know... it's all a part of growing up. I get that and I'm okay with it, but I can be sad about it too, can't I?