Halloween started early this year.  At least, it did for the folks in my parents neighborhood.  The annual neighborhood carnival was held two weekends before Halloween.  It wasn't as exciting as we thought it would be - no haunted house - but it was really cute.

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No - Lauren is not that tall.  Pops is in his knees.
Silly Pops.       :-)

AHHHH - Scary Lauren!

The NEXT weekend was the weekend before Halloween.    Everyone knows that the Saturday night before Halloween is the big party night - and this year was no exception.  We got a baby-sitter for Austin, and took Lauren with us to party.  Well, as much party as you can get in with your 4 year old in tow, and you have to be home at 10:00.  No worries - we made the best of it, and really had a good time - thanks to Jody and Trey for hosting an awesome party!

Jacqui was an equestrian (fox hunter?), and I was an Ozzy/Vampire.

Caught you eating!

The hostess serves some goodies to Mr. Reflecto!

Careful, Trey has the home-table advantage.

This is Jody's sister - when she answered the door I thought it was Jody in a blonde wig. ...embarrassing moment.

Posing with the hostess.

Tim proves that he really IS a Jedi.

What a scary bunch!

Chris really does look like a horny devil.

Jacqui and Eve are all smiles.

Ozzy/Vampire, Norman Bates and a Jedi Knight - what an interesting combination.

Everyone crowds around the food.

On Halloween day (Monday) Lauren and Austin's day care organized a Halloween parade.  All the kids dress in their costumes, and parade next door to the retirement community.  I'm not sure who loves it more - the kids, or the old folks.  

There's Austin - in his 'Booo' shirt.

It's hard work getting those kids organized.

Boooo Austin!!

Hey, what's going on - why aren't we moving?

Traffic jam.

Oh, I see - we've stopped for pictures.

OK, let's get these kids moving!

Lauren is the only girl not dressed as a princess or fairy -  I'm so proud of her.  :-)

There's my little witch!

Hi Lauren!

And finally - Halloween night.  We didn't get a lot of pictures.  In fact, we almost didn't get any Halloween at all - a huge thunderstorm came roaring through.  Of course, it hadn't rained in over two weeks - and the deluge comes right at 5:00 on Halloween night.  Well, the Halloween spirits must have worked some magic, because the storm blew through just in time for some trick-or-treating.  Lauren and I got dressed, and headed out.  We had a blast.  Lauren RAN from one house to the next. We had a pretty decent turnout considering the weather - and that our neighborhood is brand new.  All in all - it was a really great Halloween.

Let's go Trick-or-Treating!