Halloween partying

Halloween has always been big with us. And since Dylan's birthday is October 24th, we've got 15 years of Halloween decorations and costumes stored away at this point. And let me tell you, that's a lot of stuff.

This year Dylan turned 15 on October 24th and he's too old for a birthday party. And Drew, who will turn 12 on February 22nd said "Hey, can I have a Halloween party for once?" So what could we say?

Hey, how many more years do we have to celebrate Halloween with our kids? OK, don't answer that. It all goes too fast. I'm still trying to get used to the fact that Dylan has a deep voice and has hair sprouting out all over...oh and he's way taller than me.

We started out with seven 11-year olds at 5pm, including 2 girls. They had pizza and laughed and talked. Dan and Alicia came up for the festivities too - it was great to have them there!

Then we carved pumkins.


They played on the Wii.


And they played outside too. Then we unveiled the big project Drew and I had worked on all day.... the skeleton-shaped cake.

Hey - Martha Stewart's got nothing on me. My favorite part was when they all screamed out for which body part they wanted. When they all had cake, there were only arms and legs left!

Then we went to Chilling Tales at the Friendship in Salem. The Friendship is the largest wooden, Coast Guard certified, sailing vessel to be built in New England in more than a century. It's a reconstruction of the original 171-foot three-masted ship built in 1797. We boarded the ship and heard a bit of history and then went below to hear 3 separate spooky tales right in the hold of the ship. It was really cool.


The next day we went back to Salem with Dan and Alicia and took part in more of the Salem fesitivies. We've been in Marblehead for 15 years and every year the action gets bigger in Salem. It's huge! We went to a carnival...there's Dan, Alicia, Dylan and Drew on the swining ship:

Here's the view of Salem Harbor, with Marblehead in the background, from the top of the ferris wheel.

We went to a haunted house and as soon as they opened the door and Drew got a peek at the scary darkness, he RAN out of there!

Me, Alicia and Dylan got our Tarot Cards read at the Psychic's Faire. No new revelations, but it is amazing how those cards go. Fascinating.

So it's been a good run-up to Halloween.

Parking in Salem is selling for $25 a pop. We don't pay it, but out-of-towners do. Take a close look at the parking sign:

So now, I must go and watch the Sox go and WIN THE WORLD SERIES.