Los Angeles, California: What a busy day we had with Lisa and Lenny, preparing for their annual Halloween bash. Friends come from far and wide with their children for dinner, then the kids head out trick-or-treating with a few parents following along. Lenny really enjoys decorating the house - inside and out - and spends several days dragging things out of the attic in order to make their house the scariest on the block.
Dave and Lenny moved patio furniture around in the back of the house, while I was sent out on errands to fetch a few last minute things and to pick-up the catering as there was a Middle Eastern chicken and falafel feast for the adults (the kids had pizzas). Everything was delicious.
A few scary things are added to the front garden each year, and there are quite a lot of lights, plus fog billowing. All in good fun, but it isn't only the outdoors receiving the spooky touch, the living room also needs a good cleaning to get rid of the gigantic spiders!
So many old friends arrived with their children in tow. Mary Poppins and Bert were there. A Sumo with a Geisha. Super Heroes. Harry Potter characters. Angela and Bryan brought baby Sebastian dressed as a skunk. Too cute.
This year, for the first time, Leo and his posse were allowed to beg for candy without an adult along. Leo knows every house on the street, and felt confident. The kids did return quite often as they enjoyed scaring the trick-or-treaters as they walked up their driveway. Leo was dressed as the "Scream" film character, so it was easy for him to frighten the approaching children. Lucile simply "played dead" near the front porch and her simple guise worked to scare as well.
I helped hand-out candy to all the goblins, and can't even tell you how many times we had to replenish the bowl, guessing Lisa and Lenny's house attracted more than 200 beggars. I was surprised to notice so many children approach the house and simply open their treat bag, expecting us to put in a treat. No Way! I insisted they at least say Trick or Treat. But there are no complaints on the politeness of the children - most every group shouted out a thank you and wished us all a Happy Halloween. What a great odd holiday - so much fun! A standing ovation to Lenny and Lisa for all their hard work and fantastic ideas for yet another great Halloween. Hosts with the Most.
Lisa is dressed as this, because she felt it was ridiculous, Leo is the Scream character linked above, Lenny is Lenny in a ghost shirt, Lucile is Evie from The Descendants III. (I wore a black dress, my Halloween scarf and a witch hat. DT wore a fake nose and glasses ala Groucho.)
But sadly, Wednesday was a school day, so the party busted-up pretty early with only a few adults remaining until 9p. Plenty of time to clean up and get to bed before it was too late.
Until my next update, I remain, your bewitching correspondent.