Small Town Halloween Experience

A few months ago John asked our two oldest boys if they were interested in deer hunting with him, their grandpa, and a few uncles and cousins. "Yes-dah--of course!" was their answer. Then came the dilemma; it fell on Halloween weekend, which meant that most likely, the boys wouldn't go trick-or-treating and enjoy the normal Halloween traditions in our neighborhood. Both boys thought about it for over a day, then agreed that they'd go hunting if the other would go as well.

So last weekend John left town Thursday evening with our two oldest. Their hunting area was close to St. David, where John grew up. So they stayed the night at Johns' parents home and hunted all Friday and all Saturday. I enjoyed a neighborhood trunk-or-treat party with the three youngest Friday night, then drove down to St. David Saturday afternoon and met up with the boys. The small community has a traditional school-sponsored trunk-or-treat on the football field every Halloween night. So we packed our costumes and planned to attend.

But by the time we got there (about a 3 hour drive), unpacked and finished up dinner, we realized that we were running out of time and it might not be worth the hustle to take the kids to the football field. And, the hunters were just getting home--hungry and tired from a full day. Really last minute, my sister and I decided to throw our own Halloween party at the house instead of hauling all the kids (9 in all) to the football field.

At first, the kids weren't too thrilled. Especially Abby, who had been dreaming about all the candy she would get at the trunk-or-treat. But we promised it would be just as fun celebrating it at home. All the kids got in their costumes, and we sent them outside while we schemed up our "fun and exciting" Halloween party. Here's what ended up happening:

First, the kids all trick-or-treated to all 4 doors of the house; the master bedroom door, garage door, front door, and back door. And a different face met them at each door, ready to load their buckets up with candy. Then we hung small chocolate bars on strings from the ceiling, one for each child, and had a contest to see who could eat it first without using their hands. Then we had a pumpkin toss, of course. After that, we all loaded in the car and drove a few miles and watched a deer get skinned. Totally spooky! Lots of candy was earned for each game, the kids seemed to be satisfied, and we were glad NOT to drag them all down to the football field.

Red neck Halloween? Of course. And I'll never forget it. I doubt the kids will either!








Andersen was the world's cutest cowboy. He even got to ride on a real horse for his photo shoot.




Mason was a pirate, Taylor was a sheriff cowboy, Abby was a nurse, and Emma Claire was a cat.










Here's a picture of the kids, trying to eat the hanging chocolate.













PS- And about the hunt, John and his brother both got deer. John's was a 2X2 point. I know, that sounds pretty big. Not really. The antlers weren't more than about two inches long. So small that John was embarrassed to bring the antlers home in case anyone asked to see it. We'll get some meat from it soon. Any ideas of what to do with venison? I'm a little grossed out by the thoughts. Poor Bambi.